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The purpose of this paper is to indicate how conflicts in foreign business relationships are handled by small firms from a relational point of view and how these conflicts can be used by small firms in a positive way.

The paper uses qualitative study and presents the results of in-depth interviews conducted with six small, Poland-based firms.

The paper indicates the nature of conflicts in foreign business relationships from the perspective of small firms, including the sources of conflict and its outcomes. The main sources of conflict indicated include service or product quality, financial aspects of cooperation and cultural differences. The study exposes the existence of both negative (e.g. financial consequences) and positive (e.g. gaining new experience) outcomes of conflicts. It shows that positive conflict handling often constitutes a significant challenge for small firms and that the authors cannot really speak of one optimal method of conflict handling. Regardless of the method adopted, the costs involved should be taken into detailed consideration.

The paper points to actions that could be taken by small firms to handle conflicts in a way that will produce positive outcomes.

Managing international relationships is a more challenging task compared with domestic ones, especially for smaller firms. The paper exposes the impact of two categories of conflict (called day-to-day problems and severe conflicts) in a foreign relationship on small firms and considers different methods of handling the conflict situations.

Current internationalisation and international business (IB) theories are silent on the intermittent internationalising experiences of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) from emerging economies (EEs). The aim of this chapter is to examine the role that networks play in facilitating SMEs from EEs subsequent behaviour following intermittent (exit and subsequent re-entry) internationalising experiences, and to build the theory of this process. Internationalisation of SMEs is a complex phenomenon. Utilising qualitative interview-based data from 15 Pakistani and Chinese SME entrepreneurs, industry experts and government representatives, this study concludes the following: SMEs from EEs continuously reconfigure existing products, resources and markets through networks while reducing and reviving levels of commitment with partners in international markets. Additionally, entrepreneurs from these markets proactively choose to dissolve existing relationships, withdraw from foreign markets to seek new partnerships and diversify resources to reduce foreign market uncertainty. However, some SME entrepreneurs seek to re-enter into previous markets utilising prior relationships and networks. Hence, successful management of network relationships over time is a challenge for internationalising SMEs.

Cause-related marketing (CRM) focuses on the use of marketing tools to publicize a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Drawing on legitimacy theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of CRM-led CSR in international business-to-business (B2B) markets. In particular, the authors examine the relationship between supplier CRM-led philanthropic CSR reputation and foreign customer business engagement in an international B2B setting. The authors also test how the foreign customer’s host-country sustainable development level moderates this relationship.

The authors collect and analyze dyadic data from multiple sources including: dyadic data from a supplier and its 90 foreign customers; the supplier’s internal company records; and publically available data.

The authors find that supplier CRM-led philanthropic CSR reputation positively affects foreign customer business engagement. Furthermore, the authors find that this positive relationship is stronger when host-country environments are characterized by achieving higher level of environmental well-being development. In contrast, this positive relationship is weaker when the foreign customer host-country environment is characterized by achieving higher level of economic well-being development.

The authors examine that impacts of CRM-led CSR in international B2B markets and differentiate the contingent roles of foreign customer host-country sustainable development in moderating such impacts.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether banks are needed as partners for internationalising small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and, if so, in what ways they affect SMEs. The purpose can, in a wider sense, shed light on institutions' intermediating functions for transactions in the economy, both locally and internationally.

A questionnaire was distributed to Swedish SMEs involved in international activities. A sample of 318 SMEs was used. The results are presented as descriptive statistics and by using t‐tests.

The findings show that banks are the least used source of information for internationalising SMEs. The results also show that banks do not participate in SME business networks when SMEs are internationalising. SMEs that have been dependent on banks when developing their international business relationships, however, tend to have previously depended on the bank when conducting business.

It is believed there is much to be gained, both for SMEs and banks, in developing their business exchange and reciprocal understanding. The bank can make SME international operations and financial situations flow more efficiently. This in turn may improve SME growth, thus creating more business opportunities between banks and SMEs.

The study fills a gap in the literature and knowledge concerning banks' effects on SMEs' internationalisation.

Is a born-global strategy reflective of high performance or are there merits in a regional strategy? In studying a sample of 32 internationalizing small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we find that many of the early internationalizing firms that formally meet the accepted “born-global criteria” are actually regional. With this concept as a starting point, this study aims to contribute to the literature on early internationalizing firms by comparing how born globals (BGs) and born regionals (BRs) differ in terms of the liability of foreignness, networking activities and performance. Our results indicate that both liability of foreignness and knowledge development in networks is more challenging for BGs than for BRs, and for this reason, BRs are likely to perform better than BGs. Hence, we identify a “born global disadvantage” stemming from a lack in the capacity of acquiring relevant foreign-market knowledge and tackling foreign-market institutions. The implications of the study highlight the need for researchers and practitioners to be more careful when using the concept of BG and to acknowledge that differences do exist between regional and global business strategies.

Integrating network attributes from studies of social networks, business relationships and small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) internationalization, this study adopts a perceptual view of a firm’s focal “net” of relationships to examine foreign market entry mode choice. This study aims to examine how the interaction between knowledge-intensive service (KIS) firm’s network ties, embeddedness and position is related to choice of mode and subsequently the firm’s perceived insidership status within its focal net.

This research is based on qualitative interviews with 25 small- to medium-sized KIS firms engaged in direct exporting or foreign direct investment (FDI). This study derives an empirically grounded framework of four distinct network patterns of these KIS firms through an iterative process of triangulation between cases and theory.

The four network patterns illustrate the complex interaction between network attributes and entry mode choice by KIS firms. The findings suggest formal ties and centrality in closed network relationships provide the “central controller” firm discretion over their entry mode choice. Resource-intensive FDI by “opportunistic investors” proved essential to securing centrality through formal, institutional ties. Less optimal patterns lacking institutional ties and centrality, however, precluded choice of FDI by “specialized exporters” and “client followers.” The study finds that entry modes are less likely to be influenced by the firm’s embeddedness in open or closed network relationships, but rather by the desire to achieve a more central network position and legitimacy through more formal, less imitable ties.

The findings demonstrate the importance of network structure, a position of centrality, and strength of professional and institutional ties to small KIS firm internationalization. By adopting a more finely grained examination of the interaction between key attributes of the firm’s focal net, this study provides a valuable first step in conceptualizing the complexities associated with networking and adoption of export/investment internationalization modes.

There are a number of implications for the strategic and operational facets of smaller KIS firm internationalization. To avoid excessive network liability for resource-deficient SMEs, practitioners should consider network positioning as a strategic activity, with the costs associated with building and maintaining networks offset against economic- and resource-related returns.

The authors contribute to a better understanding of entry mode choices of KIS by taking a network perspective that accounts for the combined effects of different network attributes. The four network patterns identified extend current theoretical knowledge on the role of networks for entry mode choices of small KIS by highlighting that entry mode choices reflect the particular firm’s focal net and its attempt to achieve insidership status through high centrality and formal ties.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of social interaction ties, trust and business networks in the acquisition of foreign business knowledge and foreign institutional knowledge. It also assesses the effect of these types of knowledge on small and medium enterprises’ (SME) export performance. Furthermore, this study determines the moderating role of absorptive capacity in the relationship between foreign business knowledge, foreign institutional knowledge and export performance.

This study used a survey research design using data from nontraditional SME exporters in Ghana. There were 257 respondents who were employees (managers/owners) of SMEs in Ghana. The model was analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Social interaction ties, trust and business networks have a significant effect on the acquisition of foreign business knowledge and foreign institutional knowledge. Furthermore, foreign business knowledge and foreign institutional knowledge have a significant positive effect on export performance. The path between foreign business knowledge and export performance is also moderated by absorptive capacity. However, the moderating role of absorptive capacity in the relationship between foreign institutional knowledge and export performance is not significant.

This study uses social capital to explain how SMEs acquire foreign business knowledge and foreign institutional knowledge, and how both affect SMEs’ export performance. Furthermore, it tests the moderating role of absorptive capacity in the relationship between foreign business knowledge, foreign institutional knowledge and export performance.

The purpose of this paper is to create a model that compares the effects of product content differentiation and service content differentiation on small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) perceived importance of customer reference marketing in foreign markets.

A theoretical model is developed and tested through multiple regression and mediation analysis, on an effective sample of 188 Swedish SMEs.

The results show that foreign market business assignments characterized by differentiated services make companies relatively more dependent on relationship learning and customer reference marketing. By contrast, situations of differentiated product content correlate negatively with customer reference marketing.

Reference customers can function as vehicles for international expansion when marketing offerings are complex. The findings imply that in service settings, SMEs need to maintain learning regimes with foreign market customers to effectively use them as references to win new business.

The study applies a service perspective to explain the contingencies of customer reference marketing, particularly in international business settings. The study contributes to international small business literature and research focusing on service–firm internationalization by explaining the marketing mechanisms at play in the internationalization of SMEs. In so doing, the findings can enrich relationship and network perspectives of internationalization and add a missing link to studies on networking and internationalization.

Although foreign direct investment and entrepreneurship are potential routes to recovery (Girma and Wakelin, 2001; Lyon et al., 2002), existing literature is divided on the relationship between the two. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of foreign investment on the local SME sector after the 2008 financial crisis.

Local authority district data from Great Britain is used to examine the influence of foreign firm employment on the size of the local SME sector as a proportion of all firms, and foreign firm influence on firm births in the locality. In order to control for local geographical, infrastructural and economic conditions regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between foreign business employment and indigenous business activities.

The potential for technological spillovers and spinout activities appears to dominate with firm birth rates higher where there is greater foreign firm employment. However, there is also evidence of crowding out in relation to the existing SME sector, which is found to be reduced in size where foreign influence through employment is greater.

The results here indicating a complementarity relationship between foreign influence on employment and firm births is important for policy makers looking to revive struggling local economies. However, the relevant support needs to be in place to maximise the benefit from the supply of new entrepreneurs generated.

Unlike many other studies the relationship between the SME sector, firm births and foreign influence is considered at a local level and where economic conditions are more uncertain and economic recovery is less taken for granted. A better understanding of the relationship allows more appropriate policy to be developed in order to aid local economies to recover.

China’s open‐market reform and rapid economic growth have generated a tremendous surge in activity and market investment by multinational corporations (MNCs). By 2000, 400 of the 500 most famous MNCs had invested in China. One distinctive feature of China’ s business environment, its authoritarian political system, requires MNCs to practise strategic public affairs to interact constantly with the different levels of Chinese government, respond to the policies and further influence business policy formation. This paper proposes a conceptual model of MNC‐government bargaining that is composed of international political economy, dependency theory and agency theory. It then examines (1) the international and domestic influences on MNC‐government bargaining in China and (2) the strategies MNCs employed to influence Chinese laws for foreign business in their interests. A case study of the Chinese ban on direct selling operations in 1998 and Amway’s strategies to remove the ban is presented. Results suggest that effective public affairs should engage in the following activities: (1) issues management, (2) constantly and systematically analysing the MNC’s bargaining power with the host government, (3) selecting public affairs strategies based on the analysis of MNC‐government bargaining, (4) exercising relationship management, and (5) being ethical in its practice.