Antecedents of Accelerated Internationalisation of Polish and Czech Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Izabela Kowalik (), Lidia Danik (), Petr Král () and Hana Řezanková ()
Additional contact information
Izabela Kowalik: Warsaw School of Economics, Poland
Lidia Danik: Warsaw School of Economics, Poland
Petr Král: University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic
Hana Řezanková: University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic

Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 2017, vol. 5, issue 3, 31-48

Abstract: Objective: The study goal was the investigation of relationships between accelerated internationalisation descriptors and antecedent firm- and entrepreneur-related factors in Polish and Czech SMEs. Research Design & Methods: In order to compare Polish and Czech companies, the data collected in two independent studies were used. The study of 233 Polish companies was conducted with the use of CATI method in 2014; 108 Czech companies were surveyed in 2013/2014 with the use of CAWI method. In both samples half of the surveyed SME-exporters were conforming to the accelerated internationalisation criteria. Findings: In both samples the “global vision” elements and company internationalisation scale and speed were interrelated. In the Polish companies this relationship was moderated by company size. There was the lack of strong positive relationships between innovativeness and internationalisation speed and scale in both samples. Implications & Recommendations:The managerial mindset has a decisive role for accelerated internationalisation in both Czech and Polish SMEs. The innovativeness of offering is not indispensable for fast foreign expansion. Larger companies may expand abroad faster if they have internationally oriented managers. Contribution & Value Added:This work addresses a research gap concerning idiosyncrasies of internationalisation antecedents in Polish and Czech enterprises. As the results show, there is no common internationalisation pattern for Polish and Czech SMEs.

Keywords: internationalization antecedents; Born global model; two-country study; Czech Republic; Poland; SME (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F23 M13 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://eber.uek.krakow.pl/index.php/eber/article/download/267/pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:krk:eberjl:v:5:y:2017:i:3:p:31-48

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

Access Statistics for this article

Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review is currently edited by Krzysztof Wach, PhD, hab.

More articles in Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review from Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics. EBER Journal Cracow University of Economics Faculty of Economics and International Relations Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship ul. Rakowicka 27 31-510 Krakow Poland. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Piotr Stanek, PhD. ().