Resource entitlements and the trust paradox in cross-sector partnerships: Micro-foundations and cross-cultural dynamics of AI adoption in SMEs

We examine how cross-sector partnerships influence SMEs' adoption of frontier AI technologies for sustainable value creation. We extend the Technology Acceptance Model through a business network perspective to investigate the roles of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, and trust in partnership-mediated technology adoption. We collected data through structured questionnaires from 488 SME managers across Türkiye and the UK to account for cultural-institutional and contextual effects alongside micro-foundations of cross-sector partnerships. We find that cross-sector partnerships create value by enhancing the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of technology. However, in line with a growing literature on the dark side of trust in frontier technologies and B2B relationships, our findings reveal a significant trust paradox: high trust within cross-sector partnerships is significantly associated with lower AI adoption intentions. This suggests that SMEs may resist the adoption of disruptive resources like AI to preserve existing partnerships and stable resource entitlements. Furthermore, we find that while higher risk perception is directly associated with managers' pursuit of value through AI, this intention appears to be offset by complex mediation mechanisms and the inertia associated with the trust paradox. Cross-country comparison suggests that while partner preferences vary by context, the trust paradox appears to be a fundamental micro-foundation of cross-sector partnerships in the context of disruptive technologies, transcending cultural-institutional factors. We contribute to the network perspective on cross-sector partnerships by identifying trust's dual role as both a facilitator of stability and a barrier to technology-driven sustainable value creation.