Andrea Tracogna

Beyond entry mode – SME escalation in emerging markets: a conceptual framework

Drawing on core theories of international business research, this conceptual paper moves from a focus on the firms’ ‘entry mode’ decisions towards an interesting aspect of small firms’ international behaviour – namely their escalation of commitment to emerging markets. Escalation is the dynamic aspect of the entry strategy (and international form of presence) and refers to the change in the mode of presence that firms experience in a market over time. Several studies report that small and medium sized firms (SMEs) face difficulties in escalating in emerging markets. The paper investigates this issue by building a conceptual framework that links the escalation of a firm’s commitment in an emerging market to a firm’s endowment of resources and capabilities, as well as to the feedback it receives from the market and to the moderating impact of institutional voids – a key contextual aspect of emerging markets.

Processi di innovazione e fattori di competitività nei cluster internazionali della nautica

Il paper si propone di sviluppare sul piano teorico e di dare una prima applicazione empirica ad un modello di analisi dei cluster che contribuisca alla spiegazione del rapporto esistente tra le caratteristiche dei contesti locali e la natura dei processi di innovazione. Il framework adottato cerca di superare la proliferazione di approcci esplicativi alla materia e di collocare entro uno schema interpretativo unitario le diverse variabili di contesto che stanno alla base delle performance innovative e competitive delle imprese. La ricerca empirica, che si e focalizzata su cinque cluster nautici di assoluta eccellenza internazionale, ha consentito di mettere in evidenza lo stretto rapporto tra le basi di conoscenza in essi prevalenti e l’ampiezza dei processi di innovazione realizzati, nonche la varieta dei possibili percorsi di emergenza della governance di sistema e l’impatto di questa sulle performance del cluster e le sue dinamiche evolutive. Parole chiave: cluster, distretti, RIS, innovazione, nautica, governance In this paper we develop a theoretical framework aimed at providing a thorough explanation of the relationship between local contexts and firm innovation. After summarizing the main theoretical approaches on localized innovation, we combine their major variables into a unique framework and use it in order to analyze five world-class boat-building clusters. Among our most noteworthy empirical findings, we found a relationship between the prevailing knowledge bases of the clusters and the scope of innovation processes. Further, we found that different governance systems have different impact on the cluster’s performance and dynamics. Key words: clusters, districts, RIS, innovation, boat-building, governance

The Growth Challenge of Western SMES in Emerging Markets: An Exploratory Framework and Policy Implications

In this paper, we explore the main inhibiting factors associated with the process of entry and escalation of SMES in international markets, with a focus on Emerging Markets. We identify and propose seven main categories of Institutional Voids and three main types of resources that may critically determine SMES’ performances on EMS, namely, internationalization knowledge, social capital resources and marketing capabilities. Institutional Voids and resources are brought together within a conceptual framework suggesting that resource-scarce SMES will hold back in their attempts to commit further to Emerging Markets and will be further dissuaded the higher the Institutional Voids in the market. The paper contributes to the policy literature on SME internationalization by focusing on two areas of public policy action that could have a clear and manifest impact on SMES conduct in Emerging Markets, the first related to the resources available to and exploitable by SMES and the latter associated with Institutional Voids.

SME export performance, capabilities and emerging markets: the impact of institutional voids

In this paper we address the theme of the export performance of the SME in the context of emerging markets. Surveying a sample of 200 exporting SMEs, we test specific hypotheses concerning the role of Institutional Voids (IVs) both in directly affecting the export performance of the SME and in moderating the positive impact of the SMEs resources and capabilities. Our results show that while directly hampering the export performance of the SME, IVs also have a negative moderating role on the firms marketing capabilities.