British Journal of Management – DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12681
The Context Sensitivity of International Entrepreneurial Orientation and the Role of Process and Product Innovation Capabilities
Md Imtiaz Mostafiz, Mathew Hughes, Nazha Gali, Murali Sambasivan
Drawing on a contingency perspective of the resource-based view of the firm, we test the thesis that a relationship between international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) and the international performance of export-manufacturing firms is context-sensitive and contingent on innovation capabilities. Using time-lagged survey data from 369 Bangladeshi export-manufacturing firms in a least developed country (LDC) as an extreme empirical context, we predict that process and product innovation capabilities are essential to the relationship between IEO and international performance among export-manufacturing firms. We find that the effect of IEO on international performance is not positive; however, the relationship becomes positive when moderated by process and product innovation capabilities. International entrepreneurial firms in an LDC succeed when they can better align IEO-driven efforts with these capabilities. Our study advances knowledge on the context sensitivity of IEO and embellishes a resource-based theory of IEO.
British Journal of Management – DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12688
Understanding the De-internationalization of Entrepreneurial SMEs in a Volatile Context: A Reconnoitre on the Unique Compositions of Internal and External Factors
Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi, Hannan Amoozad Mahdiraji, Pawan Budhwar, Demetris Vrontis
In recent years, the global business environment has witnessed a wave of de-internationalization not only among multinationals but also among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This disengagement of cross-border activities is deemed to be driven by various firm-specific factors, as well as by external factors. Building on the premise of the non-linear internationalization debate and focusing on the dynamic capabilities view and institutional theory, this paper aims to disentangle the extent to which internal factors (IFs) and external factors (EFs) drive SMEs towards de-internationalization. To do this, we take advantage of a hybrid multilayer decision-making mathematical modelling approach to explore SME de-internationalization at two levels. Our findings at the exhaustive level contribute to the de-internationalization literature by proposing distinct frameworks that highlight the interrelationship amongst IFs and EFs. And our results at the subordinate level constitute the identification of four unique compositions leading to different de-internationalization modes. In this vein, we define two categories of factors, namely reducing and terminating factors, which drive SMEs into respectively partial and full de-internationalization.
Small Enterprise Research – Special Issue on Resilient growth and international entrepreneurship, guest-edited by Profs. Lasse Torkkeli and Sharon Loane contains several interesting IE articles on topics such as business model innovation and adaptation and exporting during a pandemic. The table of contents of this new issue can be found here.