The international cast of authors in this important book explore how internationalizing small and medium sized enterprises (iSMEs) face major crises, such as COVID-19, and have managed them to reach a stable and desired state post-crisis. Chapter orientations vary from theoretical to empirical. Each focuses on issues related to a major crisis, and present already-deployed success strategies in 14 different country environments. The rich diversity of chapters offers a highly significant and timely contribution to the field. This book consists of five parts. An introduction to the volume and an extensive literature review open the book and are followed in Part II by general, yet critical, topics such as firm capabilities, resources and orientations, which collectively influence how smaller firms perceive emerging, approaching or unfolding crises in their environments and how the national public policy as well as the evolution of the crisis affects them. Part III extends this discussion to look at digitization and 'servitization' for higher customer and market-orientation, supply chains and overall governance. Specific research-based examples of potent strategies by four internationalized SMEs in different industries and country environments fill out Part IV and the final part offers a view beyond the current crisis. Scholars and students in entrepreneurship, international business and other related areas will find this very timely volume illuminating.

Providing cutting-edge material from a range of perspectives on entrepreneurial internationalization, this insightful book develops contemporary business concepts and business models to engage with a rapidly changing and diversifying world economy. Chapters build a conceptual and theoretical illustration of the field, providing key frameworks for the analysis of entrepreneurial internationalization, including insights into strategy and organization, as well as fundraising strategies for early internationalizing startups. Top international scholars in the field apply these frameworks to specific real-world business environments, such as born globals, born digital enterprises and multinational corporations in emerging markets. The book concludes with analysis of international entrepreneurship across both traditional and digital contexts, highlighting the emerging implications for international entrepreneurship research of digitization and the Covid-19 pandemic. Bringing together a multitude of critical evaluations, this book is crucial reading for scholars and researchers of SME internationalization and born globals, as well as higher level students of international entrepreneurship. It will also benefit practitioners and policymakers hoping to engage with new digital developments in the world economy.

This book is an important addition to the literature on International Entrepreneurship (IE). Edited by the founder of the McGill Conference series on IE and the hosts of the 14th annual conference, this collection challenges readers to push the boundaries of this emerging field and explore the implications of leadership, emerging economies, gender and family ownership for the internationalization of new ventures.' - Rod B. McNaughton, University of Auckland, New ZealandThe young field of international entrepreneurship is rapidly expanding in scope and complexity, as increasingly more companies across the world compete to gain a larger global market share and attract consumers both at home and abroad. This book, the fifth volume in the McGill International Entrepreneurship series, brings together 29 scholars and practitioners to explore the contemporary issues, evolving relations and dynamic forces that are shaping the new emerging entrepreneurial system in international markets. It examines entrepreneurial efforts and relations in many firms embedded in and constrained by different national and corporate cultures of their own and offers expert recommendations for further research, better managerial practice and more effective public policy approaches. The editors and contributors to this volume show how conventional theories of entrepreneurship and business do not fully address the challenges inherent in achieving and sustaining global competitiveness. Over the course of 11 research-based chapters, they detail rich frameworks and fresh solutions for navigating the complex and quickly evolving global business environment, providing insight into a number of current international entrepreneurship issues. These include high-growth and rapid internationalization, managerial leadership, born globals, the impact of networks, inter-organizational ties and knowledge intensity, and emerging markets regulations and requirements. Students and professors of international entrepreneurship and business and management will find this book to be a fresh resource. It will also interest managers and strategists of globally minded companies, as well as policymakers working in government and other international organizations. Contributors: S. Andersson, R. Ascua, M.K. Baygy, B. Danko, U. Dornberger, A. Eghtesadi, H. Etemad, W. Gerstlberger, M.E. HajSamadi, D. Kabbara, H. Laurell, T.K. Madsen, T.A. Martin, T. Mullern, M.N.U. Nabi, W. Nowi ski, E.S. Rasmussen, A. Rialp, G. Rosenbaum, W. Ruda, P. Servais, G. Shirokova, T. Tsukanova, T. Vissak, I. Wictor, P.-C. Wu, X. Zhang, M. Zolfaghari, A. Zucchella

This book, the fourth volume in the McGill International Entrepreneurship Series, brings together 27 top scholars to explore the structural complexities, evolving relations and dynamic forces that are shaping a new system of multi-polar, multi-level international business relations. It examines entrepreneurial efforts and relations in different national and corporate cultures, each embedded in and also constrained by country-specific socio-economic structures and each vying for consumer attentions in competitive global markets.The new millennium has experienced much rapid change, much of it implicit, intangible and not covered by the headlines of the popular press. The bipolar business system of the 20th century that prioritized the relationship between firms and consumers of developed countries is giving way to an emerging multi-polar and multi-level international system that considers consumers and companies in developing economies as well. In this book, scholars from around the world analyze the nascent architecture and relations in this quickly evolving system. They explore the structural complexities, evolving relations, and dynamic forces that are shaping and re-shaping the new system and examine entrepreneurial efforts and relations that cement its structure. The chapters in this volume portray the operating conditions of firms across 14 emerging country environments and industries ranging from basic foods and information technology to complex business processes. Students and professors of international business, entrepreneurship, marketing and management studies will find this volume an indispensable addition to the literature. Contributors: C.F. Agapito, D. Bek, T. Binns, K. Brydon, W. Coyle, L.-P. Dana, E. Dmitrienko, U. Dornberger, H. Etemad, C. Felzensztein, T. Galkina, F. Ghanatabadi, C. Keen, D. Khanduja, K.K. Leung, R.B. McNaughton, V. Minina, M.N.U. Nabi, E. Nel, J. Olavarria, C. Richardson, A. Shatalov, G. Shirokova, R. Singh, J.A. Sy-Changco, T. Vissak, M. Yamin

The contributors to this collection provide a wealth of new analyses of both traditional and emerging aspects of entrepreneurship, from a variety of national perspectives and from a variety of disciplines. Globalization has begun to dismantle the barriers that traditionally segregated local business opportunities and local firms from their international counterparts. Local markets are becoming integral parts of broader, global markets. As globalization proceeds apace, entrepreneurs and small businesses will play a more prominent role on the global business arena. The volume is divided into three sections. The first looks at the internationalization process itself while the second focuses on factors facilitating this process in small and medium-sized firms. The last section examines emerging dimensions in management policy. This book provides valuable insights for business leaders, policy formulators, students and academics alike in understanding and coping with our rapidly changing world.

The Changing Global Economy and its Impact on International Entrepreneurship addresses different changes and challenges that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) face in an economy where they need to compete at home and cannot refrain from participating in international markets. Contributors examine diverse SMEs that have succeeded in the face of adversity. They offer a combination of practical strategies and efficient tactics, grounded in solid theory and research, for firms in different competitive industries. This volume presents a collection of 12 carefully selected chapters that highlight challenging real-world cases to illustrate a variety of difficult problems. Hamid Etemad presents an analytical framework with three levels of analysis - entrepreneurial level, firm level, and institutional level - to document comprehensive, realistic and experientially-based entrepreneurial initiatives, potent firm and public policy strategies and informative and applicable results. The interactive structural design of this book offers progressively higher levels of analysis and incisive lessons, which make it perfect for academics interested in the rich range of theories, methodologies and topics surrounding SMEs' internationalization processes. Its analysis will also inform management and effective policy formulation for entrepreneurs, managers, and policymakers. Contributors: J. Almarri, S. Aureli, L. Battaglia, E. Cedrola, M. Del Baldo, S. Denicolai, N. Dominguez, H. Etemad, B. Hagen, E.J.B. Jorgensen, K. Juusola, D. Kabbara, S. Kock, H. Le Nguyen, J.I.G. Meewella, M. Migliaccio, A.G. Quaranta, E. Rasmussen, F. Rivetti, V. Stanisauskaite, I. Wictor, A. Zucchella

The drivers of globalization are removing the barriers that segregated the competitive space of the small and large firms in the past. It is becoming increasingly difficult for independent small firms to thrive in their traditional markets unless they are globally competitive. Managing an enterprise's commercial, industrial and political relations well, regardless of size and location, is the essence of the entrepreneurial challenge in this competitive arena. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) often face very different issues than do large multinational enterprises when confronting internationalization. This volume provides an in-depth discussion of these challenges. The contributors to this volume explore the emerging patterns of SME growth and international expansion in response to the evolving competitive environment, dynamics of competitive behavior, entrepreneurial processes and formulation of strategy. They examine the basis and requirements of growth and expansion from three perspectives: the rapidly-changing environment in which business is conducted, entrepreneurial characteristics, and the evolving strategic and competitive response to this changing business environment. Business leaders, scholars and students interested in international business and entrepreneurship will welcome this timely and authoritative volume.

This book, first published in 1986, is concerned with the changing world environment for multinational business and the relationships between multinational parent companies and their subsidiaries which will be necessary to meet the challenges that are being faced. The study argues that key changes to the environment are: the revolution in manufacturing which has permitted cheap production in one location of complicated products for a world market; 'world product mandating', whereby all a company's country subsidiaries produce different product lines for the world market; pressure and incentives from host governments for technology transfer in their favour and for research and development facilities within their territory; the growth of highly efficient international trading and distribution intermediaries; and the complications of increased 'barter' trade arising from international debt problems and currency shortages. All this means that the management of multinational subsidiaries has to change. This book reviews the challenges and shows a way forward.

The rapid globalization of the environment, the liberalization of trade and investments, and the rapid advances in technology, among other trends in the latter parts of the Twentieth Century, have all accelerated the actual process of infusion of the two fields of Entrepreneurship and International Business. They have also accentuated the emergence of the inter-disciplinary field of International Entrepreneurship. The central theme of this special issue is internationalization of entrepreneurship. The papers in this special issue break new grounds in a variety of ways by explaining the challenges associated with entrepreneurial firms that take advantage of opportunities on the global scale. In turn, the also pose some challenging questions for the extant theories, especially those that cover internationalization.

This book, first published in 1986, is concerned with the changing world environment for multinational business and the relationships between multinational parent companies and their subsidiaries which will be necessary to meet the challenges that are being faced. The study argues that key changes to the environment are: the revolution in manufacturing which has permitted cheap production in one location of complicated products for a world market; 'world product mandating', whereby all a company's country subsidiaries produce different product lines for the world market; pressure and incentives from host governments for technology transfer in their favour and for research and development facilities within their territory; the growth of highly efficient international trading and distribution intermediaries; and the complications of increased 'barter' trade arising from international debt problems and currency shortages. All this means that the management of multinational subsidiaries has to change. This book reviews the challenges and shows a way forward.