| "Born global" firms: A theoretical exploration |
| | Harveston, Paula D. | U. of Memphis | pharvstn@memphis.edu | (901)-678-2038 |
| | Kedia, Ben L. | U. of Memphis | bkedia@memphis.edu | (901)-678-2038 |
| | Davis, Peter S. | U. of Memphis | psdavis@memphis.edu | (901)-678-2038 |
| | The emergence of an unprecedented number of "born global" companies (firms that are international from inception) such as Amazon.com or Logitech is changing the way international business is conducted (WorldTrade, 1998). Indeed, recent case studies show an increasing number of entrepreneurial firms entering the international arena at an earlier age (Cavusgil & Knight, 1997; Oviatt & McDougall, 1994). However, little is known in the extant literature about this type of entrepreneurial start-up. This paper examines the theoretical foundations of the drivers of internationalization for international entrepreneurial companies and compares the differential effect of these drivers on "born global" and "gradual globalizing" firms. |
| | Keywords: International; Entrepreneurship |
| Lessons form England: The Development of Small Firms Policy |
| | Down, Simon | U. of Plymouth | simon.down@pbs.plym.ac.uk | (01144)-1752-232845 |
| | Lean, Jonathan | U. of Plymouth | j.lean@pbs.plym.ac.uk | (01144)-1752-232824 |
| | Lessons form England: The Development of Small Firms Policy |
| | Keywords: small firms; policy; England |
| SME Survival in Hungary |
| | Lyles, Marjorie A. | Indiana U., Indianapolis | mlyles@iupui.edu | 3172742558 |
| | Watson, Kathleen | California State U., San Marcos | kwatson@csusm.edu | 760-750-4257 |
| | Saxton, Todd | Indiana U., Indianapolis | tsaxton@iupui.edu | 317-274-3349 |
| |
SME Survival in Hungary
ABSTRACT
A longitudinal study of small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Hungary investigated whether models
of firm survival established for developed economies are applicable to transitional economies. Drawing on
institutional, resource-based and economic theories, the study shows that SMEs can survive under uncertainty,
even without significant state support. Our goals in defining "Survival" were to determine if the firm was still a
viable business. The current study allowed us to verify that of the 135 firms that participated in the 1993 survey,
97 have survived and 38 were identified as out-of-business (OOB) as of 1996. We explored the relationship
between firm survival and the four contextual conditions of founder characteristics, firm strategy, access to
resources and competitive environment using a logistic regression procedure. This method is particularly
appropriate for predicting states of dichotomous dependent variables and permits the use of continuous and
categorical independent variables. The findings suggest that strategic variables including prior industry
experience, networking, access to infrastructure, and careful selection of strategy can enhance survival.
Reliance on institutional linkages based on SOE work experience or vertical linkages with SOEs does
not have the anticipated positive affect on survival. Low cost and export-oriented strategies appear to
negatively affect survival under certain industry and capitalization conditions.
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| | Keywords: SME Survival; Transition Economies; Low Cost Strategy |