1,720,999 research outputs found
Business Strategy in International Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
No full textThe work is dedicated to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) internationalisation and strategic orientations. In recent years, these two factors have become prominent as being levers for SME competitiveness and performance in an increasingly global marketplace. So far, SME business-level strategising when approaching foreign markets has been described as essentially unplanned and reactive or at best opportunistic. Only recently, in the field of international entrepreneurship, has the so-called entrepreneurial orientation, a combination of proactive, innovative and risk-taking behaviour, been identified as key influencer of fast and broad internationalisation. Here we ask whether any other strategic orientation constructs such as customer, market, and sales orientation described in the field of strategic management and marketing, do have an impact on internationalisation success and patterns. An empirical analysis of 150 Italian SMEs uncovers the presence of differentiated strategic types, their profile and their particular characteristics considered crucial for international performance. Possessing and developing a business strategy and related competencies proves to be a critical success factor for Italian SMEs going abroad, regardless of industry, company size or company age
A longitudinal look at the international entrepreneurship dimensions: cases and predictions
No full textInternational new ventures or born globals have been studied and discussed broadly as regards their start-up, mainly trying to define and examine
some key dimensions of their internationalisation process (i.e. intensity or degree, speed, and scope of internationalisation). The drivers of the
phenomenon have been investigated but rarely have they been related to the above key dimensions and tracked throughout time. In general, the
dynamics of long-term internationalisation remain underresearched. Further work therefore is required to give insight into the strategic options
and consolidation of the born global initial trajectory.
This would help SME’s decision makers to choose
between different strategies and contribute to
theory building.
The objective of the current paper is to investigate which factors are important regarding the dimensions of speed, scope and intensity along the
born global life cycle. A conceptual framework is developed and matched against the findings of two case studies. The companies under investigation
are internet-based, as they rely on the Internet as their only selling platform. In the e-business, firms are expected to be “naturally” born global (Kobrin,
2001). Our findings do not fully support this view and highlight the role of resources and capabilities in differentiated growth patterns, irrespectively of the
industry (Rumelt, 1991). In line with these results, the role of the Internet as an internationalisation enabler over time depends on its strategic use and
its embeddedness in business processes
Strategic choices of SMES on foreign markets: someevidence from an Italian sample
No full textInternationalisation has become part of the daily life of most small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Consequently, literature has emphasized the role of this strategic choice focusing on several as-pects, such as motivations, entry mode choices, internationalisation trajectories etc.
The main focus in international business research thus has been on “why” those firms become international, on “which patterns” they follow in their international experience, while the strategic aspects, the “how” side of internationalisation of SMEs has received less at-tention (Bell et al. 2004).
This paper wants to focus on this literature gap, analysing how inter-nationalised SMEs behave strategically abroad (from developing competitive advantage to designing market strategies to adapta-tion/standardisation decision in marketing mix) and how the strategic choices combine to high export performance measured as export in-tensity.
We are going to present the Italian results of an international re-search program, involving European SMEs and European research-ers in International Business. The study is still at the explorative level, so the methodology is based on descriptive and correlation analysis. The findings constitute research hypotheses that need fur-ther development. The results underline preference for strategic flexibility, which involves a market widening rather than a market deepening attitude and the typical trait of Italian family businesses, focused on customers and not on markets, ready to respond to each customer needs but not to adapt to foreign market requirements
The international growth of e-commerce ventures
No full textThis research investigates the potential of the Internet in continued SME internationalization processes, drawing on two case-studies of Internet-based firms. We investigate how e-commerce start ups embrace the new technology to implement an international strategy from the outset and whether and how the Internet continues to play an important role as the venture develops. Results show that the key to international growth is not the Internet per se, but the Internet-based firm’s ability to develop a coherent set of organizational capabilities in order to exploit the global opportunities embedded in e-business. In particular, customer management capabilities seem to be crucial for internet based firms’ succes
International entrepreneurship at the crossroads between innovation and internationalization
No full textIn the last years, the global economy has undergone a dramatic change. Developed economies face the challenge of new players from emerging countries, slow growth problems, and even recession, combined with a weaker entrepreneurial activity (Amoros and Bosma, 2014). This new economic order calls for a significant reshaping of competition,which leverages on the interplay of the discovery/enactment of new opportunities, the ability to create innovative value propositions and lead them to success, and the capacity to mobilize and manage resources at the global level. In other words, this new economic landscape requires a combination of entrepreneurship, innovation, and internationalization
Be international or be innovative? be both? The role of the entrepreneurial profile
Get PDFBe international? Be innovative? Be international and innovative? Following the logic of the upper echelon (UE) perspective, this paper studies the impact of the entrepreneur(s) demography, background, and experience on their strategic choices, i.e., innovation, internationalization, or a combination of the two strategies. We employ cluster analysis on a sample of 88 Italian Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) operating in different industries to classify the firms along their entrepreneur(s)’ characteristics. Three significantly different clusters emerge, i.e., the typical Italian family firms, a group of businesses led by solitary self-made men, and the team-founded firms. The three groups are related to differences in internationalization behavior and innovation practice. Family-led firms are mainly domestic and concentrated on product innovation, while team-founded firms combine intensive internationalization with innovative marketing and management practices. A third cluster describes the solitary founder with serial business experience, whose businesses foster product and process innovation combined with moderate levels and scope of internationalization. Furthermore, our findings reveal that internationalization tends to be related to the type of innovation, much more than to R&D intensity or other measures of novelty (i.e., radical or incremental)
BE INTERNATIONAL OR BE INNOVATIVE? THE IMPACT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL PROFILES IN DRIVING THE STRATEGY OF SMES
No full textBe international or be innovative? Or be both? This is a common dilemma for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which often perceive their lack of resources as a barrier to implementing both development paths at the same time. This paper argues that characteristics of the entrepreneur/the management team play a crucial role in that they drive the firm towards one or a combination of these two alternative growth strategies,. providing entrepreneurs with a much better understanding of the main strategic options and their relationship with the performance of the firm.
We provide a literature review on extant research which deals with the characteristics of entrepreneurs as related to innovation and internationalisation and the associated performance consequences.
The empirical investigation is based on a sample of Italian SMEs. operating in Lombardy in different industries – one of the strongest economic areas – which was drawn from official statistic.
Cluster analysis is used to group the SMEs along their entrepreneurial profiles, internationalization degrees and innovation orientation. Three significantly different groups emerge, i.e. the typical Italian family firm, a group of businesses which represents the solitary self-made man, and the team-founded firms. These three clusters show significant differences in internationalisation and innovation behaviour. Interestingly, the three groups’ degree of internationalization seems to be more a question of type (product, process, marketing/organizational practice) than of level of innovation Team-founded firms, which innovate marketing/organizational practices, are the most intensive internationalisers, whereas family firms concentrate predominantly on product innovation and the domestic market. The study contributes to the debate about the relation between internationalization and innovation from an entrepreneurship point of view ad offers insights s for SMEs regarding the choice of growth strategies
Born Global or Born to Run? The Long-Term Growth of Born Global Firms
No full textBorn global firms have stimulated substantial academic attention as regards their start up but research has neglected their subsequent, ongoing internationalisation.
This contribution extends analysis from the inception and childhood to the growth and maturity of such firms. We investigate whether born global are also ‘‘born to run’’ companies; we also try to reconcile the analysis of international new ventures in international entrepreneurship studies with the approaches based on fast growing firms and gazelles. We initially present the latest advances in the modelling of accelerated internationalisation over time; we then discuss and develop a conceptual framework and a model that captures the variables that affect born global firms’ evolution in an holistic perspective; finally, we match case study analysis with the framework and discuss our findings. The results show two groups of firms that differ significantly in long-term internationalisation paths and growth cycles. We highlight turning points in these paths and discuss the drivers which lead to sustained high growth. The characteristics of the entrepreneurial/management teams, strategic partnerships and the entry in complex markets are the main differentiators
in growth patterns, irrespectively of the industry. The ‘‘openness’’ of the founders and the early preparation for growth determine both the extent of organizational learning and the speed at which it is developed and used. We see said learning and its speed in development and use as the underlying, necessary mechanism of sustained high growth
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