IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/worbus/v55y2020i6s1090951620300389.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A capabilities perspective on the joint effects of internationalization time, speed, geographic scope and managers’ competencies on SME survival

Author

Listed:
  • Freixanet, Joan
  • Renart, Gemma

Abstract

This study examines the effect of key internationalization contingencies on SME survival. We argue early internationalization increases the probability of firm failure, while international experience reduces it. However, the survival odds among international new ventures may be improved by their post-entry international expansion scope and speed, and by managers’ competencies. These internationalization facets provide firms with opportunities to develop and exploit their resources and capabilities, and thus enhance their survival chances. Drawing on a sample of 271 manufacturers followed between 2005 and 2014, we find results that provide support to most of our arguments, and hold theoretical and managerial relevance.

Suggested Citation

  • Freixanet, Joan & Renart, Gemma, 2020. "A capabilities perspective on the joint effects of internationalization time, speed, geographic scope and managers’ competencies on SME survival," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(6).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:55:y:2020:i:6:s1090951620300389
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2020.101110
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090951620300389
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jwb.2020.101110?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhou, Lianxi & Wu, Aiqi, 2014. "Earliness of internationalization and performance outcomes: Exploring the moderating effects of venture age and international commitment," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 132-142.
    2. Gary A Knight & S Tamar Cavusgil, 2004. "Innovation, organizational capabilities, and the born-global firm," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 35(2), pages 124-141, March.
    3. Kent Eriksson & Jan Johanson & Anders Majkgård & D. Deo Sharma, 2015. "Experiential Knowledge and Cost in the Internationalization Process," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Mats Forsgren & Ulf Holm & Jan Johanson (ed.), Knowledge, Networks and Power, chapter 2, pages 41-63, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Alan M. Rugman & Alain Verbeke, 2005. "A Perspective on Regional and Global Strategies of Multinational Enterprises," Chapters, in: Analysis of Multinational Strategic Management, chapter 8, pages 104-119, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Efrat, Kalanit & Shoham, Aviv, 2012. "Born global firms: The differences between their short- and long-term performance drivers," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 675-685.
    6. Pierre-Xavier Meschi & Antonin Ricard & Ernesto Tapia, 2017. "Fast and Furious or Slow and Cautious? The Joint Impact of Age at Internationalization, Speed, and Risk Diversity on the Survival of Exporting Firms," Post-Print hal-01456066, HAL.
    7. Jan Johanson & Jan-Erik Vahlne, 1977. "The Internationalization Process of the Firm—A Model of Knowledge Development and Increasing Foreign Market Commitments," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 8(1), pages 23-32, March.
    8. Mie Augier & David J. Teece, 2009. "Dynamic Capabilities and the Role of Managers in Business Strategy and Economic Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 410-421, April.
    9. S Tamer Cavusgil & Gary Knight, 2015. "The born global firm: An entrepreneurial and capabilities perspective on early and rapid internationalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(1), pages 3-16, January.
    10. Pakes, Ariel & Ericson, Richard, 1998. "Empirical Implications of Alternative Models of Firm Dynamics," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 1-45, March.
    11. David M Reeb & Chuck C Y Kwok & H Young Baek, 1998. "Systematic Risk of the Multinational Corporation," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 29(2), pages 263-279, June.
    12. Robert Salomon & Byungchae Jin, 2010. "Do leading or lagging firms learn more from exporting?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(10), pages 1088-1113, October.
    13. Gongming Qian & Lee Li & Alan M Rugman, 2013. "Liability of country foreignness and liability of regional foreignness: Their effects on geographic diversification and firm performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(6), pages 635-647, August.
    14. Schwens, Christian & Kabst, Ruediger, 2009. "How early opposed to late internationalizers learn: Experience of others and paradigms of interpretation," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 509-522, October.
    15. Jean-François Hennart, 2007. "The theoretical rationale for a multinationality-performance relationship," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 423-452, June.
    16. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Chetty, Sylvie & Johanson, Martin & Martín Martín, Oscar, 2014. "Speed of internationalization: Conceptualization, measurement and validation," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 633-650.
    18. Meschi, Pierre-Xavier & Ricard, Antonin & Tapia Moore, Ernesto, 2017. "Fast and Furious or Slow and Cautious? The Joint Impact of Age at Internationalization, Speed, and Risk Diversity on the Survival of Exporting Firms," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 279-291.
    19. J. Michael Geringer & Stephen Tallman & David M. Olsen, 2000. "Product and international diversification among Japanese multinational firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 51-80, January.
    20. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    21. Gandrud, Christopher, 2015. "simPH: An R Package for Illustrating Estimates from Cox Proportional Hazard Models Including for Interactive and Nonlinear Effects," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 65(i03).
    22. Tan, Alvin & Brewer, Paul & Liesch, Peter W., 2007. "Before the first export decision: Internationalisation readiness in the pre-export phase," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 294-309, June.
    23. Marian V Jones & Nicole E Coviello, 2005. "Internationalisation: conceptualising an entrepreneurial process of behaviour in time," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(3), pages 284-303, May.
    24. Helfat, C.E. & Raubitschek, R.S., 2000. "Product Sequencing: Co-Evolution of Knowledge, Capabilities and Products," Papers 00-1, U.S. Department of Justice - Antitrust Division.
    25. Constance E. Helfat & Marvin B. Lieberman, 2002. "The birth of capabilities: market entry and the importance of pre-history," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(4), pages 725-760, August.
    26. Leonidou, Leonidas C. & Katsikeas, Constantine S. & Samiee, Saeed, 2002. "Marketing strategy determinants of export performance: a meta-analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 51-67, January.
    27. Kent Eriksson & Jan Johanson & Anders Majkgård & D. Deo Sharma, 2000. "Effect of Variation on Knowledge Accumulation in the Internationalization Process," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 26-44, March.
    28. Gary A Knight & S Tamer Cavusgil, 2004. "Innovation, organizational capabilities, and the born-global firm," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 35(4), pages 334-334, July.
    29. J. Myles Shaver, 1998. "Accounting for Endogeneity When Assessing Strategy Performance: Does Entry Mode Choice Affect FDI Survival?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(4), pages 571-585, April.
    30. Rajshree Agarwal & David B. Audretsch, 2001. "Does Entry Size Matter? The Impact of the Life Cycle and Technology on Firm Survival," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 21-43, March.
    31. Glenn Hoetker, 2007. "The use of logit and probit models in strategic management research: Critical issues," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 331-343, April.
    32. Constance E. Helfat & Ruth S. Raubitschek, 2000. "Product sequencing: co‐evolution of knowledge, capabilities and products," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 961-979, October.
    33. Sys, Christa, 2009. "Is the container liner shipping industry an oligopoly?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 259-270, September.
    34. Yadong Luo & Mike W Peng, 1999. "Learning to Compete in a Transition Economy: Experience, Environment, and Performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(2), pages 269-295, June.
    35. Anthony Goerzen & Paul W. Beamish, 2003. "Geographic scope and multinational enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(13), pages 1289-1306, December.
    36. Sui Sui & Matthias Baum, 2014. "Internationalization strategy, firm resources and the survival of SMEs in the export market," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(7), pages 821-841, September.
    37. Acedo, Francisco J. & Jones, Marian V., 2007. "Speed of internationalization and entrepreneurial cognition: Insights and a comparison between international new ventures, exporters and domestic firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 236-252, September.
    38. Kingsley, Allison F. & Noordewier, Thomas G. & Vanden Bergh, Richard G., 2017. "Overstating and understating interaction results in international business research," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 286-295.
    39. George P. Huber, 1991. "Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 88-115, February.
    40. Srilata Zaheer & Elaine Mosakowski, 1997. "The Dynamics Of The Liability Of Foreignness: A Global Study Of Survival In Financial Services," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(6), pages 439-463, June.
    41. Niron Hashai, 2011. "Sequencing the expansion of geographic scope and foreign operations by “born global” firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(8), pages 995-1015, October.
    42. Fuller, Christie M. & Simmering, Marcia J. & Atinc, Guclu & Atinc, Yasemin & Babin, Barry J., 2016. "Common methods variance detection in business research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 3192-3198.
    43. Shaker A Zahra, 2005. "A theory of international new ventures: a decade of research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(1), pages 20-28, January.
    44. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    45. Herbert A. Simon, 1991. "Bounded Rationality and Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 125-134, February.
    46. Sleuwaegen, Leo & Onkelinx, Jonas, 2014. "International commitment, post-entry growth and survival of international new ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 106-120.
    47. Wilkinson, Timothy & Brouthers, Lance Eliot, 2006. "Trade promotion and SME export performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 233-252, June.
    48. Boehe, Dirk Michael, 2014. "Strategic hedging: Evidence from Brazilian exporters," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 290-300.
    49. Freixanet, Joan, 2012. "Export promotion programs: Their impact on companies’ internationalization performance and competitiveness," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 1065-1086.
    50. Ram Mudambi & Shaker A Zahra, 2007. "The survival of international new ventures," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(2), pages 333-352, March.
    51. Joan Freixanet & Gemma Renart & Alex Rialp-Criado, 2018. "The Impact of Managers’ Global Orientation on SME Export and Economic Performance," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 571-604, August.
    52. Rosenbusch, Nina & Brinckmann, Jan & Bausch, Andreas, 2011. "Is innovation always beneficial? A meta-analysis of the relationship between innovation and performance in SMEs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 441-457, July.
    53. Benjamin M Oviatt & Patricia Phillips McDougall, 1994. "Toward a Theory of International New ventures," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 25(1), pages 45-64, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joan Freixanet & Ryan Federo, 2022. "When Born Globals Grow Up: A Review and Agenda for Research on the Performance of Maturing Early Internationalizers," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 62(6), pages 817-857, December.
    2. Rubina Romanello & Maria Chiarvesio, 2019. "Early internationalizing firms: 2004–2018," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 172-219, June.
    3. D’Angelo, Alfredo & Buck, Trevor, 2019. "The earliness of exporting and creeping sclerosis? The moderating effects of firm age, size and centralization," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 428-437.
    4. Baum, Matthias & Schwens, Christian & Kabst, Ruediger, 2015. "A latent class analysis of small firms’ internationalization patterns," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 754-768.
    5. Gripsrud, Geir & Hunneman, Auke & Solberg, Carl Arthur, 2023. "Speed of internationalization of new ventures and survival in export markets," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).
    6. Jiang, Guohua & Kotabe, Masaaki & Zhang, Feng & Hao, Andy W. & Paul, Justin & Wang, Cheng Lu, 2020. "The determinants and performance of early internationalizing firms: A literature review and research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    7. Meschi, Pierre-Xavier & Ricard, Antonin & Tapia Moore, Ernesto, 2017. "Fast and Furious or Slow and Cautious? The Joint Impact of Age at Internationalization, Speed, and Risk Diversity on the Survival of Exporting Firms," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 279-291.
    8. Khan, Zaheer & Lew, Yong Kyu, 2018. "Post-entry survival of developing economy international new ventures: A dynamic capability perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 149-160.
    9. Jeoung Yul Lee & Alfredo Jiménez & Timothy M. Devinney, 2020. "Learning in SME Internationalization: A New Perspective on Learning From Success versus Failure," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 485-513, August.
    10. Hashai, Niron & Zahra, Shaker A., 2022. "A double-edged sword? Founder Teams' Prior International Experience and INV International Scale-up," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(2).
    11. Li, Lei & Li, Dan & Goerzen, Anthony & Shi, Weilei (Stone), 2018. "What and how do SMEs gain by going international? A longitudinal investigation of financial and intellectual resource growth," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(6), pages 817-834.
    12. Yan, Jiaju & Williams, D.W., 2021. "Timing is everything? Curvilinear effects of age at entry on new firm growth and survival and the moderating effect of IPO performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    13. Acedo, Francisco J. & Coviello, Nicole & Agustí, María, 2021. "Caution ahead! The long-term effects of initial export intensity and geographic dispersion on INV development," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(6).
    14. D’Angelo, Alfredo & Ganotakis, Panagiotis & Love, James H., 2020. "Learning by exporting under fast, short-term changes: The moderating role of absorptive capacity and foreign collaborative agreements," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    15. Kano, Hirokazu, 2023. "Early internationalization and subsequent geographic expansion: An extended Penrosean perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(1).
    16. Petrou, Andreas P. & Hadjielias, Elias & Thanos, Ioannis C. & Dimitratos, Pavlos, 2020. "Strategic decision-making processes, international environmental munificence and the accelerated internationalization of SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    17. Riviere, Monica & Suder, Gabriele, 2016. "Perspectives on strategic internationalization: Developing capabilities for renewal," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 847-858.
    18. Knight, Gary A. & Liesch, Peter W., 2016. "Internationalization: From incremental to born global," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 93-102.
    19. Sadeghi, Arash & Aliasghar, Omid & Bouguerra, Abderaouf, 2023. "Unpacking the relationship between post-entry speed of internationalization and export performance of SMEs: A capability-building perspective," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(1).
    20. Głodowska Agnieszka & Pera Bożena & Wach Krzysztof, 2019. "International Strategy as the Facilitator of the Speed, Scope, and Scale of Firms’ Internationalization," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 27(3), pages 55-84, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:55:y:2020:i:6:s1090951620300389. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620401/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.