The Internationalization Efforts of Growth-Oriented Entrepreneurs: Lessons from Britain

Abstract

Noting that small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) face unique opportunities and threats when attempting to enter the global free market, the factors that affect the globalization tendencies of British entrepreneurs are explored.An introductory discussion of SMEs and globalization is presented, followed by a description of the research, which took place between 1996 and 1998 and involved a telephone survey of 6,000 small firms, personal interviews with 600 owner-managers, and 60 case studies.Most of the participating firms were micro-businesses that employed fewer than ten people. Analysis of the data indicates that the globalization tendencies of small business owner-managers are influenced by internal factors (such as internal financial resources and the owner-manager's knowledge and competencies) and external factors (such as external finance sources and the owner-manager's ability to access global networks and distribution channels).While proactive human resource development procedures and the entrepreneur's ability to interpret global market developments result in firm growth and the potential for international expansion, reactive human resource development strategies and the inability to read changes in the global market result in organizational stagnation and, in some cases, decline.(SAA)

Keywords: Organizational environment, Employment policies, Firm growth, Globalization, Operator ownership, Microenterprises, International expansion, Management decisions, Service industries, Manufacturing industries