Alliances in technology based firms: analysis of the software industry in Jalisco

Abstract

Alliances are a strategy to access resources mainly based on specific knowledge, developed by the participants in the agreement. Through their use, companies have more key assets to compete and adapt to the conditions of dynamic environments. This paper addresses the analysis of the alliances established between technology-based companies in the software industry in Jalisco, as an example of technology-based activities in Mexico. From a sample of 116 companies in the industry, the established strategic alliances were identified aiming to observe the structure of the network that represents the situation of alliances of the industry. The capacity for innovation through the number of patents is also analyzed. The study allowed to verify that the software companies in Jalisco use alliance strategies to obtain resources; however, they are not contributing significantly to innovation.