Business Strategies in Internationalisation Outcomes among SMEs

Abstract

Business strategies focused on unique products development and quality have been found to determine the international success of rapidly internationalizing firms known as "born globals". However, it remains unclear if these strategies are also applicable in the context of internationalizing small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in general. Thus, by applying a cross-sectional sample of 119 Finnish SMEs collected in 2008, we examine how the two business strategies determine internationalization outcomes among SMEs. We find that: 1) unique products development is a differentiating factor between born globals and other SMEs, and is linked to increased turnover growth at the start of internationalization, 2) the quality focus has no such effects, and 3) neither of the focal strategies are linked to increased international performance.