The Resource-based View and SME Internationalisation: An Emerging Economy Perspective

• Main Authors: Rūta Kazlauskaitė, Erkko Autio, Modestas Gelbūda, Tadas Šarapovas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cracow University of Economics 2015-06-01
• Series: Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review
• Subjects: resource-based view; internationalisation; emerging economy; SME
• Online Access: http:////eber.uek.krakow.pl/index.php/eber/article/view/81
• ISSN: 2353-883X; 2353-8821

The aim of  the paper is to advance the development of theory inthe field of international business by seeking to understand to what extent the resource-based view  (RBV),  built  on  the  experience  and  evidence  from advanced  economies,  helps understand the internationalisation process of emerging economy SMEs. The  paper  is  built  on  a systematic  literature  review of peer-reviewed  journal  articles  on  SME  internationalisation  motives  and  enablers  in emerging economies. The  RBV  arguments  explain  the  internationalisation  process  of emerging economy  SMEs  only  to  some  extent.  In  contrast  to advanced economy  firms,  the internationalisation of SMEs from emerging economies is more likely to be driven by the  exploitation  of  cost advantage,  and  motivation  to  gain  new  knowledge  that  is unavailable domestically and enhance their domestic  market reputation. Besides it is more handicapped by a lack of internationalisation experience or international ties. To  understand the process of emerging economy SME  internationalisation,  it  is  necessary  to  study  to  what extent  other  logics contribute to its explication. Further research should also seek to synthesise findings of the above major theoretical frameworks in the contextof emerging economy SME internationalisation process. The  originality  of  this  work  lies  in  studying the internationalisation motives and enablers of indigenousSMEs in emerging economies and challenging the applicability of the RBV arguments in this specific context.