International Co-operation in the Engineering Industry
| Project status | definitely finished |
| Project time | 01.11.2007- 30.09.2010 |
| Keywords | Business Networks; Mechanical Engineering; Network strategies |
In the course of the increasing market globalisation, international cooperation gain importance especially for small and medium-sized Enterprises. Given the high expectations many companies have on cooperative engagements on the one hand, and the considerable amount of failures on the other hand, it appears that the identification of the fundamental factors of success for cross-border collaboration is a central challenge for current management research. Against this background, the project develops a research framework that contains a comprehensive set of the potential factors of influence as well as the measurable indicators of the cooperation success. As a concrete object of investigation, the German engineering industry is especially suited. The turbulences of the traditional import markets as a result of the worldwide commercial crisis, in consequence of shortened innovation cycles and in the light of new relevant arenas of competition the German engineering industry is, as a traditional export industry, forced to strategically intensify the engagement on global markets. International collaborations are an efficient and flexible alternative to the creation of subsidiaries for a great share of the medium-sized engineering companies. On the basis of an extensive survey amongst 138 German engineering companies, a comprehensive empirical investigation of the cooperation strategies of the German engineering companies is conducted. First results show that distribution partnerships are of high importance. At the same time, their success is often not satisfying. Against this background, it is aspired to investigate the strategic success factors of international distribution partnerships to develop concrete recommended procedures for the management of such collaborations.