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Call for Papers
SMEs and Entrepreneurship in the era of Globalization: Reviews, Frameworks and models
Guest Editors:
Prof Alain Fayolle (EMLYON Business School, France; [log in to unmask])
Prof Francisco Liñán (University of Seville, Seville, Spain; [log in to unmask])
Prof Justin Paul (University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, USA; [log in to unmask])
Time Issues
Potential contributors are encouraged to submit abstracts of three to five pages in length via e-mail to the guest editors. The deadline for submission of abstracts is July 1st, 2017 and the expected abstract decision will be on August 15th, 2017. The deadline for full papers is January 30th, 2018.
Overview
The growth of global markets stimulates competition and increases the interdependence of national economies (Knight, 2000), forcing governments to adopt market-oriented policies, both domestically and internationally (Acs and Preston, 1997). Globalization involves economic and industry integration with the rest of the world, removing restrictions on imports and foreign investment (Paul, 2015). Globalization has created a knowledge-intensive economy making firms’ search for foreign market opportunities necessary in order to survive (Paul, Parthasarathy & Gupta, 2017; Brenes, 2000). However, the pace of globalization is different across markets (Buckley & Ghauri, 2004; Bhasin & Paul, 2016). As growth has picked up in emerging markets and slowed down in advanced economies, firms have had to rethink their strategies (Ramamurti, 2012).
As part of their growth strategy, many firms go global and orient themselves more and more internationally in the era of globalization (Paul & Gupta, 2014). SMEs need to adopt strategic decisions to try to succeed in international markets. However, in this adoption, the role of the individual entrepreneur is salient for most SMEs. Therefore, the personal motivation and intention to internationalize is also a relevant field of study (Gómez-Gras et al., 2009; Sommer, 2013; Sommer & Haug, 2011). Acs and Terjessen’s (2013) born-local theory argues that most firms need support in the form of intermediated internationalization as they typically lack previous global exposure. Understanding the entrepreneur’s decision to “go global” involves the need to study the cognitive elements of the entrepreneurial decision-making process (Fayolle & Liñán, 2014; Liñán & Fayolle, 2015). At the same time, the influence of contextual variables (be them cultural, institutional or economic) is also relevant, as the individual decision is surely affected by these elements (Liñán & Chen, 2009; Liñán & Fernández-Serrano, 2014).
Parallel to this need for increased international competitiveness, the field of SME internationalization has expanded and gathered momentum (Ribau, Moreira & Rapposo, 2016; Paul & Shrivastava, 2016; Paul, Parthasarathy & Gupta, 2017). According to Gregorio, Musteen and Thomas (2008), the very existence of international new ventures (INVs) stems from opportunities to engage in the cross-border combination of resources and/or markets. Decisions have to be made regarding how its business activities in a foreign market should be conducted (Welch, Benito and Peterson, 2007). In this context, Musteen, Datta and Butts (2014) examine the factors influencing the internationalization of SMEs within the context of foreign market knowledge and network ties.
However, there is a considerable gap in theory and framework development to explain and discuss the phenomenon of internationalization of SMEs, and in particular, those from developing countries. The available models and theories to explain this phenomenon need be expanded (Paul & Dikova, 2016). There are opportunities to develop frameworks and measures to analyze the path, process, potential, problems, pace and pattern of SME internationalization. Understanding antecedents, decision characteristics such as foreign market entry modes, and exporting challenges etc. are critical for the survival and success of SMEs. Similarly, we need typologies and useful paradigms that help the decision makers to better understand the challenges of internationalization – liability of foreignness, resource constraints or cognitive biases, among others.
Scope and objectives of the Special Issue
The available review articles on different themes of entrepreneurship and SMEs in the era of globalization (Paul, Parthasarathy & Gupta, 2017; Keupp & Gassman, 2009; Jones, Coviello & Tang, 2011; Terjessen et.al, 2013; Fayolle & Linan, 2014) have attracted considerable attention as reflected, for instance, in number of citations. This shows the interest of this subject area as well as the relevance of review articles. Taking into account the importance of these two aspects, the objective of the special issue is to develop a better understanding of the extant literature and providing directions for future research in the area of competitiveness, strategies and internationalization of SMEs. The aim is to encourage scholars to develop new models, measures, and frameworks to contribute to the theory building. This special issue would focus on papers that attempt to develop theories, models, frameworks as well as reviews on different topics in the broad area of internationalization, SMEs and entrepreneurship. Studies that can provide new insights based on the home/host country factors by a comparison of differences with current models or theories are also welcome. Similarly, comparative studies of companies are welcome as well, if they provide generalized insights for theory development. Single-country studies paying particular attention to the mechanisms by which a small firm’s internationalization process is analyzed are also relevant. Likewise, we greet papers using mixed methodologies, including theoretical essays with propositions, large-sample analyses, and qualitative studies, as long as they provide a clear and detailed explanation of its theoretical contribution.
In this special issue we propose to go beyond the replicated empirical studies and seek studies that develop theories and models for the small firms by explaining how the internationalization affects the success or failure of small firms. We are also interested in the factors that influence the internationalization of a small firm.
The potential contributions for the special issue could address one or more of the topics listed below and may range fromtheoretical articles, to review of past, present and future on a specific sub-area, to frameworks, measures and models. The list of topics is meant to illustrate the range of submissions rather than limit the ideas; authors are welcome to contact the guest editors to discuss the appropriateness of other topics related to theme of this Special Issue:
References:
Acs, Z. J. and Preston, L. (1997). Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Technology; and Globalization: Introduction to a Special Issue on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Global Economy. Small Business Economics, 9(1), pp. 1-6.
Acs, Z. J., & Terjesen, S. 2013. Born local: toward a theory of new venture’s choice of internationalization.Small Business Economics, 41(3), 521-535.
Coviello, N. E., & McAuley, A. (1999). Internationalisation and the smaller firm: a review of contemporary empirical research. Management International Review, 39, 223-256.
Di Gregorio, D., Musteen, M., & Thomas, D. E. (2008). International new ventures: The cross-border nexus of individuals and opportunities. Journal of World Business, 43(2), 186-196.
Fayolle, A., & Liñán, F. (2014). The future of research on entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Business Research, 67(5), 663-666.
Keupp, M. M., & Gassmann, O. (2009). The past and the future of international entrepreneurship: a review and suggestions for developing the field. Journal of Management.
Liñán, F., & Chen, Y. W. (2009). Development and Cross‐Cultural application of a specific instrument to measure entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 33(3), 593-617.
Liñán, F., & Fayolle, A. (2015). A systematic literature review on entrepreneurial intentions: citation, thematic analyses, and research agenda. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 11(4), 907-933.
Liñán, F., & Fernandez-Serrano, J. (2014). National culture, entrepreneurship and economic development: different patterns across the European Union. Small Business Economics, 42(4), 685-701.
Paul, J, Parthasarathy, S & Gupta, P. (2017). Exporting Challenges of SMEs: A Review and Research Agenda. Journal of World Business, Onlinefirst, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jw
Paul, J. & Dikova, D. (2016). Internationalization of Asian Firms: An Overview and Research Agenda.Journal Of East-West Business , 22(4), 237–241
Paul, J., & Shrivastava, A. (2016). Do Young Managers in a Developing Country have stronger entrepreneurial intentions?, International Business Review, 25(6), 1197-1210.
Paul, J., & Gupta, P. (2014). Process and intensity of internationalization of IT firms–Evidence from India. International Business Review, 23(3), 594-603.
Paul, J. (2015). Does WTO increase Trade and causes convergence?, The International Trade Journal,29 (4), 291-308.
Paul, J. (2015) Market access and the mirage of marketing to the maximum: new measures, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 27(4), 676 – 688.