From solopreneurs to synergists: a bibliometric journey into SME collaboration

Collaborations, as a natural selection of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the business environment, have been extensively studied. However, the core theoretical underpinnings, as well as recent research directions and themes have not been investigated. This study aims to holistically review the extant body of knowledge pertaining to SME collaboration, thereby clarifying these instances. Drawing upon a corpus of 978 scholarly articles retrieved from the Scopus database, spanning the years 1982 to 2022, this study implements a bibliometric analysis utilizing the VOSviewer software to map the intellectual landscape and discern patterns within the literature. The co-citation analysis depicted four primary theoretical constructs: those pertaining to relationship, open innovation, capability, and performance. The bibliographic coupling analysis depicted the prevailing trends in collaborative endeavors, encompassing supply chain, R&D, coopetition, Industry 4.0, internationalization, and open innovation. Furthermore, the application of co-occurrence analysis facilitated the delineation of five distinct research themes within this domain. The investigation extends to a critical discussion on the prospective orientation and concludes with an examination of the its implications, offering insights for the research, managers, and policymakers.