International entrepreneurship research maintains that firms with strong entrepreneurial orientations expand to international markets to enhance performance. Yet these firms can suffer from resource constraints as they move abroad. To alleviate this problem, previous research has suggested participation in strategic alliances. We developed and tested a theoretical perspective that merged these ideas, maintaining that firm–level entrepreneurial orientation is associated with higher international performance both directly and in combination with participation in foreign market research or marketing alliances. Based on surveys of U.S. and U.K. firms, our findings indicate that small and medium–sized enterprises (SMEs) have higher international performance when they possess greater entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and when the type of alliance (research or marketing) used is aligned with the capabilities of the firm. Further we find that participating in alliances strengthens the relation between EO and international performance. These results have important implications for managers and policy makers interested in improving SME international performance.

Although small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) account for a significant portion of international trade, little is know about how they make international entry mode decisions. Transaction cost theory has been widely used to study entry mode selection for large firms.Here we apply the theory to SME mode choices. Further, we set out to determine if SME transaction cost mode choices provide superior performance to other mode choices. We found that transaction cost theory did a good job of explaining SME mode choice and that SMEs that used transaction cost-predicted mode choices performed significantly better than firms using other modes.

In this study, we examine foreign market entry mode choice and firm performance for a sample of European Union firms. Examining both financial and non-financial performance measures, we attempt to determine if firms that select their entry mode based on transaction cost, institutional context, and cultural context variables perform better than firms that make other mode Research effortsin the areaof international entry mode selection have tended to concentrateon transactioncost explanations (Makino and NeupertAnderson and Gatignon, 1986). However, recently scholars such as Brouthers and Brouthers (2000) and Delios and Beamish (1999) have begun extending transaction cost entry mode theory by choices. We found that mode choice did matter. Firms whose mode choice could be predicted by the extended transaction cost model performed significantly better, on both financial and non-financial measures, than did firms whose mode choice could not be predicted by the extended transaction cost model. Implications for future research are discussed.including culturalcontext and institutionalcontext variables, as well as transactioncost variables.

This article hypothesizes that, on average, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that use a systematic methodology in selecting foreign target markets (what we call systematic market selection) perform better than SMEs using an ad hoc international market selection methodology. Using a sample of Greek exporting firms, we found that systematic international market selection is a significant determinant of export performance, even when controlling for decision-maker and firm-specific characteristics previous studies found to be related to export success. Implications for managers, trade promotion agencies, and future research are discussed.

What key factors result in superior export performance for small firms from small countries? Drawing on the internationalization process model and organizational learning theory, the authors hypothesize and find that (1) emphasizing international sales while (2) restricting exports to a few foreign markets results in superior perceived export performance for the sample of small firms from Greece and several Caribbean countries. Emphasizing international sales while focusing on a few markets enables small firms to develop expertise in those markets, build strong distribution networks, and manage export activities effectively.