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This study aims to examine internationalisation pathways of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based on a sample from Manchester, UK, and it provides an exercise theory testing of the Uppsala model with data from SMEs from Manchester. It investigates the existence of new internationalisation pathways and the parallel use of four dimensions, namely, export intensity, export destination, time dimension and number of export markets.

The suggested model of international pathways is developed based on a survey of 110 firms located in the Greater Manchester area. The study of the population was based on a stratified sample of firms included in the KOMPASS directory in the Greater Manchester area. t-Test analysis was performed on combinations of the six pathways.

The results reveal that SMEs follow a pattern of internationalisation pathways consisting of non-exporters, traditional small exporters, traditional medium exporters, accelerated medium exporters, born globals and declining exporters. The paper concludes that the Uppsala model does not apply in this study.

There is evidence of a new pathway, i.e. accelerated medium exporters and the CEOs of Manchester SMEs, and governmental authorities in the UK should consider targeting this group or developing appropriate export promotion programmes.

This study aims to develop a new internationalisation model to describe the exporting and non-exporting behaviours of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and then applying it to a sample of UK SMEs. The conceptual model consists of four forces leading to a successful business.

The sample is a stratified one taken from KOMPASS directory and focussing on the Greater Manchester area. In total, 250 firms were chosen to be the population of this survey. In total, 110 surveys were received by email i.e. 24 non-exporters and 86 exporters that were fully completed.

The four forces of the model include the non-exporting activity, the activity before and after the first export order, differences and similarities between non-exporters and exporters and the regular exporting activity. This model’s findings demonstrate important empirical determinants related to four forces, which, in turn, shape the successful exporting activity.

The empirical evidence from the study suggests that the major differences between non-exporters and exporters, which include the differences in management perceptions towards exporting, and the differences and similarities of firm and management characteristics, explain only to some degree what constitutes successful exporting behaviour. The model is considered useful for smaller businesses located in the UK. The study highlights the importance of firms before and after the first export order, which provides insights for managers of firms about going through with the first export order rather than withdrawing from this effort. The study reveals the motivations for exporting, the timing, the modes through which firms export, firms’ management characteristics and attitudinal differences between exporters and non-exporters, which are essential for practitioners.

In recent years, decision-making regarding business growth has attracted the attention of many researchers. Also, considering the importance of scale in startups for their survival and the development of economies, investigating the scalability of startups in emerging markets that are booming, can be useful. Scaling for international business has taken on a new meaning: they must be leaders in both emerging as well as advanced markets; they must be responsive to customers in both departments, which require tremendous innovation and agility; they have to build the competency needed in designing, developing, and marketing the opposite for advanced world markets; and they need to demonstrate rapid decision-making, innovation, and opportunism in delivery to the cost-sensitive underdeveloped markets. As a result, decision-making about the scale of start-ups at the international level plays an important role. The internationalisation of start-up activities is an extremely important and attractive topic among researchers, entrepreneurs, and practitioners. But there is very little research and also projects on the internationalisation of start-up venture activities, particularly after the gain of scaling and exponential growth.

The purpose of this paper is to find out whether risk perception can affect rapidity in international market entry. Also, this paper tries to find out whether the decision-making approach, effectuation, can moderate the pathway between risk tolerance and internationalization speed.

A hypothetico-deductive methodology has been used to conduct this study. Using partial least square regression, this study tested and proved two developed hypotheses based on a sample of 101 software and IT-enabled services firms in Bangladesh. The sample was selected using non-probability sampling techniques, and data were collected using a structured questionnaire developed from the extant literature.

All of the hypotheses proposed in this study have been accepted. The results show that the effectual approach of decision-making negates the risk perception of the entrepreneur and speeds up the internationalization process of that firm.

The implications of this study are inherent in the entrepreneurial cognition and decision-making approach (effectuation). This study provides an insight into risk perception and the rapidity of internationalization, which can spur future development in this field.

Rapidity in internationalization of small- and medium-sized enterprises depends on a significant number of factors, one of which is the decision-making approach. The decision-making approach followed by the firms can have an effect on the speed of internationalization. This paper connects the dots between the rapidity of entry to foreign markets with a cognitive variable, risk perception. This paper developed two hypotheses to measure the relationship between risk perception of the entrepreneurs and the rapidity in international market entry with moderation of the decision-making approach.

The purpose of this study is to organize and assess knowledge on the capabilities pertinent to the early internationalization of born globals (BGs) and international new ventures (INVs).

A systematic approach is used to search, code, organize and synthesize 155 peer-reviewed journal articles on capabilities and early internationalization.

The study delimits eight operational and five dynamic capabilities. The synthesis links capabilities to three antecedents (i.e. firm specific factors, managerial socio cognitive attributes and market factors) and three outcomes (i.e. precocity, survival and performance). While 7 of the 12 linkages identified are well-established, relationships involving market factors, survival and dynamic capabilities are sparsely researched.

The authors know more about the effects of firm specific factors and managerial socio cognitive attributes on operational and dynamic capabilities than we do the influence of market factors on either group of capabilities. Likewise, the authors know more about the influence of operational and dynamic capabilities on performance than we do their impact on precocity or survival.

As the pandemic has shown, businesses with adaptable capabilities (e.g. shifting from a brick and mortar to an online/omnichannel approach or micro-breweries competent to switch from manufacturing beer to hand sanitizer) have increased their chance of survival while helping society cope.

This to the authors’ knowledge is the first study to provide a comprehensive review of literature on the nebulous concept of capabilities, in the context of the burgeoning research stream on early internationalization.

This chapter compiles and summarizes the various strategies in the literature about emerging markets (EMs). Moreover, competitive strategies, market entry strategies in the international market, developing marketing strategy, and Porter's competitive strategies are also presented and discussed. Competitive strategies, market entry strategies, developing marketing strategy, and Porter's competitive strategies don't directly deal with EMs but they are deemed to be helpful and relevant to the research problem in the study of the transformation of strategic alliances in Eastern and Central Europe. The reason for compiling the various strategies is because one can clearly understand from the literature that researchers do agree in the value of a strategy, but there is no shared view among researchers of what a strategy is, what its benefits are, and how it should be developed, implemented, and evaluated. At the end of the book, the authors have tried to assess how and to what extent those strategies are applicable and helpful for a firm operating in EMs.

This paper aimed to evaluate the differences in the use and knowledge of export promotion programs (EPPs) between Brazilian SMEs that internationalized early and SMEs that internationalized in a gradual, traditional fashion. Additionally, it tested hypotheses that distinguish these two types of SME internationalization processes in an emerging market context.

The authors tested four hypotheses in a sample of 540 SME Brazilian exporters. The sample was divided into two groups according to the born global (BG) criteria: 379 SMEs with gradual or traditional internationalization (TI) and 161 SMEs with early internationalization (EI).

The results indicate that Brazilian EI SMEs operate in more countries and continents than TI SMEs. In emerging countries such as Brazil, the domestic market continues to play an important role both for SMEs that internationalize early and those whose process is slower. Even though logistic regression could not classify the sample of TI and EI SMEs according to their knowledge about EPPs, the results led to the idea that EI SMEs currently use more specific EPPs than do TI SMEs.

Managers of successful SMEs from emerging markets need to incorporate EPPs into their internationalization strategy. In emerging markets with large domestic markets, SME managers can meet their growth needs by exploiting opportunities in both domestic and international markets.

Research on the early internationalization of SMEs has long focused on SMEs from developed markets and on internal factors. Moreover, the effects of EPPs on the firm' performance of large and SME firms has also been the subject of study. The value of this paper relies on the intersection of EPPs and the early internationalization of SMEs, even for firms in developed markets.

This paper aims to investigate the internal factors of resources and capabilities of five born globals (BGs) from Estonia. It explores quantitatively the internal factors between a medium BG and four small BGs.

The study used a survey questionnaire in collecting information from the CEOs of BGs. The questionnaire consisted of 105 questions relevant to export sales related to differences in internal factors.

The firms’ size and industrial sector play a role in export sales due to differences in internal factors. Small BGs expect financially based rewards, non-financial rewards, the job satisfaction of sales representatives with the export manager, and with work in general, and the representatives’ job satisfaction is higher in the small BGs than in the medium BG. The sales representatives’ job performance, their work performance, sales presentations, technical knowledge, adaptiveness, teamwork, planning, support, the organisational capabilities for business identification, relationship-building and innovation are all higher in medium BGs than in small BGs. Eleven sub-constructs of the model were shown to be important for small BGs.

The current study is focused on BGs from Estonia, i.e. small BGs and medium BGs. The study contributes to the internal factors of resources and capabilities of BGs as well as to the literature review on BGs. It also provides a logical conceptual model, indicating that the export manager’s job satisfaction is the central construct influenced by antecedent factors and is related directly to the export sales performance of the BG.

This paper aims to discuss the relationship between the digital economy and the model of internationalisation followed by companies resident in technology parks – institutions designed within the framework of regional and national innovation systems – to promote the country’s digital development. The authors selected Poland as the case study. It is one of the biggest European Union members that joined the EU after 2004. In the second decade of the 21st century, the Polish Government has oriented its economic strategy towards building a competitive digital economy. One of its fundamentals is to support the internationalisation of innovative firms.

The analysis interrogates the forms and determinants of internationalisation undertaken by tenants of technology parks. The study sample consisted of 300 of the total 1,584 enterprises resident at the 36 technology parks in Poland and was a stratified random sample, with particular strata classified by location at a specific park. The research applied an interview questionnaire designed to cover such issues as innovativeness, research and development, public aid and the support offered by technology parks.

The results show that around half of the investigated enterprises undertake international activities. The key factors determining the chances of a firm’s internationalisation in the digital economy are whether it conducts research and development projects and receives public aid support. Many tenants of technology parks in Poland enter foreign markets at an early stage of their development, using diverse forms of foreign expansion. The findings also show that the internationalisation of tenants of Polish technology parks usually occurs in six relatively independent modes (types).

This study contributes to a better understanding of the internationalisation patterns of firms facing digital development challenges. Technology parks have a crucial role in building a digital economy, facilitating a technological “leapfrog”. The final recommendations can guide the technology parks’ managers to adopt more relevant support services for the internationalisation of their tenants. It is a critical point for small- and mid-size young innovative enterprises.