Despite being resource-constrained, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are active in internationalization. This study aims at exploring how SMEs foster strategic agility and enhance export performance while facing unprecedented disruptions and challenges in the global business environment. By the synthesis of the network theory and entrepreneurship literature, this study proposes network capability and entrepreneurial leadership as critical determinants of SMEs’ strategic agility in response to environmental dynamism, which further influence the export performance outcomes. Drawing on a sample of 465 Taiwanese SMEs, our findings indicate that the increased strategic agility and export performance are derived from a SME’s effort in enlarging its network in export communities and exhibiting its entrepreneurial leadership, as well as confronting environmental uncertainties. This study thereby enriches the extant knowledge on SMEs’ internationalization in the turbulent times. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed to make contributions in the international business research.

This study employs fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to explore configurations leading to distinct financial and non-financial export performance outcomes among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in New Zealand. Examining five key factors – speed of international entry, post-entry speed of market diversification (PSM), post-entry speed of product diversification (PSP), psychic distance (PD), and local competitive intensity – the research reveals complex causal pathways contributing to SMEs' success in international markets. We found evidence that these factors do not function in isolation, but rather interact in a dynamic and complex manner, shaping the internationalization journey and performance results of SMEs. We identified seven equifinal configurations linked to high financial performance and four to high non-financial performance. These results indicate that success in internationalization is multifaceted and complex; there is no singular, optimal path to achieving desired export performance through rapid internationalization. Instead, companies can achieve superior results through diverse, strategically distinct approaches, depending on specific conditions. The study exemplifies how different dimensions of speed of internationalization, intertwined with contextual factors of home and host countries, shape SME export performance, offering a nuanced perspective on strategic decision-making in international business.

This paper examines the factors, process internationalization of Swiss medical device small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Prior to the main data collection, a pilot study with a group of five independent experts from the Swiss medical device sector was undertaken and thereafter mixed methods study was adopted to gather quantitative data from ninety-two (92) respondents who held senior managerial positions in the Swiss medical device sector. Subsequently 11 participants from the sector were interviewed to provide a more in-depth explanation of the internationalization processes in the sector. Our findings shows that the lack of resources and market knowledge significantly influenced how, why, and where Swiss SMEs in the medical device sector internationalized. Psychological proximity to foreign countries was the most important factor driving internationalization. Most SMEs took a process-oriented approach in their internationalization efforts and relied on exports with distribution partners in neighboring German-speaking countries. Other motivators were the home market's limited dimensions, the necessity to grow into other markets and clientele, and investment in possible international partnerships. SMEs also faced numerous economic and social obstacles, including regulatory hurdles and language barriers in the targeted country.

This paper analyzes the effect of managers’ overconfidence on the initial foreign location choice of SMEs. Despite previous literature on the Internationalization Process (IP) model, our understanding of the sources of deviations from the proposed incremental internationalization approach remains limited because prior research overlooked the role of the manager in such decisions. We propose a cognitive mechanism incorporating the perception of the benefit-loss quota as a mediator between managers’ overconfidence and their preference in the initial foreign location choice. We empirically test this relationship with an incentivized vignette study conducted with 116 managers of Austrian manufacturing SMEs. Our findings suggest that differences in managers’ cognition lead to variations in initial foreign location choices and therefore explain differences between SMEs' internationalization endeavors. This study enriches the discussion surrounding the IP model by offering a theoretical rationale for non-incremental initial foreign location choices and highlights the influential role of managers’ cognitive biases.