Competing on the edge: Implications of network position for internationalizing small- and medium-sized enterprises |
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Authors: | Denis Odlin Maureen Benson-Rea |
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Institution: | Department of Management and International Business, University of Auckland Business School, New Zealand |
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Abstract: | Three generic competitive strategies attributed to internationalizing SMEs of targeting niches, differentiating products and leveraging networks fail to adequately explain how SMEs win customers in other countries against both large and small competitors. This study distinguishes competitive strategy (how firms compete) from competitive advantage, and from competitive engagements where firms deploy their competitive advantages to win customers within business network relationships. By abductively reasoning from the competitive engagements entered into by the internationalizing SMEs from the Fleet Management Systems industry segment in New Zealand, we show that these firms often compete with foreign rivals by using their position on the edge of a business network to leverage information asymmetries across structural holes. We contribute by integrating this conception of internationalizing SME competitive strategy with the business network foundations of the Uppsala internationalization process model. |
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Keywords: | Competition SME internationalization Business network Structural holes Uppsala internationalization process Born global |
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