Given the essence and the growing scale of the migration phenomenon, immigrant entrepreneurship has become an important area of research in social sciences. In terms of paths and processes of internationalisation, they demonstrate heterogeneous practices. Immigrant-owned Entrepreneurial SMEs (IESMEs), besides smaller size and newness; face more liabilities and limitations in dealing with multifaceted complexities arising from their legal, political, and social embeddedness, to support their international growth. Therefore, this study addresses calls for more research on immigrants and entrepreneurship in the context of international business for a better understanding of the performance antecedents and processes of internationalising IESMEs.

How might the quadratic configurations of entrepreneurial orientation, absorptive capacity, digitalisation, and institutional voids contribute to the internationalisation of UESMEs? Further, how would digitalisation contribute to the interdependent relationship among these conditions in initiating and shaping internationalisation?

The current thesis explores the nature and features of mixed embeddedness in the entrepreneurial journeys of immigrant and returnee entrepreneurs. Mixed embeddedness has been playing a crucial role in explaining innovation, internationalization, and firm performance in international business. It has been understood differently in different contexts, however a core idea underlying the concept is the engagement and connectivity between different actors in the entrepreneurial system. Despite its importance, little has been known about from where and how mixed embeddedness is formed and developed. Moreover, researchers often argue that mixed embeddedness brings benefits to entrepreneurship without thoroughly considering necessary conditions. As entrepreneurship is a multi-dimensional entity where it impacts and be impacted by both internal and external environments, mixed embeddedness should be put in a contextual specific to argue its effect on firm performance. It could be also evolving during different phases of entrepreneurship. Literature has failed to address this changing feature of mixed embeddedness. Thus, this research aims to address various aspects of mixed embeddedness and determine how and when embeddedness is utilized as a contextual factor or a determinant of different outcomes in entrepreneurial endeavors, thereby contributing to both theoretical and practical development of the field.

Research attention is shifting from concentrating only on central cities to comprehending the dynamic interaction of location and economics in smaller towns as the contextual focus on geography and "place" has grown. Our knowledge of smaller-town entrepreneurship as a phenomena is still limited. Contextualised entrepreneurship research has been recommended in acknowledging that spatial context provides a better understanding of economic behaviour.

Town centres, aesthetics, social features, and degrees of centralised services in small towns are very different from those in large, global cities which provide a variety of stakeholders that support enterprises economically. Applying large-city theories to smaller towns can mask the subtle differences between the two. The studies within the thesis aim to identify specific opportunities for theoretical advancements related to entrepreneurship in smaller towns and in particular with a key understanding of the impacts that the digital age has presented.

Critical dimensions of the internationalisation process, such as the digital context and the specific role of the individual entrepreneur have been identified as missing core features in empirical theories such as the Uppsala Model.

Thus, "The Impact of Digitalisation on Internationalisation of SMEs in Small and Medium-Sized Towns" serves as the primary thesis for this doctoral dissertation.

The development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has played a vital role in the domestic economic activity, specifically providing employment opportunities hence generating secondary and primary sources of income for citizens in Palestine. The study focuses on identifying the factors that affect SMEs' export performance while examining the barriers they experience when engaging in global trade. The research adopts a case study and mixed method approach, focusing on a sample of exporting Palestinian SMEs. It also employs a mixed methods that combines semi-structured interviews with SMEs owners and managers in Palestine and online sources such as articles and journals to answer the research question. The study proposes to explore the challenges through the analytical lenses provided by theories such as OLI framework, Resource Based View Model (RBV), New trade, and Uppsala model. Specifically, RBV and Uppsala model are the most relevant theories applicable to SMEs in Palestine since their definitions align with global business operations. Overall, this study contributes to the existing literature on export performance and exporting barriers by providing insights into the specific challenges faced by SMEs in Palestine, thus developing alternative strategies to the situations.