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Non-sequential internationalization processes in SMEs : The impact of strategic orientations

Studies of non-sequential internationalization are carried out against the background of research into international entrepreneurship (IE). To date they have been mainly confined to those firms that actually begin life as international companies, known variously as ‘born globals’ (BGs), ‘international New Ventures’ (INVs) or ‘global start-ups’. Yet established enterprises long focused on their domestic markets may also opt to internationalize nonsequentially. To date, such cases have been largely ignored by the existing literature or at best discussed in passing. Similarly, most models that attempt to establish necessary and sufficient conditions for IE have focused mainly in international start-ups. Also unanswered so far is the question of whether small and medium enterprises (SMEs) meet the requirements for non-sequential internationalization. Yet SMEs form a large proportion of all firms and are thus of enormous importance, both economically and socially. And, like other businesses, they are facing increasing pressures to go international. This paper, which is intended to provide a theoretical basis for further research, therefore aims to establish whether SMEs fulfill the conditions for non-sequential internationalization, actually or potentially. According to existing studies, neither managers’ objective characteristics nor organizational factors, have much direct impact on the internationalization of firms or on IE, because of their essentially proxy functions. Also financial resources are not a decisive factor for internationalization, although they are probably a necessary condition for it. On the other hand, as has been shown for SMEs and in general, firms’ intangible resources are of enormous importance for IE. Such resources consist of attitudes and behavioral predispositions at the individual and, to an even greater degree, organizational level. They thus reflect corporate culture and the strategic