IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ids/ijesbu/v15y2012i2p191-212.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The internationalisation process of small- and medium-sized firms and the liability of complexity

Author

Listed:
  • Antonella Zucchella
  • Per Servais

Abstract

This contribution focuses on the process related to the decision of entry into a complex market, as a relevant expression of international entrepreneurial attitude from a small firm. The construct of market complexity has rarely been adopted and explored in the international business literature, even though it may represent a useful complement in the market foreignness theory, in order to reach a deeper understanding of the liability of foreignness. Market complexity encompasses psychic distance, institutional distance, cultural distance and additionally includes the foreign market heterogeneity and volatility, competitive conditions and channels to access to market opportunities (distribution channels, business networks). An empirical research based on six case studies highlights the different dimensions of the liability of complexity, its subjective and objective nature, the influence on entry modes selection and the impact on the firms' knowledge base after the entry into a complex market.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonella Zucchella & Per Servais, 2012. "The internationalisation process of small- and medium-sized firms and the liability of complexity," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 15(2), pages 191-212.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijesbu:v:15:y:2012:i:2:p:191-212
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=45204
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nikhil Ghag & Padmanav Acharya & Vivekanand Khanapuri, 2022. "Prioritizing the Challenges Faced in Achieving International Competitiveness by Export-Oriented Indian SMEs: a DEMATEL Approach," International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 12-24, December.
    2. Magnani, Giovanna & Zucchella, Antonella & Floriani, Dinorá Eliete, 2018. "The logic behind foreign market selection: Objective distance dimensions vs. strategic objectives and psychic distance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 1-20.
    3. Oparaocha, Gospel Onyema, 2015. "SMEs and international entrepreneurship: An institutional network perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 861-873.
    4. Antonella Zucchella & Birgit Hagen & Stefano Denicolai & Monica Masucci, 2016. "Early and accelerated internationalisation: the role of the niche strategy in a new generation of exporters," International Journal of Export Marketing, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(1), pages 27-47.
    5. Costa, Eric & Soares, António Lucas & de Sousa, Jorge Pinho, 2016. "Information, knowledge and collaboration management in the internationalisation of SMEs: A systematic literature review," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 557-569.
    6. Giovanna Magnani & Antonella Zucchella & Dinorà Eliete Floriani, 2015. "Relativity and asymmetry in distance. The role of strategic distance in the internationalization decisions of Brazilian and Italian firms," DEM Working Papers Series 111, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management.
    7. Birgit Hagen & Antonella Zucchella, 2014. "Born Global or Born to Run? The Long-Term Growth of Born Global Firms," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 497-525, August.

    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:ids:ijesbu:v:15:y:2012:i:2:p:191-212. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sarah Parker (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=74 .

    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.