Age at entry in international markets of Spanish SMEs: Entrepreneurial and institutional determinants

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research

Volumn 13, Issue 3, 2007, Pages 130-150

  Acedo, Francisco J ^a   Casillas, José C ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SEVILLE   (Spain)

Author keywords

Entrepreneurialism; International marketing; Modelling; Small to medium sized enterprises; Spain

Indexed keywords

EID: 34247397430     PISSN: 13552554     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/13552550710751021     Document Type: Article

References (121)

1. Aaby, N.E. and Slater, S.F. (1989), “Management influences on export performance: a review of the empirical literature 1978-88”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 7-27.
2. Andersen, O. (1993), “On the internationalisation process of the firms: a critical analysis”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 209-31.
3. Athanassiou, N. and Nigh, D. (1999), “The impact of company internationalization on top management team advice networks: a tacit knowledge perspective”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 83-92.
4. Athanassiou, N. and Nigh, D. (2000), “Internationalization, tacit knowledge and the top management team of MNCs”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 341-59.
5. Athanassiou, N. and Nigh, D. (2002), “The impact of top management team's international business experience on the firm's internationalization: social networks at work”, Management International Review, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 157-81.
6. Autio, E., Sapienza, H.J. and Almeida, J.G. (2000), “Effects of age at entry, knowledge intensity and imitability on international growth”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 43 No. 5, pp. 909-24.
7. Axinn, C.N. (1988), “Export performance: do managerial perceptions make a difference?”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 61-71.
8. Bagozzi, R.P. and Fornell, C. (1982), “Theoretical concepts, measurements, and meaning”, in Fornell, C. (Ed.), A Second Generation of Multivariate Analysis, Vol. 1, Praeger, New York, NY, pp. 24-38.
9. Barclay, D., Higgins, C. and Thompson, R. (1995), “The partial least squares (PLS) approach to causal modelling: personal computer adoption and use as an illustration”, Technology Studies, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 285-309 (Special Issue on Research Methodology).
10. Becherer, R.C. and Maurer, J.G. (1999), “The proactive personality disposition and entrepreneurial behavior among small company presidents”, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 28-36.
11. Bell, J. (1995), “The internationalization of small computer software firms: a further challenge to ‘stage’ theories”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 29 No. 8, pp. 60-75.
12. Belsley, D.A. (1990), Conditioning Diagnostics: Collinearity and Weak Data in Regression, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY.
13. Bilkey, W.J. (1978), “An attempted integration of the literature on the export behavior of firms”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 33-46.
14. Bilkey, W.J. and Tesar, G. (1977), “The export behavior of smaller Wisconsin manufacturing firms”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 9, pp. 93-8.
15. Bloodgood, J.M. (2006), “Venture adolescence internationalization and performance implications of maturation”, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 67-84.
16. Bonnacorsi, A. (1992), “On the relationship between firm size and export intensity”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 605-35.
17. Burton, F.N. and Schlegelmilch, B.B. (1987), “Profile analices of non-exporters versus exporters grouped by export involvement”, Management International Review, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 38-49.
18. Calori, R., Johnson, G. and Sarnin, P. (1994), “CEO's cognitive maps and the scope of the organization”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 15 No. 6, pp. 437-57.
19. Carmines, E.G. and Zeller, R.A. (1979), Reliability and Validity Assessment, Sage University Paper Series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, pp. 7-17.
20. Casson, M. (1987), The Firm and the Market: Studies on Multinational Enterprises and the Scope of the Firm, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
21. Caughey, M. and Chetty, S. (1993), “Pre-export behaviour of small manufacturing firms in New Zealand”, International Small Business Journal, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 62-8.
22. Cavusgil, S.T. and Naor, J. (1987), “Firm and management characteristics as discriminators of export marketing activity”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 221-35.
23. Chin, W.W. (1998), “The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling”, in Marcoulides, G.A. (Ed.), Modern Methods for Business Research, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publisher, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 295-336.
24. Chin, W.W. and Frye, T. (2003), PLS-Graph, Version 3.00 Build 1016, University of Houston, Houston, TX.
25. Coviello, N. and Munro, H. (1995), “Growing the entrepreneurial firm: networking for international market development”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 29 No. 7, pp. 49-61.
26. Coviello, N. and Munro, H. (1997), “Network relationships and the internationalisation process of the small software firm”, International Business Review, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 361-86.
27. Crick, D. and Chaudhry, S. (1997), “Export problems and Government assistance required by UK exporters. An investigation into the effect of ethnicity”, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 3-18.
28. Crick, D. and Chaudhry, S. (2000), “UK SME's awareness, use and perceptions of selected government export assistance”, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 72-89.
29. Dess, G.G. and Davis, P.S. (1984), “Porter's (1980) generic strategies as determinants of strategic group membership and organizational performance”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 467-88.
30. Dhanaraj, C. and Beamish, P.W. (2003), “A resource-based approach to the study of export performance”, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 41 No. 3, pp. 242-61.
31. Diamantopoulos, A. (1999), “Viewpoint. Export performance measurement: reflective versus formative indicators”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 16 No. 6, pp. 444-57.
32. Diamantopoulos, A. and Winklhofer, H. (2001), “Index construction with formative indicators: an alternative to scale development”, Journal of Marketing Research., Vol. 38 No. 2, pp. 269-78.
33. Dichtl, E., Koeglmayr, H.G. and Mueller, S. (1990), “International orientation as a precondition for export success”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 23-41.
34. DiMaggio, P. and Powell, W. (1983), “The iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields”, American Sociological Review, Vol. 48, pp. 147-60.
35. Dimitratos, P. and Jones, M.V. (2005), “Future directions for international entrepreneurship research”, International Business Review, pp. 119-28.
36. Eriksson, K., Johanson, J., Majkgard, A. and Sharma, D.D. (2000), “Effect of variation on knowledge accumulation in the internationalization process”, International Studies of Management & Organization, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 26-45.
37. Eshghi, A. (1992), “Attitude-behavior inconsistency in exporting”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 40-61.
38. Etemad, H. (2004), “Internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises: a grounded theoretical framework and overview”, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 1-21.
39. Fornell, C. and Bookstein, F.L. (1982), “A comparative analysis of two structural equation models: Lisrel and PLS applied to market data”, in Fornell, C. (Ed.), A Second Generation of Multivariate Analysis, Vol. 1, Praeger Publishers, New York, NY, pp. 289-324.
40. Fornell, C. and Larcker, D. (1981), “Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 39-50.
41. Forsgren, M. (2002), “The concept of learning in the Uppsala internationalization process model: a critical review”, International Business Review, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 257-77.
42. Gaba, V., Pan, Y. and Ungson, G.R. (2002), “Timing of entry in international market: an empirical study of US Fortune 500 firms in China”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 39-55.
43. Geisser, S. (1974), “A predictive approach to the random effect model”, Biometrika, Vol. 61, pp. 101-7.
44. Gray, B.J. (1997), “Profiling managers to improve export promotion targeting”, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 287-321.
45. Guillén, M.F. (2002), “Structural inertia, initiation, and foreign expansion: South Korean firms and business groups in China, 1987-95”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 45 No. 3, pp. 509-25.
46. Gupta, A.K. and Govindarajan, V. (1984), “Business unit strategy, managerial characteristics, and business unit effectiveness at strategy implementation”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 25-41.
47. Hadjikhani, A. (1997), “A note on the criticisms against the internationalization process model”, Management International Review, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 43-67.
48. Hambrick, D.C. and Mason, P.A. (1984), “Upper echelons: the organizations as reflection of its managers”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 193-206.
49. Harland, S. and Wheeler, C. (2000), “Reflections on entry mode choice”, paper presented at the 26th Annual Conference of the European International Business Academy, Maastrich, December 10-12, available at: www.fdewb.unimaas.nl/eiba2000/program/papers/harland.pdf.
50. Harveston, P.D., Kedia, B.L. and Davis, P.S. (2000), “Internationalization of born global and gradual globalizing firms: the impact of the manager”, Advances in Competitiveness Research, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 92-100.
51. Haunschild, P.R. and Miner, A.S. (1997), “Modes of interorganizational imitation: the effects of outcome salience and uncertainty”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 42 No. 3, pp. 472-501.
52. Haveman, H.A. (1993), “Follow the leader: mimetic isomorphism and entry into new markets”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 38 No. 4, pp. 593-627.
53. Hirsch, R., Honig-Haftel, S., McDougall, P.P. and Oviatt, B. (1996), “International entrepreneurship: past, present and future”, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 5-8.
54. Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., Camp, S.M. and Sexton, D.L. (2001), “Guest editors' introduction to the special issue ‘Strategic entrepreneurship: entrepreneurial strategies for wealth creation’”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 22 Nos 6/7, pp. 479-91.
55. Ibeh, K.I.N. (2003), “Toward a contingency framework of export entrepreneurship: conceptualisations and empirical evidence”, Small Business Economics, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 49-68.
56. Ibeh, K.I.N. and Young, S. (2001), “Exporting as an entrepreneurial act: an empirical study of Nigerian firms”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 35 Nos 5/6, pp. 566-86.
57. Johanson, J. and Vahlne, J.E. (1977), “The internationalization process of the firm: a model of knowledege development and increasing foreign market commitments”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 8, pp. 23-32.
58. Johanson, J. and Vahlne, J.E. (1990), “The mechanism of internationalism”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 11-25.
59. Johanson, J. and Wiedersheim-Paul, F. (1975), “The internationalization of the firm”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 305-23.
60. Julien, P.A. and Ramangalahy, C. (2003), “Competitive strategy and performance of exporting SMEs: an empirical investigation of the impact of their export information search and competencies”, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 227-45.
61. Knight, G.A. and Liesch, P.W. (2002), “Information internalisation in internationalising the firm”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 55 No. 12, pp. 981-95.
62. Laurila, J. and Ropponen, M. (2003), “Institutional conditioning of foreign expansion: some evidence from Finnish-based paper industry firms, 1994-2000”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 40 No. 3, pp. 725-51.
63. Lautanen, T. (2000), “Modelling small firms' decisions to export – evidence from manufacturing firms in Finland”, Small Business Economics, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 107-24.
64. Lee, W.Y. and Brasch, J.J. (1978), “The adoption of export as an innovative strategy”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 85-94.
65. Leonidou, L.C., Katsikeas, C.S. and Piercy, N. (1998), “Identifying managerial influences on exporting: past research and future directions”, Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 74-103.
66. Lloyd-Reason, L. and Mughan, T. (2002), “Strategies for internationalisation within SMEs: the key role of the owner manager”, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 120-30.
67. Lu, J.W. (2002), “Intra- and inter- organizational imitative behavior: institutional influences on Japanese firms' entry mode choice”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 19-37.
68. McDougall, P.P. (1989), “International versus domestic entrepreneurship: new venture strategic behavior and industry structure”, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 4, pp. 387-99.
69. McDougall, P.P. and Oviatt, B.M. (2000), “International entrepreneurship: the intersection of two paths. guest editor”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 42 No. 5, pp. 902-8.
70. McDougall, P.P., Shane, S. and Oviatt, B.M. (1994), “Explaining the formation of international new ventures: the limits of theories from international business research”, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 9 No. 6, pp. 469-87.
71. Manolova, T.S., Brush, C.G., Edelmal, L.F. and Greene, P.G. (2002), “Internationalization of small firms”, International Small Business Journal, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 9-31.
72. Markóczy, L. (2000), “From demography to cognitive measurements. A personal journey”, paper presented at the Academy of Management Symposium, available at: www.goldmark.org/livia/papers/.
73. Mizruchi, M.S. and Fein, L.C. (1999), “The social construction of organizational knowledge: a study of the uses of coercive, mimetic, and normative isomorphism”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 44 No. 4, pp. 653-84.
74. Moini, A.H. (1995), “An inquiry into successful exporting: an empirical investigation using a three-stage model”, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 9-25.
75. Moini, A.H. (1998), “Small firms exporting: how effective are government export assistance programs?”, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 1-16.
76. Moon, J. and Lee, H. (1990), “On the internal correlates of export stage development: an empirical investigation in the Korean electronics”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 7 No. 5, pp. 16-26.
77. Morrow, J.F. (1988), “International entrepreneurship: a new growth opportunity”, New Management, Vol. 3, pp. 59-61.
78. Nunnally, J. (1978), Psychometric Theory, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
79. Oesterle, M.J. (1997), “Time span until internationalization: foreign market entry as a built-in-mechanism of innovations”, Management International Review, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 125-49.
80. Oliver, C. (1988), “The collective strategy framework: an application to competing predictions of isomorphism”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 543-62.
81. Oliver, C. (1991), “Strategic responses to institutional processes”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 145-79.
82. Oviatt, B.M. and McDougall, P.P. (1994), “Toward a theory of international new ventures”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 45-64.
83. Poutziouris, P. (2003), “The strategic orientation of owner-managers of small ventures. Evidence from the UK small business economy”, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 185-214.
84. Reuber, R. and Fischer, E. (1997), “The influence of the management team's international experience on the internationalization behaviors of SMEs”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 807-25.
85. Rialp, A., Rialp, J. and Knight, G.A. (2005), “The phenomenon of early internationalizing firms: what do we know after a decade (1993-2003) of scientific inquiry”, International Business Review, pp. 147-66.
86. Robertson, C. and Chetty, S.K. (2000), “A contingency-based approach to understanding export performance”, International Business Review, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 211-35.
87. Rogers, E.M. (1983), Diffusion of Innovations, The Free Press, New York, NY.
88. Roldán, J.L. and Leal, A. (2003), “A validation test of an adaptation of the DeLone and McLean's model in the Spanish EIS field”, in Cano, J.J. (Ed.), Critical Reflections on Information Systems. A Systemic Approach, Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, PA, pp. 66-84.
89. Sadler-Smith, E. (1999), “Intuition-analysis cognitive style and learning preferences of business and management studies”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 26-38.
90. Sambharya, R.B. (1996), “Foreign experience on top management teams and international diversification strategies of U.S. multinational corporations”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17 No. 9, pp. 739-46.
91. Scott, W.R. (1987), “The adolescence of institutional theory”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 493-511.
92. Sellin, N. (1995), “Partial least square modeling in research on educational achievement”, in Bos, W. and Lehmann, R.H. (Eds), Reflections on Educational Achievement; Papers in Honour of T. Neville Postlethwaite, Waxmann Munster, New York, NY.
93. Shane, S. and Venkataraman, S. (2000), “The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 217-26.
94. Sitkin, S.B. and Weingart, L.R. (1995), “Determinants of risky decision-making behavior: a test of the mediating role of risk perceptions and propensity”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38 No. 6, pp. 1573-93.
95. Stone, M. (1974), “Cross validatory choice and assessment of statistical predictions”, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, pp. 111-33, Series B 36.
96. Strang, D. and Soule, S.A. (1998), “Diffusion in organizations and social movements: from hybrid corn to poison pills”, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 265-91.
97. Strang, D. and Tuma, N.B. (1993), “Spatial and temporal heterogeneity in diffusion”, The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 99 No. 3, pp. 614-40.
98. Tanny, S. and Derzko, N. (1988), “Innovators and imitators in innovation diffusion modelling”, Journal of Forecasting, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 225-35.
99. Tihanyi, L., Ellstrand, A.E., Daily, C.M. and Dalton, D.R. (2000), “Composition of the top management team and firm international diversification”, Journal of Management, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 1157-77.
100. Ursic, M.L. and Czinkota, M.R. (1984), “An experience curve explanation of export expansion”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 159-68.
101. Vallaster, C. (2000), “Strategic decision making as an emerging process of social representations in multi-cultural organizations,” Marketing in a Global Economy. Proceedings of the American Marketing Association: The International Marketing Educators Conference in Buenos Aires (Argentina), June 18-25.
102. Vida, I. (2000), “An empirical inquiry into international expansion of US retailers”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 454-75.
103. Westhead, P. (1995), “Exporting and non-exporting small firms in Great Britain. A matched pairs comparison”, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 6-36.
104. Westphal, J.D. and Fredickson, J.W. (2001), “Who directs strategic change?”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 22 No. 12, pp. 1113-37.
105. Wiedersheim-Paul, F., Olson, H.C. and Welch, L.S. (1978), “Pre-export activity: the first step in internationalization”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 47-58.
106. Wiersema, M.F. and Bantel, K.A. (1992), “Top management team demography and corporate strategic change”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 91-121.
107. Wold, H. (1979), “Model construction and evaluation when theoretical knowledge is scarce: an example of the use of partial least squares”, Cahiers du Département D'Économétrie. Genève: Faculté des Sciences Économiques et Sociales, Université de Genève, Genève.
108. Zahra, S. and Dess, G.G. (2001), “Entrepreneurship as a field of research: encouraging dialogue and debate”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 8-10.
109. Zahra, S.A. and George, G. (2002), “International entrepreneurship: the current status of the field and future research agenda”, in Hitt, M., Ireland, D., Sexton, D. and Camp, M. (Eds), Strategic Entrepreneurship: Creating an Integrated Mindset, Strategic Management Series, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, pp. 255-88.
110. Zahra, S.A., Korri, J.S. and Yu, J. (2005), “Cognition and international entrepreneurship: implications for research on international opportunity recognition and exploitation”, International Business Review, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 129-46.
111. Zou, S. and Stan, S. (1998), “The determinants of export performance: a review of the empirical literature between 1987 and 1997”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 333-56.
112. Brockner, J., Higgins, E.T. and Low, M.B. (2004), “Regulatory focus theory and the entrepreneurial process”, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 203-20.
113. Entrialgo, M., Fernández, E. and Vázquez, C.J. (2000), “Psychological characteristics and process: the role of entrepreneurship in Spanish SMEs”, European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 137-49.
114. Eriksson, K., Johanson, J. and Majkgard, A. (1997), “Experiential knowledge and cost in the internationalization process”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 337-60.
115. Hunt, R.G., Krzystofiak, F.J., Meindl, J.R. and Yousry, A.M. (1989), “Cognitive style and decision making”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 436-53.
116. Katsikeas, C.S. and Morgan, R.E. (1994), “Differences in perceptions of exporting problems based on firm size and export market experience”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 17-35.
117. Kickul, J. and Gundry, L.K. (2002), “Prospecting for strategic advantage: the proactive entrepreneurial personality and small firm innovation”, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 40 No. 2, pp. 85-97.
118. Lorsch, J.W. and Morse, J.J. (1974), Organizations and Environment, Irwin, Homewood, IL.
119. Robey, D. and Taggart, W. (1981), “Measuring managers' minds: the assessment of style in human information processing”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 375-84.
120. Westerberg, M., Singh, J. and Häckner, E. (1997), “Does the CEO matter? An empirical study of small Swedish firms operating in turbulent environments”, Scandinavian Journal of Management, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 251-70.
121. Wood, R. and Bandura, A. (1989), “Social cognitive theory of organizational management”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 361-85.