Search results

Recently, studies call for a more nuanced perspective on different internationalization patterns pursued by early internationalizers. These studies argue that most born global firms turn out to be born regional and that the proportion of true born global firms would be overestimated. Moreover, literature claims that the proportion of born global firms increases over time due to macroeconomic trends. The purpose of this paper is to investigate these assumptions by providing a dynamic perspective on the prevalence of different types of internationalization patterns among Canadian small and medium‐sized exporters (SMEs).

To empirically examine the ideas above, the authors constructed a unique large‐scale longitudinal (1997‐2004) dataset. A multinomial logit model is employed to estimate a firm's predicted probability, Ceteris paribus, of choosing different internationalization patterns: born global, born regional, and gradual internationalization.

It is found that born global firms indeed account for a smaller proportion than born regional firms (16 per cent vs 27 per cent). However, evidence is found that born globals and born regionals are increasingly established over time and that macroeconomic factors seem to account for this development, at least partially.

Combining a rigorous empirical analysis with a unique large‐scale longitudinal dataset, the paper addresses two fundamental research questions in the international entrepreneurship (IE) literature: which internationalization pattern prevails; and if the born global pattern is increasingly established over time. The paper therewith theoretically contributes by comparing the predictive value of different internationalization frameworks (international new venture (INV) framework, stage‐models and regionalization hypothesis), toward which there is considerable current debate.

This paper aims to explore the benefits of a regional internationalization strategy and investigate how a rapidly internationalizing SME’s development of market knowledge relates to this strategy.

After a brief overview of the literature on international SMEs, the internalization approach and the IP-approach, a case study is introduced and analyzed.

The case findings illustrate that market knowledge steers the investigated firm to follow a regional approach of operations. The regional strategy lessens perceived risks, saves costs and generates sufficient knowledge about one market at a time.

It is important for managers in rapidly internationalizing SMEs and for policymakers to recognize the benefits of supporting regional orientation initiatives for enhancing these firms’ internationalization.

This paper presents a longitudinal case study that contributes to further the understanding and insights into the operations of born regionals. By probing deeper into the ideas provided by the internalization approach, the IP-approach and research about international SMEs, the study contributes with a unified framework for understanding the benefits for rapidly internationalizing SMEs to operate on a regional scope.

The purpose of the paper is twofold. Firstly, it provides an inclusive categorical framework of internationalisation patterns for small- and medium-sized enterprises, and secondly, it presents unique evidence from a developing country and corroborates the proposed framework.

A cross-sectional convergent mixed-method design was applied to this research. A phenomenological design was used to develop the typology framework, and subsequently, practical evidence was collected through a cross-sectional survey using a self-reporting questionnaire. A two-step hierarchical clustering analysis was performed to test the framework’s robustness, and a set of characteristics was compared between the patterns via a one-way analysis of variance, F-test.

The robustness of the constructed categorical framework of 32 internationalisation patterns is substantiated, suggesting that this framework produces veracious discrimination between all patterns of internationalisation. Evidence revealed that the majority of firms showed regional and incremental internationalising behaviour. No true born globals were observed; however, several other early or fast patterns such as “born-international”, “global new venture” and “born-again regional” emerged.

This paper presents a categorical framework and provides evidence of the behaviour of internationalising SMEs from a Middle Eastern developing economy. The categorical framework constructed in this paper uses predefined thresholds, and it is of value because it is inclusive, rigid and incisive. This paper also provides essential insights into the sub-patterns of internationalisation, specifically the born-again and regional phenomenon of internationalisation.

The purpose of this paper is to critically review and synthesize the articles on determinants of international new venture (INV) performance to identify the research gaps in this area and develop a future research agenda.

Adopting a semi-systematic review approach with a fucus on using a vote-counting technique, this paper reviews 99 journal articles published between 1994 and 2019 to assess the determinants of INV performance.

The results indicate that the majority of the INV performance articles employ a clearly specified theoretical foundation, focus on INVs in developed economies and non-service sectors, identify numerous firm-level determinants of INV performance and use advanced statistical methods (e.g. structural equation modeling and panel data models). However, the research of INV performance is still limited by a lack of a broader integration of theories at different levels, inconsistent theoretical predictions and empirical results, knowledge gaps, and estimation biases (e.g. endogeneity).

INV performance has received increasing attention over recent decades, but this area is still characterized by fragmentation and inconsistency. This paper provides a comprehensive and nuanced review that synthesizes and clarifies our current knowledge on the determinants of INV performance, provides further discussion with deeper insights from both theoretical and methodological aspects, and points out some directions for future research.

This paper utilizes a new data base on the international activities of small, new ventures in Korea to examine the impact of internationalization on firm performance. Main findings are two‐fold: first, the degree of internationalization by new ventures is related to firm performance in a non‐linear fashion with four phases resulting in the new M‐shaped curve; and, second, the internationalization of the new ventures in the home region of the triad moderates positively the non‐linear M‐shaped relationship between the two as their degree of internationalization increases.

The regional nature of MNEs has become a key aspect of international business thinking, since Rugman demonstrated empirically that MNEs are mainly home-region oriented and studied the impact that the regional phenomenon has on firm performance. The extant international business literature on small- and medium-sized firms of interest to Aharoni is also evolving with the consideration of new aspects such as the “born global illusion,” and the necessary balance between firm-specific advantages (FSAs) and the liability of foreignness (LOF) when going abroad. This chapter presents new insights on these topics by examining the regionalization of Spanish manufacturing firms, their export sales orientation and their FDI orientation. Finally, we study the impact of FSAs on the intraregional and foreign sales of Spanish companies.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the internationalisation patterns of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) quantitatively, to describe SMEs as they follow different patterns over time and to discuss the determinants of these patterns through empirical study.

The authors conducted a questionnaire survey among mature German SMEs (n=674). To identify internationalisation patterns, a latent class clustering approach was applied. Because of the large sample, a multinomial logistic regression analysis could be used to analyse the factors influencing these patterns.

The authors empirically find three internationalisation patterns: traditionals, born globals and born‐again globals. Comparing modern SMEs with the same SMEs from ten years ago, it was found that firms may change their patterns. Moreover, the patterns are determined by international orientation, growth orientation, communication capability, intelligence generation capability and marketing‐mix standardisation.

Combining elements of the Uppsala model (countries and operation modes) and born global research (time lag and foreign sales ratio), three internationalisation patterns of established international SMEs from traditional sectors were identified empirically. Because of the multidimensional nature of internationalisation, the patterns may change over time. Different firm‐level factors determine the internationalisation patterns.

Instead of applying “arbitrary” thresholds, the paper provides a quantitative approach to identifying internationalisation patterns. These patterns confirm the three main internationalisation pathways discussed in the international marketing literature. The paper further advances the field by describing the patterns, showing evidence that the patterns may cross over time and providing information on the factors that influence the patterns.

This paper aims to identify the most influential papers/authors, publication outlets and theoretical and empirical research topics of the international new venture (INV) literature.

The authors examine the intellectual structure of the INV literature using bibliometric citation and co-citation analysis. The authors focus on the 100 most cited papers in this research stream published between 1994 and 2015. In the post-hoc reading, they supplement their main bibliometric techniques with the content analysis method to shed light on some issues.

The authors find that the literature has grown significantly over the past two decades, increasing its relevancy in the academic discourse. The findings show the interdisciplinary nature of the INV literature, where we can find different research topics: Definition of INVs, measurements of “newness” and “degree of internationalization” and the characteristics of international entrepreneurs; time dimension in terms of speed of internationalization; international versus domestic new ventures; and the relationships between firm-specific advantages, international strategy and INV performance.

The authors identify the most influential studies and authors in the INV discipline and show its evolution from the very start to the present. They present the key topics in the literature and highlight the theoretical debates and the inconsistencies between theoretical conceptualization and measurements in the empirical work. The authors offer suggestions for promising future research directions and identify the major conceptual framework on which future research can be constructed. Overall, this study contributes to enhance the understanding of the INV phenomenon and provides useful new insights.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and apply a framework that examines the dynamics of internationalization strategies employed by export companies in the agricultural sector of emerging economies over time, with a focus on the locus of destination markets of the Chilean fruit sector. Thus, the objective is to identify conceptual and empirical deviations from existing research on export firms participating in non-agricultural sectors of industrialized countries.

The matrix of multi-nationality developed by Aggarwal et al. (2011) is extended by incorporating the firm category of “host region” and the dimensions scale and time. This framework is utilized to classify 233 Chilean fresh fruit exporters according to their internationalization strategies based on a geographical distribution of their exports. A uni- and bivariate longitudinal analysis is conducted over a seven-year period (2009–2015) to explore the dynamics of this internationalization process.

A significant number (12.75 percent) of firms classified as “host regional” are identified, and thus a clear difference in internationalization strategies when compared to non-agricultural sectors in industrialized countries. Simultaneously, similarities in these sectors can be found. Most firms are “transregionally” (65.12 percent) or “globally” oriented (16.06 percent), mainly following a linear internationalization path when considering the number of export markets. But there is also evidence of “born-global” firms, which mainly follow non-linear internationalization paths in more geographically and psychically distant markets.

The extended framework developed in this research can be applied to future studies, particularly in the case of economies where a significant proportion of firms are predominantly focusing their export strategies on one single international market. Since this study focuses on one national sector as a prime example, further studies on other countries and sectors may provide additional evidence of its generalizability.

Based on the findings, concrete measures have been suggested to aid Chilean policy makers in implementing evidence-based economic policies, as well as Chilean public trade organizations and private export associations in the fruit sector, in relation to services such as training, strategy consulting and trade network development that they provide to export firms.

The study contributes to the existing literature by introducing the firm category “host regional” into the matrix of multi-nationality, and empirically verifies its existence among agricultural export firms in emerging economies. Furthermore, it also shows that even when it might result counterintuitive, firms from the agricultural sector share similarities in internationalization strategies with firms from industrial sectors.

The varying nature of the competitive environment of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), contributing significantly to gross domestic product in most countries, has made their moving toward internationalization and global competition unavoidable in such a way that the life cycle of research in this area is experiencing a period of rapid growth. This study aims to evaluate the status of research on SME internationalization based on bibliographic records retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus.

Using a scientometric analysis, reviewing the important points and the boundaries of research on SME internationalization as well as practicing co-occurrence and burst detection analysis.

Through a rigorous examination of the crucial points and boundaries within the realm of SMEs internationalization research, coupled with an analysis of co-occurrence and burst detection techniques to detect contemporary hotbed topics, this study has uncovered that the predominant focus of current discourse centers around the areas of networks and networking, as well as internationalization models and entry into the global arena. Moreover, it gives insight that future investigations will shift toward enhancing SME internationalization performance, while simultaneously prioritizing the expeditiousness of their entrance into international markets. The insights garnered from this inquiry are expected to facilitate salient contributions to future literature in this area, thereby advancing our understanding of these complex phenomena.

The trend of the research in this field can be useful for enthusiasts. In this context, the life cycle of research on SME internationalization has been drawn that shows the period of research growth of publications is almost between 2005 and 2023, and the saturation will be approximately from 2023 to 2035. The top researching SME internationalization in the world have been occurred in the USA, England, Canada, Sweden countries and in Department of Management, Department of Marketing, School of Management, Faculty of Management Studies institutions. Also, most of the research has been published in Journal of International Business Studies, International Business Review and Strategic Management Journal.

This study accordingly provided a valuable perspective for future research in this line.