Internationalization strategy, firm resources and the survival of SMEs in the export market

Sui Sui and Matthias Baum
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Sui Sui: Global Management Studies Department, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Ontario, Canada
Matthias Baum: University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany

Journal of International Business Studies, 2014, vol. 45, issue 7, 841 pages

Abstract: Does “born-global” internationalization enhance or threaten a firm’s chances for survival in the export market? Despite the ongoing debate about born-global firms, we know little about what drives their survival in the export market. In particular, different theories yield conflicting predictions regarding whether born-global internationalization is superior or inferior to born-regional internationalization or gradual internationalization. Analyzing a longitudinal data set (from 1997 to 2005) of 1959 newly established Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we show that no single strategy is superior per se but that internationalization strategy moderates the relative importance of resources to SMEs’ survival abroad. Although resources are important for the survival of all SMEs, the relative importance of slack resources and innovation resources are most important for born-global firms followed by born-regional firms, and are the least important for gradual internationalizers.

Date: 2014
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