Enhancing factors of business internationalization: A model for portuguese smes

Abstract

Nowadays, firms need to engage in a continuous innovation process and constantly restructure their operations to meet the requirements of national but, most of all, international competition. Failure to act internationally may lead to a loss of market opportunities, but also to a more severe inability to survive in the long run. Firms must find new ways to develop a competitive advantage, which entails searching for and acquiring new skills, resources and capabilities. Knowledge is an important strategic resource due to its impact on firms’ competitive capacity. In many instances, firms, including international new ventures, may access those resources, including the market–specific knowledge, through alternative ways of governance, such as “industrial networks”. In this work, through an empirical study with 320 Portuguese international firms, a Theoretical Model that measures the enhancing factors of business internationalization is presented, with evidence of the importance of Networks, of “Specific Skills of its workers”, “International Experience of its workers” and of “Entrepreneurial Propensity and to take risks from workers and top management team”, in accordance to Human Capital Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, International New Ventures Theory, and the Population Ecology Approach.