| Internationalization and organizational growth: The impact of Internet usage and technology involvement among family businesses. |
| | Davis, Peter S. | U. of Memphis | psdavis@memphis.edu | (901)-678-2038 |
| | Harveston, Paula D. | U. of Memphis | pharvstn@memphis.edu | (901)-678-2038 |
| | For many years, international business largely has been considered to the domain of large, multinational corporations. Recently it has been recognized that a number of small firms, including entrepreneurial and family firms, have become active in the international arena (Oviatt & McDougall, 1994). Using data from a national survey of family business owners, we examine the extent to which certain managerial factors, Internet usage, and technology involvement, influence internationalization and organizational growth among family firms. The results identify specific variables leading to success in the emerging global economy and highlight the differential impact these variables have on specific performance outcomes. |
| | Keywords: Family Business; Internationalization; Technology and Internet usage |
| A Multinational Examination of the Impact of Succession Planning on SME Performance |
| | Phan, Phillip H | National U. of Singapore | pphan@nus.edu.sg | (65)-874-3149 |
| | Butler, John E. | U. of Washington | butler@u.washington.edu | (206)-543-4267 |
| | Lee, Soo Hoon | National U. of Singapore | fbaleesh@nus.edu.sg | (65)-874-6435 |
| | Saxberg, Borje O. | U. of Washington | borjeo@u.washington.edu | (206)-543-4470 |
| | This study examines two important issues related to small and medium size enterprises (SME). The first deals with managerial succession in family owned entrepreneurial organizations. Our model depicts multiple interactive relationships that examines the impact of succession planning, the preparation of the CEO succession candidate, and the impact of business and family goals on the effectiveness and performance of the SME in the post succession period. The second theme deals with how succession planning and successor selection serve as a governance mechanism. Survey data was collected from a sample of 97 Canadian and 108 Hong Kong family-owned SMEs to test the model. Results indicated that some governance mechanisms, such as a board of directors are useful ways to manage and separate family and business goals, although boards were less useful in producing acceptable succession plans. The existence of a succession plan had a statistically significant negative correlation with firm growth, although the preparedness of the successor had a positive impact on firm effectiveness. The period of time that the selected successor worked for the family-owned SME before succession had a significant impact on performance. The findings suggest that succession planning and successor selection and preparedness have major impacts on subsequent firm performance. |
| | Keywords: SME; International; Succession |
| Small-Business Internationalization: The Relationship Between Firm Resources and Competitive Patterns in Exporting |
| | Wolff, James A. | Wichita State U. | jwolff@twsuvm.uc.twsu.edu | (316) 978-7113 |
| | Pett, Timothy L. | Wichita State U. | pett@twsuvm.uc.twsu.edu | (316) 978-7114 |
| | Significant research attention has been given to large-firm internationalization strategy. While international markets are viewed as important growth avenues for large corporations in developed economies, comparatively little research has examined the issues relative to small firms. With the increased globalization of the US economy and falling barriers to international trade, growth into international markets is also of increasing importance to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using the extant small-business internationalization literature and the resource-based view literature to underpin this study, we examine the relationship between SME export competitive patterns and firm resources and characteristics. We analyzed survey data from 157 export-active small manufacturing firms. Three discernable competitive patterns emerged from the analysis, which we classify as a service pattern, a marketing pattern, and an operations pattern. Our findings reveal mixed support for hypothesized relationships between given competitive patterns and managerial perceptions of opportunity/threat, cultural awareness, international know-how, and firm size. We discuss the interpretations of and implications from our results and provide suggestions for future research. |
| | Keywords: Small-Business; Internationalization; Exporting |