Strategic alliances in information technology and developing country firms recent evidence

Interfirm strategic alliances are quickly becoming a key mechanism for the diffusion of technical and organizational knowledge on a global scale. Tapping into such alliances will be crucial for developing countries to gain and/or maintain access to technologies and markets. This paper provides some evidence showing that this is already happening in information technology industries. Increasingly, developing country firms are seeking out foreign collaborators in their efforts to become world players in these industries and to participate effectively in building domestic infrastructure. Industrialized country firms, particularly large multinational corporations, are eager to oblige. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.