SMES' internationalization: firms and managerial factors
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research
ISSN: 1355-2554
Article publication date: 1 August 2005
Abstract
Purpose
To examine the particular organizational and managerial determinants of the different aspects of a firm's export development process: intention, propensity, and intensity.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analysed firms' resources and capabilities, managerial characteristics, and managerial attitude and perceptions in a sample of 286 firms in the Spanish wine industry. Statistical analyses using SPSS were carried out to confirm or reject eight hypotheses.
Findings
Results confirmed that factors influencing export involvement are not the same along the process of export development.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to one context, and it is static (cross‐sectional) in nature.
Practical implications
Implications not only for practitioners (especially, managers), but also for policy makers, are discussed.
Originality/value
First, the research has been conducted in Spain, a country for which export development process has not been widely studied. Second, three aspects of export development have been analysed at the same time: intention, propensity, and intensity. And third, the effect of industry‐specific characteristics on internal export factors has been isolated through the selection of one industry in one country for the empirical research.
Keywords
Citation
Suárez‐Ortega, S.M. and Álamo‐Vera, F.R. (2005), "SMES' internationalization: firms and managerial factors", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 258-279. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552550510603298
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited