La dynamique des innovations d'exploration et d'exploitation des PME à travers les alliances stratégiques

The aim of this research is to understand the role played by the complementary and additive alliances of Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in order to conciliate both explorative and exploitative innovation. The understanding of the context of the conclusion of SMEs alliances and the links which can exist between the various natures of the alliances and the studied innovations was led according to two approaches. In fact, the research brings together both the contributions of a qualitative exploratory approach with those of a quantitative confirmatory study. The research shows that the driving of both explorative and exploitative innovations by means of the strategic alliances is influenced by a set of contextual, organizational and strategic factors. The exploratory phase has allowed distinguishing clearly between the SMEs’s alliances with the industry and those with the academic word. In the other hand, the confirmatory phase has allowed to clarify the specificities of the various alliances of the SMEs in terms of mobilized resources, partner’s choice, strategic objectives and driven innovation. This research shows that the conciliation of explorative and exploitative innovation within the same SMEs, by means of the implementation of the complementary and additive alliances, takes place with various natures of partners.