The Direct and Indirect Effect through Trust of Size Asymmetry on Alliance Performance: The Case of French SMEs

The purpose of this paper is to explore empirically the effects of size asymmetry between Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Multinational Corporations (MNCs) on the performance of these companies in an alliance. We analysis the effects of this asymmetry on alliance performance, both direct effects and indirect ones related to trust from the perspective of ten French SMEs operating in the aircraft manufacturing industry. The previous findings suggest a negative relationship between size asymmetry and performance. Our empirical results reveal that size asymmetry between partners have different direct and indirect effects on performance. These effects depend on the specific dimension of performance under consideration. We observe for example that size asymmetry has no negative direct and indirect effects on financial performance and organizational learning of the SME. In addition, we find that there is a direct and significant negative influence of size asymmetry on relational performance.