Antonella Zucchella

Geographical pathways for SME internationalization: insights from an Italian sample

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of two distinct geographic pathways to internationalization for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Regional and global pathways are juxtaposed to study the influence on export performance of selected key intangible resources, namely, innovation, human resource management, networking and the firms experience.Design/methodology/approach – Building upon a resource‐based view of the firm, Tobit regression models are used to test the hypotheses on a sample of 2,657 Italian manufacturing firms.Findings – The paper provides empirical evidence that the determinants of SME export performance vary in line with the geographic scope of internationalization. While product innovation (innovation) positively impacts on SME export performance, irrespective of export destination, other factors do so selectively. For example, location in industrial districts (networking) and the deployment of external managers (human resource management) exclusivel...

Niche Strategy and Export Performance

Small firms can approach foreign markets notwithstanding their limited resources by adopting a niche strategy. This permits to understand how SMEs can reach high levels of export intensity and broad geographic scope. Moreover, a global niche approach permits to explain – among other factors – why and how infant firms can be international or even global since their inception. The case studies analysis shows a positive relation between niche strategy and high international performance, in terms of export intensity, precocity, speed, and scope. The international expansion of niche firms is based on an horizontal micro-segmentation of the global market: they move internationally following global customers, independently from the psychic/geographical distance, and compete mostly on a non-price basis.

Conceptualizations to Advance Born Global Definition: A Research Note

The ‘Born Globals’ (BGs) have now been studied for over a decade and yet the conceptualizations and theory development are at an initial phase. This article was written to clarify the definition of a BG firm, and focus on its characteristics. BGs deviate considerably when contrasted with traditional internationalizing Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Most importantly their vision is global, they have global products which are of unique and specialized nature, and they have accelerated internationalization capability from inception.

Industry 4.0, global value chains and international business

This paper aims to provide an assessment of how the widespread adoption of new digital technologies (i.e. the Internet of things, big data and analytics, robotic systems and additive manufacturing) might affect the location and organisation of activities within global value chains (GVCs).,The approach in this paper is to review various sources about the potential adoption and impact of the new digital technologies (commonly known collectively as Industry 4.0), to contrast these technologies with existing technologies, and to consider how the new technologies might lead to new configurations involving suppliers, firms and customers.,The authors report that the new digital technologies have considerable potential to disrupt how and where activities are located and organised within GVCs), and who captures the value-added within those chains. They also report that Industry 4.0 is still in its infancy, but that its effects are already having an impact upon the nature of competition and corporate strategies in many industries.,In particular, the authors draw attention to the potential cyber-risks and implications for the privacy of individuals, and hence, the need for regulation.,This is the first published paper to consider the likely separate and joint impacts of the new digital technologies on the practice and theory of international business.

International Business Studies

Both entrepreneurship and international business are fields of research that have seen an increasing number of studies during the last decade (McDougall and Oviatt, 1997, 2000; Zahra and Garvis, 2000). Entrepreneurship and international business are strictly interrelated because entering and venturing into foreign markets are viewed as entrepreneurial activities for the firm (Ibeh and Young, 2001; Lumpkin and Dess, 1996; Zahra and George, 2002).

The International Growth of e-Commerce Ventures

At the beginning of the internet era in the 1990s, the hypothesis of a borderless world was put forward and profound changes in international business practices were imagined (for example, Quelch and Klein, 1996; Hamill, 1997). Hamill (1997, p.300) saw the internet as ‘a fundamentally different environment … and new international marketing paradigms may have to be developed to explain internationalization processes’.

Strategic Management Studies

Entrepreneurial firms, as deduced from the description of the entrepreneur, are considered as enterprises led by the entrepreneur-founder or managed by corporate entrepreneurs who have recognized and exploited successfully a business opportunity, assuming risk-taking, innovative and proactive decisions. This strategy is pursued by means of the entrepreneurial process where opportunities, unique resources and organizational assets are combined and converged to support each other.

The dynamics of the outsourcing relationship

Purpose To provide a theoretical explanation of why outsourcing relationships are inherently dynamic, in that the dependence of each party upon the other inevitably changes over time and thus so too will the power asymmetries between the parties. Methodology/approach Our approach is theoretical and draws upon insights from resource dependence theory, transaction cost economics, and the resource-based view of the firm, to focus on the power asymmetries between the focal firm undertaking the outsourcing and its suppliers. We illustrate our arguments using a longitudinal case study of the evolving relationship between Apple and the Foxconn Technology Group. Practical implications For supplier firms, the message is to upgrade, develop distinctive resources and capabilities, and diversify the customer base. Otherwise, suppliers will forever be condemned to low operating margins and the threat of being replaced by cheaper, more agile rivals. For focal firms, the message is not to rest on your laurels. The potency of isolating mechanisms may well dissipate, suppliers will no doubt strive to lessen their positions of dependence and competitors will inevitably emerge, with the result that once-profitable outsourcing arrangements may quickly erode. Originality/value We highlight the crucial role played by isolating mechanisms to underpin power asymmetries in outsourcing relationships, and thus enable focal firms to appropriate the rents from externalized value chain activities. We argue that the efficacy of many isolating mechanisms will tend to dissipate over time as competitors emerge to imitate successful strategies and products, and as resource and capability asymmetries erode.

The resilience strategies of SMEs in mature clusters

Purpose The purpose of this paper, according to the evolutionary perspective of resilience, is to provide a revised adaptive cycle model that explains how organisations that are embedded in a local system can foster their resilience. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory case study analysis was carried out. The study adopted the methods and principles proposed by Eisenhardt (1989). Case studies were selected according the match-pair method and consist of two Italian wineries operating into the same wine cluster. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed through descriptive statistics and qualitative data analysis techniques. Findings The study proposes a revised model for the resilience strategies of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which combines firm and cluster level. Findings show that the resilience of SMEs is primarily driven by internal resilience strategies, and their surviving and adapting capacity, from a certain point of the evolutionary cycle, is fostered by internal decisions rather than by the influence of the external environment. Research limitations/implications The study has some limitations. In particular, the exploratory survey does not permit the generalisation of results, and further empirical evidence is required. This research represents an initial step toward the development of a more exhaustive understanding of how the relationship SMEs-cluster can positively or negatively affect the resilience of organisations. Practical implications The proposed model for the resilience strategies of SMEs offers also insights for managers and entrepreneurs. Originality/value This study significantly contributes to theory on resilience in the management field, that is largely related to economic geography, while investigations about the resilience at the firm level are limited and inconclusive.

Building the future through real value creation and innovation: achieving competitiveness in a chaotic world

This paper aims at providing a perspective of innovation processes, long term and real value oriented, and at suggesting a normative model. This TPM model intends to present an appropriate methodological framework, based on systemic analysis, where the diverse functions of the different elements of the system, their interrelations and their interactions, in time, are coming out. Creative management has to integrate a large variety of knowledge and behaviour, as illustrated in the model.