Internationalisation strategies of Small and Medium sized enterprises: The case of belgium
Onkelinx, Jonas Sleuwaegen, Leo
Onkelinx, Jonas
Sleuwaegen, Leo
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Publication Type
Journal article
Editor
Supervisor
Publication Year
2012
Journal
Review of Business and Economics
Book
Publication Volume
LVI
Publication Issue
2
Publication Begin page
128
Publication End page
146
Publication Number of pages
Collections
Abstract
This paper analyses the internationalisation strategies of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) exporting from Belgium. A distinction is made between International new ventures (INV), i.e. SMEs that begin to export soon after inception and traditional internationalising SMEs. A large and important group of INVs operate on a global scale. This contrasts with traditional internationalising firms, which typically concentrate sales in a few countries close to home. In examining strategic differences between internationalised SMEs, we find a clear association between SMEs that use a very focused strategy toward niche markets and INVs operating on a global scale. Traditional internationalisers occur more often in mass product markets. Using the same survey evidence, we similarly find the need for public support to be very different between the different strategic types of SME.