Cluster Membership, Knowledge and SMEs’ Internationalization

Several streams of literature have acknowledged the increasing importance of knowledge in firms’ internationalization. Knowledge is considered to be fundamental to the firm’s commitments to foreign markets in the framework of the process model of internationalization (Johanson and Vahlne 1990). Knowledge is treated as an enabling resource in the international new venture literature (McDougall et al 1994; Oviatt and McDougall 1997; Autio et al. 2000). Knowledge facilitates the processes of identifying and exploiting opportunities abroad according to the international entrepreneurship approach (Zahra et al. 2000; Zahra 2005). Knowledge is also emphasized as an important factor leading to international engagement in the literature on managerial determinants of international behaviour (Bloodgood et al. 1996; Reuber and Fisher 1997). The importance of both planning-based knowledge (Yip et al. 2000) and experiential knowledge (Johanson and Vahlne 1990; Michailova and Wilson 2008) is recognized for driving internationalization of large, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The importance of SMEs has been growing, and at present they account for approximately 30 per cent of exports and 10 per cent of foreign direct investment globally (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] 2006).