SME International Business Models: The Role of Context and Experience

Child, John; Hsieh, Linda; Elbanna, Said; Karmowska, Joanna; Marinova, Svetla; Puthusserry, Pushyarag; Tsai, Terence; Narooz, Rose; Zhang, Yunlu

Abstract

This paper addresses two questions through a study of 180 SMEs located in contrasting industry and home country contexts. First, which business models for international markets prevail among SMEs and do they configure into different types? Second, which factors predict the international business models that SMEs follow? Three distinct international business models (traditional market-adaptive, technology-exploiter, and ambidextrous explorer) are found among the SMEs studied. The likelihood of SMEs adopting one business model rather than another is to a high degree predictable with reference to a small set of factors: industry, level of home economy development, and decision-maker international experience.

Citation

Child, J., Hsieh, L., Elbanna, S., Karmowska, J., Marinova, S., Puthusserry, P., Tsai, T., Narooz, R., & Zhang, Y. (2017). SME International Business Models: The Role of Context and Experience. Journal of World Business, 52(5), 664-679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2017.05.004

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 18, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jun 26, 2017
• Publication Date: Jun 26, 2017
• Deposit Date: May 26, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: May 26, 2017
• Journal: Journal of World Business
• Print ISSN: 1090-9516
• Electronic ISSN: 1878-5573
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 52
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 664-679
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2017.05.004
• Keywords: business model, internationalization, industry, home economy development, international experience, SMEs