Search results

This empirical paper investigates how entrepreneurial firms change their business models in the context of internationalization by identifying different forms of business model innovation (BMI) and exploring the interrelationship between BMI and internationalization.

Based on the dynamic states approach of entrepreneurship (Levie and Lichtenstein, 2010), this paper analyses primary and secondary data from nine European firms following a multiple case study approach.

This paper presents four patterns of radical change and eight types of incremental adaption with-in business models in the context of internationalization. We describe these BMI patterns and types, and we also show how they contribute to increasing involvement in international business activities and the internationalization-related triggers that might cause them.

This paper contributes to a better understanding of the BMI process in the course of internationalization. It also highlights the complex interrelationship between BMI and internationalization by building on a progressive theoretical approach.

This paper aims to propose and test a corporate entrepreneurship strategy (CES) model in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with international activity located in Andalusia (Spain) – a peripheral region with high levels of inequality in the European Union (EU).

A quantitative analysis has been carried out with data from 101 SMEs to contrast and analyze the proposed CES model. The sample data were obtained through questionnaire-guided interviews with chief executive officers. Data processing has been done using partial least squares-path modeling, a variance-based technique for structural equation modeling.

The results of this study show the positive effect of environmental conditions on the development of CES actions in Andalusian SMEs (Spain) and the positive influence of CES on the results of SMEs’ international activity. In turn, environmental conditions do not directly affect the international activity.

Although previous works address the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and international enterprise activity, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is original in testing a CES model (including CE and the entrepreneurial strategic vision) in SMEs in a region that has one of the lowest levels of development in the EU. The results have important implications for SMEs and policymakers and could be extrapolated to other emerging economies.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between geographic diversification (GD) and export performance (EP) by analysing a sample of small exporters in an emerging market.

The study sample comprised 96 small and medium-sized exporting enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. The data is analysed using multiple regression analysis (MRA), Hayes' process model and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

The results indicate that GD significantly negatively affects EP. In this dilemma, the export market orientation (EMO) and digital transformation positively moderated the relationship between GD and EP, such that the negative effect of GD on EP was weaker when EMO and digital were stronger.

This initial study contributes significantly to international business theories and practices, which reveal the role of GD via firm digital capacity and EMO in thriving SMEs’ EP. This study might grant new insight into international business and a critical approach to addressing the new insights small firms may face in a fragile but technologically advanced world.

In this research, the initial list of internal capabilities in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) leading to success in international markets has been extracted. Then, the most relevant capabilities to international SMEs under servitisation and hybrid offerings have been screened. Next, the selected capabilities have been classified, and ultimately the relationship amongst the capabilities has been analysed. The conceptual model for SMEs participating in international markets with hybrid offerings has been illustrated.

A literature review has been employed to extract the initial list of internal capabilities to address the research objectives. Then, a novel hesitant fuzzy Delphi (HFD) method has been developed to select the most relevant capabilities for SMEs for hybrid offerings in international markets by using the experts opinions. Subsequently, a novel hesitant fuzzy interpretive structural modelling (HFISM) has been developed to classify the capabilities, design a level-based conceptual model and present the relationship amongst the prominent capabilities.

After the literature review, sixteen internal capabilities leading to success in the international market via hybrid offerings have been extracted. Then, eight selected capabilities were chosen for further investigation by applying 15 expert opinions and via the HFD approach. According to HFISM results, a level-based conceptual model was emanated, and “ability to take advantage of international opportunities”, “financial strength”, “technology level” and “efficient innovation management” were considered as the most fundamental capabilities resulting in successful hybrid offerings in international markets.

Alongside the multi-layer decision-making approach developed in this manuscript to analyse the internal capabilities roles in hybrid offering success towards international markets, to the best knowledge of the authors, the hesitant fuzzy approaches developed in this article have not been previously presented by any other scholar. A novel HFD approach has been designed for consensus amongst the experts under uncertain circumstances. Furthermore, a novel HFISM has been suggested and employed in this research to comprehend the relationship amongst the internal capabilities.

The academic literature on women’s entrepreneurship in the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continues to increase, possibly due to the enormous potential of women’s entrepreneurship to promote social empowerment and economic growth in a country. This study aims to systematically review existing research on women’s entrepreneurship in the internationalization of SMEs and provide a robust understanding of academic developments in this field. This study also aims to identify and explore key thematic areas within the research field related to women’s entrepreneurship in SME internationalization.

This study selected 62 articles retrieved from the four databases (Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO and Google Scholar). Content analysis was conducted to identify key research issues and gaps, which were then mapped on cluster themes. VOSviewer was used to represent the research cluster themes visually.

This study identifies and discusses six research streams related to the concept of women’s entrepreneurship in SME internationalization: export behavior and gender in SMEs; entrepreneurship and country economic development; gender, innovation and performance in SME internationalization; women entrepreneurship in international business and management research; internationalization process of SMEs; and business experience and export experience. Some topics that emerged as potential for future research include personal and organizational dynamics, internationalization behavior, decision-making, adoption of strategies or technologies and orientation toward international markets.

This study offers valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders aiming to foster women’s entrepreneurship within the internationalization landscape of SMEs. The findings provide a roadmap for identifying underexplored areas in women’s entrepreneurship within SME internationalization, guiding future research initiatives.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the childhood trauma experiences of CEOs influence firms’ internationalization.

The research used a difference-in-difference method with constructing a treatment group whose chief executive officer (CEO) experienced the great famine in China between the ages of 7 and 11, and a control group whose CEO was born within three years after 1961.

The study reveals a significant inverse correlation between CEOs’ childhood trauma experiences and firm internationalization. However, this correlation is weaker in the case of state-owned enterprises and firms led by CEOs with overseas work experience.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to extend the theoretical framework to elucidate firms’ internationalization by introducing childhood trauma theory into the field of international business literature. Second, the authors link the literature on the effect of CEO explicit traits and psychological traits on firm internationalization by exploring how CEOs’ childhood trauma experience shapes their risk aversion, which, in turn, influences firm internationalization. Third, the authors address the call for examining the interplay of CEO life experiences by scrutinizing the moderating effect of CEO overseas work experience on the association between CEOs’ childhood trauma exposure and firm internationalization.

This study is devoted to examining the peer effects of engineering enterprises’ internationalization from the viewpoint of industry subdivision and how information and competition alter peer effects. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of peer effects is analyzed based on manager characteristics.

In this study, multiple regression analysis was conducted on a sample of 38 Chinese engineering enterprises listed in the Engineering News-Record’s top 250 international contractors over the period of 2013–2021. This study collected the paired data from the enterprise annual reports and the China Stock Market & Accounting Research database.

The results reveal that (1) there exist peer effects within the subdivided industry of the engineering field; the quality of information disclosure of peer enterprises and degree of market competition moderate the peer effects; (2) the peer effects of internationalization are more pronounced in engineering enterprises with managers who have lower ability, hold greater power or are older.

The findings of this study contribute to understanding the peer effect in the process of internationalization of engineering enterprises, and help enterprises to effectively supervise the irrational behavior of top managers, so as to develop better internationalization strategies.

The results extend peer effects to the subdivision industry of the engineering field. Furthermore, this study also enriches the relevant research on peer effects among enterprises by empirically supporting the moderating role of information and competition as well as analyzing the heterogeneity of the peer effects from the perspective of manager characteristics.

The authors seek to advance the understanding of small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) internationalization at the regional level and examine the role of home market institutions in this process.

The authors analyze hypotheses with data from SMEs in five country markets and from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. A cluster analysis establishes the regional diversification patterns (based on regional diversification scope, speed and rhythm) and a multinomial regression tests the effect of home market institutions on their adoption.

The results offer a refined picture of SME regional diversification by revealing three patterns: intra-regionally focused firms, late inter-region diversifiers and early inter-region diversifiers. They also suggest that the adoption of these patterns is determined by SMEs' home market institutions.

The authors develop a nuanced understanding of SME internationalization by building upon and expanding the regionalization rationale in the internationalization patterns literature. Additionally, the authors address the acknowledged, yet rarely investigated, country-level determinants of internationalization patterns.

In recent decades, emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) have predominantly adopted a big step internationalization strategy to expand their business overseas. This study aims to examine the effect of big step internationalization on the speed of subsequent foreign direct investment (FDI) expansion for EMNEs. The authors also investigate the potential boundary conditions.

The authors use the random effects generalized least squares (GLS) regression following a hierarchical approach to analyze the panel data set conducted by a sample of publicly listed Chinese firms from 2001 to 2012.

The findings indicate that implementing big step internationalization in the initial stages accelerates the speed of subsequent FDI expansion. Notably, the authors find that this effect is more pronounced for firms that opt for acquisitions as the entry mode in their first big step internationalization and possess a board of directors with strong political connections to their home country’s government. In contrast, the board of director’s international experience negatively moderates this effect.

This study provides insights into our scholarly and practical understanding of EMNEs’ big step internationalization and subsequent FDI expansion speed, which offers important implications for firms’ decision-makers and policymakers.

This study extends the internationalization theory, broadens the international business literature on the consequences of big step internationalization and deepens the theoretical and practical understanding of foreign expansion strategies in EMNEs.