Owing to their gigantic participation in global economic growth, the phenomenon of SMEs internationalization has become the centre of attention for numerous researchers. Starting from Uppsala model (1977) to born-global approaches today, scholars have been coming up with several theories and models time to time. An in-depth study of literature concerning SMEs internationalization, however, reveals that extant literature has primarily focused on firms that are operating from metropolitan or core regions of the world. It has largely ignored the vast peripheral and non-metropolitan regions of the world from where a great number of SMEs are operating in foreign markets. Particularly increasing number of small high-tech firms with ‘low to no demand’ in domestic market coupled with higher returns available in global markets are induced to internationalize despite intimidating challenges of periphery. Consequently, internationalization phenomenon from said locations, even in face of daunting challenges that hinder SMEs growth, turns out to be an attention-grabbing area – hence worth-investigating! The purpose of this study is to investigate the phenomenon of internationalization that is being pursued by SMEs located in non-metropolitan regions that offer unique constraints and challenges. More specifically, the objective is to explore the kind of entrepreneurial skills and talent that is required to develop networking relations with key players and to eventually internationalize from a peripheral location. To carry out this research, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted informally with key individuals from five small high-tech international firms located in North region of Sweden – a non-metropolitan region. Based on the findings, a conceptual model is developed which underlines that an entrepreneur in non-metropolitan regions should: possess global mind-set, social and team formation skills, and, industry experience; develop social, business and incessant snowball networks by efficiently utilizing his social skills; understand the peripheral challenges like: lack of financial resources, scarcity of non-tech professionals, being far away from core markets, absence of agglomeration advantage and travelling time and cost; and on the same time exploit the peripheral advantages which include loyal, hardworking, less salaried and easily retained employees, and, easy life and exotic climate that exclusively prevail in non-metropolitan regions. Having possessed skills, developed networks, and exploited the opportunities, the entrepreneur is now able to build a pool of potential and strength which minimizes the effect of constraints that he has already understood . As a result he can successfully pursue internationalization from a non-metropolitan region. We believe that this study has contributed both theoretically and practically and will inspire future empirical or conceptual research regarding this important topic. / CiiR(Centre for Interorganizational Innovation Research)

Due to an increase of internationalization Swedish SMEs are faced with more issues regarding ethical dilemmas when entering foreign markets than they have been in the past. The ethical dilemmas, such as bribery and corruption, affect companies’ entry strategies in regards of moral standards and becomes an issue for markets that are characterised as being unstable. A common denominator for unstable markets is political instability which usually leads to an increase of ethical dilemmas. This thesis provides a deeper understanding to how Swedish SMEs enter politically unstable markets and how CSR can be used as a tool to identify and avoid ethical dilemmas. To enable this study a qualitative research was conducted to analyse the process of already established Swedish SMEs in politically unstable markets. By doing so, practical and theoretical implications could be identified, subsequently contributing Swedish SMEs with valuable information on how to enter politically unstable markets.   The outcome of this study suggests ethical dilemmas affect Swedish SMEs’ entry to politically unstable markets. In a market where ethical dilemmas are prominent SMEs ought to do a thorough risk analysis before entering the market and also select the mode of entry. This study concludes a trade based entry mode is most suitable for Swedish SMEs when entering politically unstable markets since local contact is crucial since it reduces the risks of entering the market. Furthermore, during the course of the study it became evident that CSR can be used as a moral framework to identify and avoid ethical dilemmas in politically unstable markets. CSR strategies provide moral and ethical guidelines for Swedish SMEs and thereby affect the selection process of markets and business partners. The findings of this thesis suggest there is a linkage between business ethics, CSR and entry strategies. Therefore, the research is valuable for Swedish SMEs who seek to enter politically unstable markets.

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate how Start-Ups from Switzerland pattern their expansion to foreign markets and how prevalent traditional internationalization models are among Start-Ups. In order to conduct the research, the term Start-Up has been defined in comparison to other forms of enterprises. The first part of the literature review has been conducted regarding key concepts within the field of international business such as psychic distance or the choice of the right entry mode. The second part of the literature review has been conducted regarding relevant traditional internationalization theories as well as the international entrepreneurship theory, as counterpart to traditional internationalization theories. The theories have resulted in a conceptual framework that reveals the relations between the different theories. The thesis is built on a qualitative approach on the basis of a multiple case study by means of three interviews with Swiss Start-Ups. Further the thesis has followed a deductive approach to first build a profound knowledge about the internationalization process of Start-Ups. The authors of this thesis consider a good pre understanding of the research area as relevant to observe a pattern from the empirical observations. In the analysis chapter the differences and similarities between the theory and the empirical findings were discussed. The structure of both chapters, empirical findings and analysis, are structured in accordance with the conceptual framework. On the basis of the analysis, the conclusion chapter presents the responses of three research questions. Further the final chapter consists of theoretical and practical implications and recommendations as well as limitations and ends with proposals for a further research.

全球經濟穩定成長帶動企業國際化，並對中國企業對外發展提供強烈支持，而國際企業的型態也隨著貿易障礙下降而不斷演變成各式樣貌，企業逐漸改變傳統早期的漸進式國際化發展階段，而演變為自企業創立之初即具備全球化經營能力的天生全球化企業(Born Globals)，這股新興國際企業型態在開發中國家的形成過程，對國際企業理論與學術研究而言是重要且值得探討的議題。 過去研究對於天生全球化企業的定義目前未有一致之認知，且對其形成因素也有多種不同看法，然而相對於大多數學者專注的已開發國家天生全球化企業發展過程，本研究則是以開發中國家之中小企業作為主要研究對象，並期望透過探討中國中小企業是否存在部分可能變數，來瞭解其企業內外部可能影響企業發展為天生全球化企業之因素。 本文透過文獻探討歸納出研發能力、產品品質、經營能力與電子商務參與程度等四變數為天生全球化企業之可能形成原因，並蒐集128家中小企業作為研究對象，以邏輯迴歸作為研究方法，分析此四變數對於企業在發展成天生全球化企業的過程中是否會產生影響，以釐清天生全球化企業在開發中國家的發展過程。 研究結果顯示，擁有較好研發能力與經營能力的企業較有機會發展成天生全球化企業，且企業愈快加入電子商務市場，愈有助於企業早期國際化發展，本文期望藉由此驗證結果提供開發中國家中小企業在發展天生全球化企業時一些參考與建議。 / International enterprises has evolved to different types as the global environment changed. From 1990s, some enterprises begin their overseas business right at birth or near the founding year, which is quite different to traditional enterprises, and we call these enterprises as Born Globals. Why Born Globals can start their international business at the time they just established still not come to a conclusion today. Therefore this paper is trying to figure out the possible factors which encourage the enterprises, especially the small and medium enterprises in China, to develop the early abroad business. This study generated four possible factors of R&D, managerial competence, product quality and e-commerce adoption to analyze the possibility of Born Globals. And I collected 128 sample firms to exam my hypotheses. The final results showed that there are positive effectiveness between R&D, managerial competence and Born Globals, and the fast speed of e-commerce market adoption also advance firms becoming Born Globals. However, product quality did not show benefit to Born Globals in the results.

[pt] O comércio exterior garante benefícios significativos para as nações, tanto do ponto de vista macroeconômico quanto microeconômico. Do ponto de vista macroeconômico, as exportações possibilitam o aumento das reservas cambiais e geram oportunidades de emprego proporcionando, consequentemente, melhores condições de vida. Do ponto de vista microeconômico, as exportações estimulam o desenvolvimento de vantagens competitivas, reduzindo a capacidade ociosa, elevando os padrões tecnológicos, potencializando a lucratividade, intensificando o retorno sobre os investimentos e reforçando a grandeza financeira das empresas. O desempenho das exportações das PMEs é particularmente de extrema importância, uma vez que elas são responsáveis por uma parcela significativa das atividades econômicas e podem ampliar substancialmente o resultado das exportações no nível agregado. No entanto, barreiras à exportação e falhas de mercado tendem a afetar sua capacidade de acesso aos recursos estratégicos necessários para garantir um processo de internacionalização bem-sucedido. Analisando pela ótica da Visão Baseada em Recursos (Resource Based View), a incapacidade das PMEs de obter sucesso em expandir-se internacionalmente devido à falta de recursos internos suficientes, know-how e informações sobre mercados estrangeiros, pode ser vista como uma condição de falha de mercado, endossando a participação do governo em iniciativas de promoção às exportações. A partir desse raciocínio e com base no conhecimento existente, o objetivo desta tese é contribuir para a investigação de serviços e sistemas de promoção às exportações em três ensaios. O primeiro ensaio, intitulado Serviços de Promoção às Exportações e Barreiras às Exportações da Firma: Há interação entre as duas literaturas?, visa examinar profundamente estas literaturas, apresentando, apresentando suas contribuições, lacunas e recomendações para estudos futuros. O segundo ensaio, intitulado Iniciativas de Promoção às Exportações junto a um Cluster, aborda o desenvolvimento de longo prazo de um cluster brasileiro de moda praia, utilizando o método do estudo de caso e focando especificamente nas tentativas de desenvolvimento de suas atividades exportadoras. Agentes de promoção às exportações tentaram introduzir novas práticas e atitudes em relação à cooperação entre empresas, mas não obtiveram sucesso. A questão fundamental, portanto, é buscar entender porque as empresas falharam em cooperar, apesar de várias iniciativas e investimentos realizados para promover ações coletivas. O artigo fornece algumas explicações possíveis que sugerem implicações para outros clusters brasileiros. Por fim, a conclusão fornece algumas recomendações para formuladores de políticas públicas sobre o desenho de programas de promoção às exportações. O terceiro e último ensaio, intitulado A Coordenação de Redes de Promoção às Exportações para as Indústrias Criativas, examina por meio do uso do método do estudo de caso, as diferentes abordagens adotadas por três países bem-sucedidos no apoio à internacionalização de suas indústrias criativas, a partir da perspectiva interorganizacional, com foco na coordenação de redes. O estudo fornece evidências empíricas de como diferentes abordagens, da centralização da rede de promoção às exportações à descentralização dos esforços de promoção, e de uma coordenação mais frouxa até uma mais rigorosa, podem ser usadas para promover as exportações de empresas pertencentes às indústrias criativas. Os resultados também sugerem que cada contexto pode exigir uma abordagem diferente para a coordenação das atividades das Instituições de Apoio ao Comércio Exterior. O grau de desenvolvimento econômico de cada país, os recursos disponíveis, a maturidade da indústria, bem como, questões culturais, podem desempenhar seu papel na determinação da abordagem mais adequada para cada país e setor. / [en] Foreign trade provides significant benefits to nations from both macroeconomic and microeconomic perspectives. From a macroeconomic point of view, exports allow the increasing of foreign exchange reserves and generate employment opportunities, consequently leading to improved living standards. From a microeconomic perspective, exports stimulate the development of competitive advantages, reducing idle production capacity, raising technological standards, powering profitability, intensifying return on investments, and enhancing firms financial stature. SMEs export performance is particularly of utmost importance since they are responsible for a significant portion of economic activities and could amplify substantially exports outcome at the aggregate level. However, export barriers and market failures tend to affect their capacity to access strategic resources necessary to guarantee a successful internationalization process. From a resource-based perspective, the inability of SMEs to successfully expand abroad due to their lack of sufficient internal resources, know-how, and information about foreign markets may be seen as a condition of market failure, therefore endorsing government s participation in export promotion initiatives. In accordance with this rationale and building on the existing knowledge, the aim of this thesis is to contribute to the investigation of export promotion services and systems in three essays. The first essay, entitled Export Promotion Services and Firm Export Barriers: Do These Literatures Interact?, – aims to thoroughly examine the two literatures, presenting their contributions, gaps, and recommendations for future studies. The second essay, entitled Export Promotion Initiatives in a Cluster, - approaches the long-term development of a Brazilian beachwear cluster, using the case method of investigation and focusing specifically on the attempts to develop exporting activities. Export promotion agents have tried to introduce new practices and attitudes toward cooperation among firms but failed to do so. The key issue, therefore, is to understand why the firms failed to cooperate, despite several initiatives and investments to promote collective actions. The paper advances some possible explanations, with implications to other Brazilian clusters. Finally, the conclusion advances some recommendations for public policymakers concerning the design of export promotion programs. The third and last essay, entitled The Coordination of Export Promotion Networks for the Creative Industries, examines through the use of the case method of investigation the different approaches adopted by three successful countries in supporting the internationalization of their creative industries, adopting an interorganizational perspective, focusing on network coordination. The study provides empirical evidence of how different approaches, from the centralization of an export promotion network to decentralization, and from loose coordination to tight, may be used to promote the exports of firms in the creative industries. The results also suggest that each context may require a different approach to the coordination of Trade Support Institutions activities. The degree of economic development of each country, the resources available, the maturity of the industry, as well as cultural issues, may play a role in determining which approach could be a better fit for each country and sector.