When small businesses go international: alliances as a key to entry
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify the reasons for the internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through strategic alliances and to understand how this internationalisation process evolves.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, the authors decided on a qualitative approach and performed exploratory case studies of two SMEs in Portugal.
Findings
The authors found that in forming alliances, SMEs aim to increase sales and reduce costs. After the analysis, the authors believe that learning about other markets and cultures as well as having appropriate national partners are the key aspects in the internationalisation of SMEs through strategic alliances.
Practical implications
The authors revealed the influence of national partners in the internationalisation process. The firms in the study established alliances with national firms to facilitate international market entry. This holds in particular for partners that already have some international experience. Building partnerships with national firms allows the combination of competencies and requires a lower amount of internationalisation know-how on the part of the cooperating firms.
Originality/value
In spite of the opportunities going along with strategic alliances, there is only limited empirical evidence of their impact on the internationalisation process and vice-versa. This holds particularly true for the realm of SMEs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments that contributed to the development of this paper. They gratefully acknowledge financial support from FCT and FEDER/COMPETE through grant PEst-C/EGE/UI4007/2013.
Citation
Haase, H. and Franco, M. (2015), "When small businesses go international: alliances as a key to entry", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 37-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-03-2014-0032
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited