Small businesses’ internationalization

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine whether international readiness, including innovation, competition, technology-orientation and opportunity perception, impacts on internationalization of small businesses differently in Asian countries compared to the complete Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) sample. Design/methodology/approach -This study uses data from the Adult Population Survey -GEM carried out in 69 countries yielding a cross-country total of 198,339 entrepreneurs. A binomial logit regression model is used to examine the data. Findings -The results show that there are differences for Asian countries compared to the whole sample regarding innovation-related drivers. In Asian countries, for small businesses, internationalization is less sensitive to product innovation and to opportunities' perception than for the rest of the countries.Practical implications -This study has practical relevance as it provides numerous clues regarding the question of how small business (or new ventures) might enhance chances to become successful exporters. Originality/value -This study addresses an area that is believed to be less studied. The study compares the proposed relationships between two data sub-samples that represent the Asian countries and the complete GEM sample. The paper concludes with a discussion of the main contributions and limitations and suggests future research avenues.

International competitiveness readiness, home country institutions and early internationalisation

“…, 2016). Moreover, entrepreneurs' readiness to internationalise their businesses could be fuelled by their entrepreneurial motives (Pinho et al. , 2018).…”

“…These resources and capabilities include knowledge, technology, information and assets, which allow entrepreneurs to conceive and implement business strategies that lead to greater effectiveness in different markets (Amor os et al, 2016). Moreover, entrepreneurs' readiness to internationalise their businesses could be fuelled by their entrepreneurial motives (Pinho et al, 2018). One of the most important motivational classifications is the distinction between opportunity and necessity motives, which relates to the concept of being "pulled" or "pushed" into entrepreneurship (Jafari-Sadeghi, 2020).…”

“…Smeets and De Vaal (2016) claimed that the use of the newest available technology is greater amongst opportunitymotivated entrepreneurs when country-level institutional quality increases. In addition, a better-developed governance structure can encourage entrepreneurs to invest in the newest technology and to innovate in their home countries (Lim et al, 2016) but the resultant more intensive competition can push enterprises into a difficult situation (Pinho et al, 2018). In these circumstances, opportunity-motivated entrepreneurs are less likely to build on their knowledge of the context within the domestic market, which has the effect of facilitating their escape response from the home country environment (Witt and Lewin, 2007).…”

“…Various explanations have been offered for this heterogeneity. One recent explanation is grounded in the notion of entrepreneurs' international competitiveness readiness (Pinho et al, 2018). Existing research has identified competitiveness readiness as playing an important role in entrepreneurial activities (Schillo et al, 2016), but research on the association between entrepreneurs' international competitiveness readiness and early internationalisation remains scant.…”

Where do international opportunities come from and where does literature go?

“…; Andersson e Evers, 2015; Urban e Sefalafala, 2015; Miocevic e Morgan, 2018), e de adaptação(Angeli e Grimaldi, 2010;Muñoz-Bullón et al, 2015); a orientação empreendedora internacional(Vandor e Franke, 2016); a percepção do empreendedor(Muzychenko e Liesch, 2015;Pinho et al, 2018); as competências linguísticas(Hurmerinta et al, 2015), e culturais(Muzychenko, 2008;Vinogradov e Jørgensen, 2017; Nkongolo-Bakenda e Chrysostome, 2020); e a capacidade cognitiva(Butler et al, 2010; Sahai e Frese, 2019;Kiss et al, 2020).Um grupo de autores se dedicou também a compreender como as características da organização influenciam os processos de descobertas das oportunidades internacionais, analisando os seguintes aspectos: a cultura organizacional(Dimitratos et al, 2016;Nordman e Tolstoy, 2016; Kumar e Sharma, 2018); os recursos e capacidades(Kumar e Sharma, 2018;Di Gregorio et al, 2008); a tecnologia (Aspelund e Moen, 2003; Park e Yoon, 2017); a gestão de recursos humanos internacionalmente(Clark e Lengnick-Hall, 2012); e as características de empresas familiares(Ratten e Tajeddini, 2017).…”