José C. Casillas

Entrepreneurial Orientation and Growth of SMEs: A Causal Model

The literature existing on entrepreneurship implicitly assumes that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and growth orientation are positively related with each other. However, few studies, whether theoretical or empirical, analyze such relation in an explicit manner. Instead, most previous works have focused on the EO–performance relation, even though growth and profitability do not always correlate positively. This work has been carried out on a sample of 434 SMEs, and contributes two novelties with regard to previous research: (1) the analysis focuses on the EO–growth relation; and (2) it uses a flexible method (Partial Least Squares) which allows the study of several simultaneous relationships. The results reveal the complexity of the relationships between EO, strategy, environment, resources and growth.

Speed in the Internationalization Process of the Firm

While firm internationalization processes have been understood as being dynamic, the dimension of speed has rarely been the main focus of research efforts, which, until a decade ago, focused principally on explaining sequences of entry modes and choices of markets. The emergence of the study of international entrepreneurship has enhanced the role of speed, although this has usually been measured in terms of the time lag between a firms foundation and its initial international action, with little attempt at defining and explaining the speed of the process once it is under way. This study reviews the concept of speed from an internationalization perspective, describes the multidimensional nature of the concept and sets out the different aspects that link timescales with the types of changes – continuous and discontinuous – that take place during internationalizing processes. The paper concludes with a research agenda as a guide for future work on considering the role of speed in the internationalization process.

High-growth SMEs versus non-high-growth SMEs: a discriminant analysis

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the main variables that allow one to distinguish between high-growth firms and non-high-growth firms. Theoretically, we discuss such differences through a combination of economic (external approach) and strategic (internal approach) visions. Empirically, this paper provides two differences with regard to previous literature: (1) the primary goal of our work is not to provide an outright explanation of firm growth; rather, we aim to establish what characteristics enable us to distinguish between high-growth and non-high-growth firms. This aspect determines the methodology used (discriminant analysis with dichotomic dependent variable); and (2) firm high growth is understood as an extraordinary growth in comparison with the average growth of other firms in the same industry, and not in absolute terms. The results show that in the main high-growth firms are different from moderate-growth firms or declining firms because of their smaller size (which is contrary to Gibrats Law), their higher availability of idle resources (consistent with the theory of resources and capabilities), and in some cases, their lower availability of financial resources (consistent with the existing literature on entrepreneurship).

A Configurational Approach of the Relationship Between Entrepreneurial Orientation and Growth of Family Firms

The present research aims to improve scholars’ understanding of the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and the growth of family firms in two areas. The authors propose that the EO—growth relationship is contingent on different contextual variables—environmental dynamism and environmental hostility—and an internal variable—generational involvement. Also, they consider EO to be a composite construct integrated from and related to different independent dimensions. Using information from 317 Spanish family firms, results show that (a) EO positively influences growth only in second-generation family businesses, (b) the moderating influence of the generational involvement is related to the risk-taking dimension, and (c) dynamism and hostility of the environment, respectively, moderate the relationship between EO and growth in a positive sense.

The relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and growth: The moderating role of family involvement

Lumpkin and Dess [Lumpkin, G.T., and G.G. Dess. 1996. Clarifying the entrepreneurial orientation construct and linking it to performance. Academy of Management Review 21, no. 1: 135–72] established the basis of their research agenda on the relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) and company performance. A wide range of research has incorporated different moderating variables and dimensions of performance, such as profitability, growth, etc. Our work proposes the degree of family involvement comprising a moderating variable in the relationship between EO and company growth. This paper pursues to analyse the influence of family involvement on the relationship between EO and company growth. The empirical study was developed using a sample of 449 small- and medium-sized companies in Spain. The proposed hypotheses were tested using hierarchical linear regression. The results obtained reveal the influence of innovativeness and proactiveness on the growth of a company. However, when family involvement is included as a moderating variable in the equation, a new influence on growth is born from the interaction between innovativeness and family involvement and the interaction between risk-taking and family involvement.

Evolution of the Intellectual Structure of Family Business Literature: A Bibliometric Study of FBR

This article aims at identifying the characteristics of the family business as a differentiated field within management. For that aim, we use author co-citation analysis (ACA) to identify different research trends within the field, studying all the papers published in the Family Business Review from its foundation in 1988 through to the December 2005 issue. Results show that despite the literature being fragmented and showing a lack of consensus, we are facing, in Kuhns words, a development of the research frontier by enlarging the number of approaches used for understanding the family business.

Managerial capabilities and paths to growth as determinants of high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises

This article attempts to examine the role of management capabilities and their relationship with the form of growth chosen by high-growth businesses using a resource based view perspective. The results of the analysis show that when selecting the type of strategy to achieve high growth, not all the capabilities of management are important. In order to grow fast and intensively, small and medium-sized businesses should possess high capabilities in specific functional areas. Businesses’ marketing and financial capabilities are positively associated with market expansion and innovation and as such are two ingredients to achieve high growth.

Internationalisation of Spanish family SMEs: an analysis of family involvement

The aim of this work is to analyse the influence of family involvement on a company in the context of the firms internationalisation. The work incorporates some of the most current perspectives from the international business field. From these reflections, we propose a causal explanatory model whose ultimate dependent variable is the firms level of internationalisation, considering independent variables both at the individual and company level (including family influence). The model is tested on a sample of 222 Andalusian firms (Spain), using a structural equation modelling technique (Partial Least Squares – PLS). The results show how the family involvement plays a mediating role when considering the internationalisation of family firms. Some of the conclusions may give useful insights for public agencies responsible for fostering SME internationalisation as well as for the academic world.

Learning, unlearning and internationalisation: Evidence from the pre-export phase

The internationalisation process has been described as a process of learning under which a business increases its commitment abroad as the company acquires knowledge on new markets and on the nature of the process itself. The present work proposes a model that relates the possession of a base of knowledge originated in supra-organisational, organisational and individual sources, as the actively new decision of seeking knowledge related to the start of the exporting activity. Integrating the literature on the pre-export behaviour of the business and the theory of organisational learning, we propose that such relationship is influenced by two dimensions: the export intention and the context of unlearning. The sample included 103 SMEs in the pre-exporting phase. Results support the conception of the process of internationalisation as a process of learning under which a prior base of knowledge is combined with periods of unlearning and a search for new knowledge.

The relationship between timing of entry into a foreign market, entry mode decision and market selection:

Companies that decide to internationalize have to respond to some basic questions, such as where and how to carry out their strategy. Classic literature regarding the internationalization process has focused on entry mode and market selection decisions. However, the recent international entrepreneurship perspective considers a new dimension: timing of entry. This new approach has opened up a new line of research, arguing that time is a dimension that must be explicitly considered in order to develop a proper understanding of the internationalization process of firms. However, very few papers have looked at all these questions from this perspective in an integrative manner. This article puts forward a proposal about the relationship that exists between the timing of entry into foreign markets, the entry mode decision, and market/country selection. Starting with a review of the variables that have traditionally been used to explain timing of entry and then looking at the different forms of internationalization, the aim of this article is to propose a link between these important questions in order to increase our understanding of a company’s internationalization process.