How do SMEs use support services during their internationalisation process: A comparative study of French traditional SMEs and INVs in Asia

Nathalie Belhoste (), Rachel Bocquet, Veronique Favre-Bonté and Frédéric Bally ()
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Nathalie Belhoste: EESC-GEM Grenoble Ecole de Management
Veronique Favre-Bonté: IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc
Frédéric Bally: IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc

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Abstract: This article integrates research on the internationalisation processes of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and export assistance services to investigate how such firms use support services drawing upon a large, qualitative study of 32 French traditional SMEs and international new ventures (INVs) that have entered Asia. Our key contribution is to consider the time to internationalisation (gradual or rapid) and the stage of internationalisation (entrance or intensification) rather than export intensity alone, and to examine how support services can help SMEs internationalise. The identification of different configurations of uses leads to the development of theoretical propositions that extend existing models pertaining to support services and firm internationalisation. These findings have several important managerial implications for support services to target their offer more precisely to two types of SMEs; they also provide useful guidance for SMEs to determine which tailor-made offerings from private and public actors are most applicable to their internationalisation efforts.

Keywords: international new ventures; internationalisation process; internationalisation support services; traditional small medium-sized enterprises (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-sbm and nep-sea
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02380381v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published in International Small Business Journal, 2019, 37 (8), pp.804-830. ⟨10.1177/0266242619871165⟩

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Working Paper: How do SMEs use support services during their internationalisation process: A comparative study of French traditional SMEs and INVs in Asia (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02380381

DOI: 10.1177/0266242619871165

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