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Abstract

Although the international growth of entrepreneurial firms has received much attention over the past two decades, relatively little research has actually explored th e effects that differences in the firm’s product knowledge may have on their internationalization outcomes. Moreover, we know little about how entrepreneurial firms can leverage networks to impact the effect of knowledge on different types of international growth. Usi ng a sample of 279 Swiss SMEs, we find that product component knowledge drives internationa l sales growth of SMEs while it negatively impacts international scope expansion of SMEs. An d this relationship is moderated by the extent to which the SMEs we studied used their networks in their internationalization efforts. We derive implications for research on internationalization and entrepreneurship.

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