External managers,family ownership and the scope of SME internationalization

SMEs are important to world business and the majority of SMEs are family firms. Yet some family SMEs are inert, local firms while others are dynamic and international. Do certain governance structures encourage the scale and scope of their internationalization? We jointly apply social capital and corporate governance theories to explain the scope of family SMEs internationalization, and find that professional managers externally recruited from outside the family are important, but only for lower levels of family ownership, suggesting synergistic combinations of ownership and management. It is the combination of external capital with external managers that really works.     

SMEs international growth: The moderating role of experience on entrepreneurial and learning orientations

New and small firms operating in the high-tech environments need strong entrepreneurial (EO) and learning (LO) orientations to enhance international growth. Yet, the relationship between these two key strategic dimensions and foreign growth can be contingent to the entrepreneur’s individual characteristics. Bringing together elements from strategic management, organization and entrepreneurship literatures, we employ a dynamic temporal perspective considering two levels of analysis, the firm and the entrepreneur, and we apply a fixed effects pooled time-series regression on a sample of 170 firms in two periods of time (2005 and 2015). Our findings indicate that SMEs that possess greater EO and LO have higher international growth. However, previous entrepreneurial and industry-specific managerial experience of the founder/CEO positively exert their effect on these relationships. Our results have important theoretical and practical implications for entrepreneurs and policy makers operating in highly innovative sectors.     

Effect of market orientation,network capability and entrepreneurial orientation on international performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

This study contributes to literature on the internationalization of SMEs by analysing the influence of International Market Orientation, Network Capability, and International Entrepreneurial Orientation on the International Performance of this kind of businesses. Particularly, both the direct effects of explanatory variables of International Performance and interdependence relations between them are analysed. Results obtained from a sample of 161 Mexican SMEs using SEM-PLS analysis show that the International Performance of this kind of businesses is favourably influenced by their Network Capability and International Entrepreneurial Orientation, but not by their International Market Orientation. Similarly, it is verified that interdependence relations exist among the explanatory variables of International Performance of SMEs, where positive impact of International Entrepreneurial Orientation is observed on Network Capability and the International Market Orientation of SMEs.     

Disaggregating entrepreneurial orientation: the non-linear impact of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking on SME performance

Previous studies have generally established a positive relationship between aggregated measures of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm performance. However, there are theoretical reasons suggesting that three dimensions of EO (innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking) may possess differential relationships with performance in smaller firms. This study utilizes a sample consisting of 1,668 small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in nine countries across 13 different industries to provide a finer-grained analysis of the EO-performance relationship. Specifically, we theorize and test a non-monotonic influence of innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking on SME performance. Innovativeness and proactiveness displayed predominantly positive U-shaped relationships with SME performance. Risk-taking, however, displayed a predominantly negative U-shaped relationship with SME performance. Further, individualism was found to positively moderate the relationships between innovativeness-performance and proactiveness-performance. Taken together, these results suggest that differential relationships exist between three dimensions of EO and SME performance, with important theoretical implications for future EO research.     

Entrepreneurial strategic posture and learning effort in international ventures: The moderating roles of operational flexibilities

Drawing from the attention-based view, this article extends the study of international entrepreneurship by investigating how the contribution of international ventures’ entrepreneurial strategic posture to their actual learning efforts in foreign markets depends on various flexibilities that underlie their operations. The results from a sample of international Chinese ventures indicate that an entrepreneurial strategic posture enhances international learning effort more to the extent that the ventures possess greater cognitive and political flexibilities. Somewhat paradoxically, greater structural flexibility impedes the translation of an entrepreneurial strategic posture into international learning effort. The findings have important implications for the growing body of research that adopts an international new venture perspective.     

New venture adaptation in international markets: A goal orientation theory perspective

This study uses goal orientation theory to investigate why managers of international new ventures make adaptations to markets served, entry modes used, and the organization. We use the case method to identify the international adaptation behaviours of six new ventures and managers’ explanations regarding those adaptations. We infer two different profiles of managerial goal orientation. The goal orientation associated with proving one’s competence is common across managers, but firms only pursue international adaptation if their managers also hold a learning goal orientation. In contrast, if managers have the goal orientation associated with avoiding failure, firm-level adaptation is not apparent.     

Entrepreneurial orientation, management commitment, and human capital: The internationalization of SMEs in India

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make sizeable contributions to the economic success of nations. Research concerning the internationalization of SMEs is available in the context of developed economies but less is can be found dealing specifically with the entrepreneurial behavior and international expansion of SMEs in emerging markets such as India. This research extends the literature addressing the relationships surrounding the internationalization of SMEs in India as related to entrepreneurial behavior, firm resources, and commitment to internationalization. Entrepreneurial orientation, a commitment to internationalization, and the ability to leverage human capital influence the international success of Indian SMEs, based on the analysis of data collected from 150 Indian SMEs.     

Entrepreneurial orientation,market orientation,network ties,and performance: Study of entrepreneurial firms in a developing economy

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO), market orientation (MO) and network ties are typically modeled as separate antecedents of performance. However, the boundary conditions for such models are under-explored, as is their applicability to developing economy settings. Accordingly, drawing on institutional and social capital theories, the current paper argues that the performance benefits of EO and MO are complementary, and vary across different levels of social and business network ties. Using primary data gathered from entrepreneurial firms operating in Ghana, the study findings indicate that aligning high levels of EO and MO improves business performance, and particularly so when social and business network ties are well developed, since under these latter conditions, the performance benefits of aligning EO and MO are greatest.     

Context in international business: Entrepreneurial internationalization from a distant small open economy

Context matters in International Business, but to what extent does it influence the content of knowledge? This study offers a systematic literature review on the internationalization of New Zealand firms. A geographically isolated small open economy (SMOPEC) with audacious trade aspirations, a strong domestic institutional environment, favorable attitude toward trade, and entrepreneurial small-to-medium size enterprises (SMEs), New Zealand provides an enlightening context to study internationalization. Using a sample of 95 studies, the review identifies antecedents, stimuli, capabilities, strategy, process and outcomes underpinning internationalizing New Zealand firms (INZFs). Context matters but not in the manner anticipated. On one hand research on the internationalization of New Zealand firms is largely congruent with extant knowledge, on the other the New Zealand context shapes uniquely, how and what scholars choose to research.     

The differential and synergistic effects of market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation on hotel ambidexterity

Innovation ambidexterity has surprisingly received limited attention in hospitality research. Using data from 101 Jordanian hotels analyzed with PLS structural equation modeling, this paper reports a double differential effect of two strategic orientations, market orientation (MO) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO), on hotel ambidexterity. On the one hand, EO (MO) has a stronger impact on exploratory (exploitative) than on exploitative (exploratory) innovation. On the other hand, EO has a stronger impact than MO on both innovation forms. Furthermore, the synergy between EO and MO has a positive impact on exploitative and exploratory innovation, both of which in turn enhance hotel performance.     

Institutional pressures and international market orientation in SMEs: Insights from the French wine industry

In this research, we examine how external institutional pressures influence international market orientation (IMO) in small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs). We use institutional theory and insights from the international entrepreneurship literature to predict how different formal regulative pressures (from national and international sources) as well as different informal normative pressures (from distributors and end-consumers) influence IMO in SMEs. We test our hypotheses using survey data from 107 small wineries across all of the main wine-producing regions in France. The results provide support to the central assertion that it is outside pressures on decision-making – rather than an endowment of internal resources and capabilities – that influence IMO in SMEs. External regulative sources have the strongest effects with pressures on decision-making from national laws having a negative impact on IMO and those from international laws having a positive impact on IMO. We find partial support for the effect of normative pressures from distributors and end-consumers. Implications for theory and management of internationalization in small firms are discussed.     

Internationalization and entrepreneurial orientation of family SMEs: The influence of the family character

Internationalization is an important entrepreneurial strategy for promoting the long-term growth and survivability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Family involvement in top management teams (TMTs) can explain the heterogeneous behaviors of these firms’ international entrepreneurship process. This paper analyzes the moderating effects of the family’s influence on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and internationalization with two TMT diversities found only in family firms: the family TMT ratio and generational involvement. An analysis of 191 Spanish family SMEs indicated that entrepreneurial orientation plays a significant role in explaining the degree of internationalization in family firms and that a diversely formed TMT shapes this relationship. A high concentration of family members in managerial positions hinders the international entrepreneurship process. This fact highlights the importance of hiring non-family managers to promote internationalization. The results also reveal that involving multiple generations in decision-making hampers entrepreneurial internationalization, generating control and coordination problems.     

Born-global: The case of four Vietnamese SMEs

Despite the fact that many firms in a wide range of industries in various countries internationalize at or near inception, research on factors leading to the formation of born-globals has been limited to firms from advanced, open economies. In order to give a voice to the phenomenon of Vietnamese founding born-globals, we conducted an exploratory, multiple-case study. Three findings of this study are: (1) the major driver to the formation of Vietnamese born-globals is the entrepreneurs’ leadership desire together with the need for short-term profits; (2) their choice of internationalization mode is influenced by market conditions as well as the internationalization degree of the industries in which they find their business opportunities; and (3) the reason why other motivators found in earlier studies do not apply lies in the peculiarity of the Vietnam context.

The overestimated role of strategic orientations for international performance in smaller firms

This article examines how market orientation (MO) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) relate to international performance in small firms. Empirically, the article draws on survey data from 188 Swedish SMEs. Results show that strategic orientations have a very limited influence on international performance in these firms. Proactiveness and, to some extent, a market orientation proved positively associated with international performance, while innovativeness and risk taking show no such relationship. Our findings highlight the problems associated with using “traditional” MO and EO constructs in an SME setting and point to the need of developing more appropriate constructs tailored to this context. We also note that the MO construct was developed from a “causal view” of marketing, while successful small international firms rely more on effectuation logic. The article also contributes to the debate between the two dominant perspectives that address firms’ early internationalization processes: the process theory of internationalization and the international new venture perspective, where our results are in favor of the latter.

The innovativeness of Born-Globals and customer orientation: Learning from Indian Born-Globals

Born-Global firms, a newly emerging organizational form targeting international markets as a primary source of business from their inception, have innovativeness, requiring an intimate knowledge of their customer, as a primary feature. This study explores how a Born-Global's customer orientation leads to innovativeness through technological capability for customer relationship management (CRM) and external customer information management. Our empirical results, based on responses from 154 Indian managers, indicate that a Born-Global's customer orientation is an effective enabler of its innovativeness, whose effects are mediated by technological capability for CRM and external customer information management. Although significantly affected by customer orientation, the results further indicate that relationship quality with the buyer does not influence a Born-Global's innovativeness. When CRM technology and managing customer information obtained from external sources are employed, customer orientation significantly helps maintain the innovativeness of Born-Globals according to the results.     

The effects of entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation, and marketing subunit influence on firm performance

The study investigates how an organization’s entrepreneurial orientation moderates the interplay between market orientation and marketing subunit influence on firm performance. The hypothesized model predicts that the positive interaction between market orientation and marketing subunit influence has a weaker effect on firm performance under conditions of high entrepreneurial orientation. The regression and supplementary analyses provide support for most predictions and, most importantly, for a negative three-way interaction effect: At higher levels of entrepreneurial orientation, the positive moderating effect of marketing subunit influence on the market orientation–business performance relationship is reduced. The authors discuss the managerial and theoretical implications of their findings and provide a number of directions for further research.

Efficiency and effectiveness of small retailers: The role of customer and entrepreneurial orientation

While it is generally agreed that a customer and entrepreneurial orientation enhance company performance in large multi-national organizations, relatively little is known about how these variables influence the small retailers that form a substantial part of national economic well-being. This study investigates the potential influences of these factors on the performance of small retailers in Switzerland, because this nation has long had a reputation for creativity, innovation and a customer focus. Performance is viewed as a two dimensional concept including an effectiveness and an efficiency perspective. Data for this study were collected through personal interviews from 261 SMEs. While customer orientation is found to be positively related to both efficiency and effectiveness, results only show a positive impact from entrepreneurial orientation on effectiveness. At the same time, entrepreneurial orientation is found to be a driver of customer orientation, and thus having an indirect impact also on efficiency for the small retail firms. All in all, the study shows that small retailers do indeed put an emphasis on both customer and entrepreneurial orientation in spite of their limited resources. It also stresses that this will increase their competitive advantage. In the light of existing literature, limitations and future research directions are subsequently addressed.     

The moderating effect of brand orientation on inter-firm market orientation and performance

Abstract

While prior research has shown that market and brand orientation are key contributors to successful business performance, research to date has not fully explored how inter firm collaboration for these two key orientations can enhance business performance. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the relationship between inter-firm market and performance; to test for the moderating role of brand orientation in that relationship. A total of 169 completed pairs of surveys were collected of small and medium enterprises operating internationally in a variety of industries in Switzerland. The results show that inter-firm market and brand orientation are two antecedents of marketing and financial performance. The impact of inter-firm market on marketing and financial performance is significant when the brand orientation is favorable. This study extends previous research by examining the moderating role of brand orientation on inter firm market orientation, which is important, especially for firms wanting to increase their brand reputation by entering into partnerships with other firms. Further research is indicated, to identify the key moderators of the driving force of inter-firm market in relation to business performance and the reason why maintaining a strong brand presence is important in the international marketplace.     

Achieving sustained competitive advantage in retail and consumer service firms: The role of entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial bricolage

The vital role of entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial bricolage in creating sustained competitive advantage in retail and consumer service firms is increasingly acknowledged in modern markets. Using data from 246 retail and consumer service firms (hereafter R&CSFs) in Japan, this paper develops and empirically tests a framework delineating how entrepreneurial-oriented R&CSFs strategically combine existing resources while managing risks to differentiate their service portfolios to be competitive. The findings reveal that entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial bricolage influence differentiation advantage and risk management, which, in turn, is associated with creating a sustained competitive advantage (hereafter SCA). This paper adds novel insights to the dynamic capabilities view and retail and service marketing literature by identifying entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial bricolage, and risk management as dynamic capabilities, which allows R&CSFs to create service innovations in resource-constrained environments.