IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/32153.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Foreign markets entry mode decision for SMEs. Key factors and role of industrial districts

Author

Listed:
  • Musso, Fabio
  • Francioni, Barbara

Abstract

The principal aim of this paper was to examine the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in regard to the entry mode selection process. To successfully accomplish this, a resource-based view model was used to investigate the primary factors influencing a SMEs’ international entry mode. Data was obtained during direct interviews with owners/managers of SMEs in Italy. The results revealed that entry mode decisions were primarily influenced by firm specific factors, above all organizational culture. The study also illustrated that SMEs were not influenced by their belonging to an industrial district.

Suggested Citation

  • Musso, Fabio & Francioni, Barbara, 2009. "Foreign markets entry mode decision for SMEs. Key factors and role of industrial districts," MPRA Paper 32153, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:32153
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/32153/1/MPRA_paper_32153.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erin Anderson & Hubert Gatignon, 1986. "Modes of Foreign Entry: A Transaction Cost Analysis and Propositions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 17(3), pages 1-26, September.
    2. Mike Wright & Paul Westhead & Deniz Ucbasaran, 2007. "Internationalization of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and International Entrepreneurship: A Critique and Policy Implications," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(7), pages 1013-1030.
    3. Tan, Benjamin & Erramilli, Krishna & Liang, Tan Wee, 2001. "The influence of dissemination risks, strategic control and global management skills on firms' modal decision in host countries," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 323-340, June.
    4. Charles W. L. Hill & Peter Hwang & W. Chan Kim, 1990. "An eclectic theory of the choice of international entry mode," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 117-128, February.
    5. M Krishna Erramilli & Sanjeev Agarwal & Chekitan S Dev, 2002. "Choice Between Non-Equity Entry Modes: An Organizational Capability Perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(2), pages 223-242, June.
    6. Fabio Musso & Mario Risso, 2006. "CSR Within Large Retailers International Supply Chains," Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management, University of Milano-Bicocca, issue 1 Corpora.
    7. Foss, Nicolai J. (ed.), 1997. "Resources, Firms, and Strategies: A Reader in the Resource-Based Perspective," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198781790.
    8. Sylvie Chetty & Henrik Agndal, 2008. "Role of Inter-organizational Networks and Interpersonal Networks in an Industrial District," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 175-187.
    9. Quer, Diego & Claver, Enrique & Andreu, Rosario, 2007. "Foreign market entry mode in the hotel industry: The impact of country- and firm-specific factors," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 362-376, June.
    10. Gatignon, Hubert & Anderson, Erin, 1988. "The Multinational Corporation's Degree of Control over Foreign Subsidiaries: An Empirical Test of a Transaction Cost Explanation," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 305-336, Fall.
    11. Pol Herrmann & Deepak K. Datta, 2006. "CEO Experiences: Effects on the Choice of FDI Entry Mode," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 755-778, June.
    12. Brouthers, Keith D. & Brouthers, Lance Eliot & Werner, Steve, 1996. "Dunning's eclectic theory and the smaller firm: The impact of ownership and locational advantages on the choice of entry-modes in the computer software industry," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 377-394, August.
    13. Yigang Pan & David K Tse, 2000. "The Hierarchical Model of Market Entry Modes," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 31(4), pages 535-554, December.
    14. Bruce Kogut & Harbir Singh, 1988. "The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 19(3), pages 411-432, September.
    15. Anoop Madhok, 1997. "Cost, Value And Foreign Market Entry Mode: The Transaction And The Firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 39-61, January.
    16. Pepe, Cosetta & Musso, Fabio & Risso, Mario, 2010. "The social responsibility of retailers and small and medium suppliers in international supply chains," MPRA Paper 57943, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2010.
    17. Consoli, Domenico & Musso, Fabio, 2010. "Marketing 2.0: A new marketing strategy," MPRA Paper 31116, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Daniele Cerrato & Mariacristina Piva, 2012. "The internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises: the effect of family management, human capital and foreign ownership," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 16(4), pages 617-644, November.
    19. P. N. O'Farrell & P. A. Wood & J. Zheng, 1998. "Regional Influences on Foreign Market Development by Business Service Companies: Elements of a Strategic Context Explanation," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 31-48.
    20. Richard De Martino & David Mc Hardy Reid & Stelios C. Zygliodopoulos, 2006. "Balancing localization and globalization:exploring the impact of firm internationalization on a regional cluster," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 1-24, January.
    21. Fabio Musso, 2011. "Relational Dynamics within Vertical Business Networks: The Need for a Transdiscplinary Approach," Annals - Economic and Administrative Series -, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, vol. 5(1), pages 131-148, December.
    22. Fabio Musso, 2010. "Innovation in Marketing Channels," Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management, University of Milano-Bicocca, issue 1 Marketi.
    23. George Nakos & Keith D. Brouthers, 2002. "Entry Mode Choice of SMEs in Central and Eastern Europe," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(1), pages 47-63, January.
    24. Chen, Homin & Chen, Tain-Jy, 2003. "Governance structures in strategic alliances: transaction cost versus resource-based perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 1-14, February.
    25. F. Xavier Molina-Morales, 2002. "Industrial districts and innovation: the case of the Spanish ceramic tiles industry," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 317-335, October.
    26. Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin, 1989. "Ownership structures of foreign subsidiaries : Theory and evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 1-25, January.
    27. W Chan Kim & Peter Hwang, 1992. "Global Strategy and Multinationals' Entry Mode Choice," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 23(1), pages 29-53, March.
    28. McDougall, Patricia Phillips & Oviatt, Benjamin M., 1996. "New venture internationalization, strategic change, and performance: A follow-up study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 23-40, January.
    29. Molina-Morales, F. Xavier, 2001. "European industrial districts: Influence of geographic concentration on performance of the firm," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 277-294.
    30. Davidson, William H., 1983. "Market similarity and market selection: Implications for international marketing strategy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 439-456, December.
    31. Ivo Zander & Udo Zander, 2005. "The Inside Track: On the Important (But Neglected) Role of Customers in the Resource‐Based View of Strategy and Firm Growth," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(8), pages 1519-1548, December.
    32. M Krishna Erramilli, 1991. "The Experience Factor in Foreign Market Entry Behavior of Service Firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 22(3), pages 479-501, September.
    33. James D Goodnow & James E Hansz, 1972. "Enviromental Determinants of Overseas Market Entry Strategies*," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 3(1), pages 33-50, March.
    34. Mingchun Sun & Edison Tse, 2009. "The Resource‐Based View of Competitive Advantage in Two‐Sided Markets," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 45-64, January.
    35. Mitja Ruzzier & Bostjan Antoncic & Maja Konecnik, 2006. "The Resource-based Approach to the Internationalisation of SMEs: Differences in Resource Bundles between Internationalised and Non-Internationalised Companies," Zagreb International Review of Economics and Business, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, vol. 9(2), pages 95-116, November.
    36. Sanjeev Agarwal & Sridhar N Ramaswami, 1992. "Choice of Foreign Market Entry Mode: Impact of Ownership, Location and Internationalization Factors," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 23(1), pages 1-27, March.
    37. Cawthorne, Pamela M., 1995. "Of networks and markets: The rise and rise of a South Indian town, the example of Tiruppur's cotton knitwear industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 43-56, January.
    38. J R Brown & C S Dev & Z Zhou, 2003. "Broadening the foreign market entry mode decision: separating ownership and control," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(5), pages 473-488, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Musso, Fabio & Francioni, Barbara, 2011. "Foreign Markets Entry Mode Decision for Italian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises," MPRA Paper 50067, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 31 Oct 2011.
    2. Canabal, Anne & White III, George O., 2008. "Entry mode research: Past and future," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 267-284, June.
    3. Montserrat Álvarez, 2003. "Wholly-Owned Subsidiaries Versus Joint Ventures: The Determinant Factors in the Catalan Multinational Manufacturing Case," Working Papers 2003/5, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    4. Quer, Diego & Claver, Enrique & Andreu, Rosario, 2007. "Foreign market entry mode in the hotel industry: The impact of country- and firm-specific factors," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 362-376, June.
    5. Parente, Ronaldo & Choi, Byeongyong Paul & Slangen, Arjen H.L. & Ketkar, Sonia, 2010. "Distribution system choice in a service industry: An analysis of international insurance firms operating in the United States," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 275-287, September.
    6. Erdener Kaynak & Mehmet Demirbag & Ekrem Tatoglu, 2007. "Determinants of ownership-based entry mode choice of MNEs: Evidence from Mongolia," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 505-530, October.
    7. Bell, J.H.J., 1996. "Joint or Single Venturing? : An Electric Approach to Foreign Entry Mode Choice," Other publications TiSEM 06f84735-3cf5-432f-8bc8-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Javalgi, Rajshekhar (Raj) G. & Deligonul, Seyda & Ghosh, Amit K. & Lambert, Douglas M. & Cavusgil, S. Tamer, 2010. "Foreign market entry mode behavior as a gateway to further entries: The NAFTA experience," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 209-222, June.
    9. Zhi Shen & Francisco Puig & Justin Paul, 2017. "Foreign Market Entry Mode Research: A Review and Research Agenda," The International Trade Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 429-456, October.
    10. Sels, A.T.H., 2006. "Foreign direct investment as an entry mode. An application in emerging economies," Other publications TiSEM 583ca9b5-1691-425d-8f77-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Czinkota, Michael R. & Grossman, David A. & Javalgi, Rajshekhar (Raj) G. & Nugent, Nicholas, 2009. "Foreign market entry mode of service firms: The case of U.S. MBA programs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 274-286, July.
    12. José Pla-Barber & Fidel León-Darder & Cristina Villar, 2011. "The internationalization of soft-services: entry modes and main determinants in the Spanish hotel industry," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 5(2), pages 139-154, June.
    13. Anil, Ibrahim & Tatoglu, Ekrem & Ozkasap, Gaye, 2014. "Ownership and market entry mode choices of emerging country multinationals in a transition country: evidence from Turkish multinationals in Romania," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 19(4), pages 413-452.
    14. Chen, Haiyang & Hu, Michael Y., 2002. "An analysis of determinants of entry mode and its impact on performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 193-210, April.
    15. Brouthers, Keith D. & Brouthers, Lance Eliot & Werner, Steve, 1996. "Dunning's eclectic theory and the smaller firm: The impact of ownership and locational advantages on the choice of entry-modes in the computer software industry," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 377-394, August.
    16. Mehmet Demirbag & Ekrem Tatoglu & Keith W. Glaister, 2008. "Factors affecting perceptions of the choice between acquisition and greenfield entry: The case of Western FDI in an emerging market," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 5-38, February.
    17. Wrona, Thomas & Trąpczyński, Piotr, 2012. "Re-explaining international entry modes – Interaction and moderating effects on entry modes of pharmaceutical companies into transition economies," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 295-315.
    18. Burçak Polat, 2017. "FDI entry mode choice and ownership structure in Turkish market: A firm-level analysis," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 1283762-128, January.
    19. Morschett, Dirk & Schramm-Klein, Hanna & Swoboda, Bernhard, 2010. "Decades of research on market entry modes: What do we really know about external antecedents of entry mode choice?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 60-77, March.
    20. Surdu, Irina & Mellahi, Kamel, 2016. "Theoretical foundations of equity based foreign market entry decisions: A review of the literature and recommendations for future research," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 1169-1184.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Small and medium sized enterprises; Resource based view; Entry modes; Industrial Districts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:32153. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.