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For small firms, knowledge leakage, loss and theft are counted among the greatest risks in inter-firm collaborations. SMEs are more vulnerable, because they suffer from a number of structural disadvantages when collaborating with larger companies, and yet, they need to collaborate with external partners to overcome their lack of resources.Therefore, this study investigates how SMEs can most effectively protect critical knowledge in collaborations with external partners, for that they can prevent knowledge loss, leakage and theft, while maximizing the performance of the collaboration.This book derives valuable insights for practice and theory through a comprehensive review of existing literature and a collection and analysis of experiences from Germany s most innovative and successful SMEs.

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Karl Tschetschonig, MSc, was born in Vienna in 1985. He completed his study programs in Business Informatics and International Management in 2011. At university, he focused his research on challenges for SMEs in joint innovation activities with external partners. Later, he joined a high-tech SME s strategy department, where he helps to overcome such challenges in practice.

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