Title      
Internationalization dynamics of small and medium-sized enterprises

Objectives

• to investigate what enables firms to go to the international market,
• to analyse what enables firms to spread in the international market.

Summary     

The traditional context of international business is challenged by the wider both-ways mobility of the hard and soft economic, political and cultural factors. New consumer groups, new preferences and supplies of products and services, new forms of organizations and management, new institutions and rules and new firms from different corners of the globe are registering them in international business landscape in a regular manner to make the international business as one of the most dynamic systems.  

Academia and mangers are in great need for an adaptation to this dynamism. The dominant approaches of firm internationalization, e.g. incremental process approach and born-global, are quite rigid to their own theoretical and empirical boundaries. An accommodative theoretical approach capable of explaining internationalization of firms from both high and mature technology branch and from developing and developed countries is a felt necessary. SEPT, as a highly international school in terms of its students’ and researchers’ profile, has been putting substantial resources in this purpose. 

The SEPT research group has developed a capability-based evolutionary model of firm internationalization. This model focuses on explaining two generic but fundamental issues relating to internationalization of firms e.g. what enable the firms to get into international market, and what enable the firms to spread into the international market. Theoretically this model integrates the process dimension of ‘incremental approach’ and individual dimensions of the ‘born global approach’. The SEPT model unearths the process of competency evolution relating to a firm’s operational process and its organizational psychological dimensions. It also suggests the capability mixes for different phases of internationalization of firms. 

The SEPT research team has tested the applicability of this model with different case studies and surveys on the internationalization firms from different industries including small engineering, furniture and woodworking, leather goods, medicinal herbs, wood and jewelery, pharmaceuticals from Germany, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Bolivia and Bangladesh. Empirical results are encouraging and have been presented in different relevant international conferences. 

As an ongoing priority project, the SEPT research group is in the process of improving the model as a more generalized model of firm internationalization. The SEPT team is currently working to test validity of the model in a 'global value chain' context with particular samples of firms from the PVC industry of Thailand and technology-based suppliers from Colombia. As a committed and pioneering centre for SME education and research, the SEPT team is working on a project to test this model with SMEs in Bolivia. 

The SEPT team is always enthusiastic and open to explore relevant critical dimensions of their capability-based interpretation of firm internationalization. The SEPT research group participates and contributes regularly in different relevant conferences, discussions and forums to share knowledge with other similar groups and institutions.

Regions/Countries     
Germany, Chile, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand.

Funding     
DAAD