AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings - Academy of International ...

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factors that induce firms to accelerate their cycle of international learning and commitment, in particular the
roles of networks, acquisitions, big step commitments, managerial biases and the home country institutional
environment. (For more information, please contact: Klaus Meyer, China Europe International Business School,
China: kmeyer@ceibs.edu)
Session: 1.1.6 - Competitive
Track: 11 - SMEs and Entrepreneurship
Performance in SMEs and Born Globals
Presented On: July 1, 2012 - 09:00-10:15
Chair: Gary Knight, Florida State University
A Contingency-Based Perspective on International SMEs Performance
Bernhard Swoboda, University of Trier
Edith Olejnik, Trier University
Madeleine Boos, Trier University
Dirk Morschett, University of Fribourg
Small and medium-sized enterprises face unique performance challenges in the context of their
internationalization process. Adopting a contingency view, this study posits that SMEs' international performance
depends on their ability to fit the organizational elements planning processes, international structural integration
and international orientation to their internationalization strategy. Assuming that performance driver vary with
the internationalization strategy, we conduct multiple group analysis with a sample of 639 manufacturing SMEs
comparing configurations of traditional, born global and born-again global internationalization strategies.
Findings suggest that high-performing SMEs adapt organizational elements to their internationalization strategy
chosen. Since performance drivers vary across configurations, decisions on organizational elements cannot be
made independently from SMEs' internationalization strategy. (For more information, please contact: Bernhard
Swoboda, University of Trier, Germany: b.swoboda@uni-trier.de)
Understanding the Drivers of International Performance for Born Global Firms: An Integrated Perspective
Stephan Gerschewski, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Elizabeth L. Rose, Aalto University School of Economics
Val Lindsay, Victoria University of Wellington
Grounded in the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) and the network perspective on internationalisation and
drawing on the exporting, international entrepreneurship, network, and strategic management literatures, we
develop a model of early performance of born globals and test it on a sample of 310 firms from Australia and
New Zealand. A mixed methods approach, combining exploratory interviews and a web-based survey, is
employed. The study adopts a comparative perspective with non-born global firms, to enhance the robustness
of the findings for born globals. Our results suggest that international entrepreneurial orientation, focus on
product/service quality and competitor orientation serve as key drivers of early international performance for
born globals. In addition, customer engagement skills, and positioning as a "global company" rather than an
"exporter", help to explain variations in performance. The study contributes to the literature by developing and
testing an integrated performance model for born global firms, and by undertaking a comparative approach
between born globals with firms that adopt a more traditional approach to internationalisation. (For more
information, please contact: Stephan Gerschewski, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Korea, South:
stephange@hufs.ac.kr)
AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings
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