This article assumes that strategic alliances are a particular form of co-operation between firms, recognises the need to clarify the concept, and suggests elements of distinction with other forms of co-operation and inter-organizational relationships. Contributing for this effort of clarification, the article discusses and recognises some limitations in the literature on types of strategic alliances, and proposes a new typology of strategic alliances. The typology is based on three domains of cooperation which, in turn, are based on different activities. The empirical study was based on a survey to which replied 133 Portuguese industrial firms which participated in the European Union's Europartenariat programme. The main results of this study suggest that: (1) the studied firms have very positive indicators of co-operation; (2) the intensity of strategic alliances is associated with the firms' size; (3) the global intensity of strategic alliances varies according to each industry; (4) the importance of each type of strategic alliance varies according to each industry; (5) the importance of each type of strategic alliance varies according to the type of partner involved in the other side of the relationship.
strategic alliances; co-operation between firms; strategic partnerships; inter-organizational relationships
