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Purpose: This study investigates how small firms develop preferences for varying levels of alliance partner diversity by applying a behavioral perspective.

Design/methodology/approach: Data was collected via an original survey administered by the Swedish National Bureau of Statistics (SCB) of 1026 Swedish firms with 50 employees or less. Hypotheses were tested by specifying a series of fractional response regressions.

Findings: The results show a U-shaped relationship between experienced and preferred alliance partner diversity in small firms, and further show moderating effects of firm age, prior growth and environmental dynamism. The findings suggest that preferences towards diverse alliance portfolios in small firms may arise, not only from well-informed deliberate strategic thinking based on prior experience, but also as a consequence of cognitive bias.

Practical implications: Our findings suggest that: 1) small firms considering a wide variety of alliance partners should carefully investigate whether they are, in fact, capable of mastering a highly diverse alliance portfolio or if they are overconfident novices. 2) Holders of homogenous alliance portfolios should recurringly investigate whether homogeneity is due to informed strategy or inertia.

Originality/value: This study contributes to the literatures on alliance partner diversity and behavioral alliance portfolio configuration by shedding light on the learning mechanisms that shape alliance portfolio strategies of small firms by explicating the complexity of how different experience levels of partner variety affect current alliance portfolio preferences.