The Swedish fashion industry is one of the fastest growing export industries and in recent years the Swedish fashion companies have been praised for their international expansion. For companies with niche products in smaller markets like Sweden internationalization is important but since the industry is constantly changing the internationalization process is quite challenging. Previous studies show that internationalization can be profitable for fashion companies but there is no unified view among researchers as to which way is the right way for the companies to internationalize. Most studies come to the general conclusion that companies seem to follow different paths. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the knowledge development of internationalization for small and medium-sized Swedish fashion companies based on established theories of internationalization. A qualitative study has been conducted based on a multiple case study design with 12 participating Swedish fashion companies. The study has a deductive approach since it has its starting point is from a well-established theoretical model: The Business Network Internationalization Process Model which has also worked as a foundation for the study’s analytical model. The analysis is however partly inductive since findings in the result have been fed back into a modified theoretical model, suitable and applicable for Swedish fashion companies’ internationalization processes. In conclusion the findings indicate that there are several important knowledge-bases for the fashion companies that motivate them to start an internationalization process, mainly their design-driven vision of becoming an international brand and the management’s risk-taking business mindset, founded in their entrepreneurial skills and previous knowledge. The result also shows that relationships with different industry actors are of high importance for the companies and in many cases the only way to internationalize. In addition the results show not only that the established theoretical model on internationalization is applicable to Swedish fashion companies but that there also are tendencies that show that the Swedish companies follow a more chronological path in their processes.

This research focuses on internationalisation and e-commerce in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a significant part of the New Zealand economy. Based on interviews in ten SMEs, this study explores the internationalisation process and adoption of e-commerce in these enterprises. Both phenomena are examined separately to explore relevant issues, followed by consideration of the interrelationship between the two phenomena. Ten case studies of New Zealand SMEs engaged in international business were conducted. Qualitative data was collected in semi-structured interviews with key members of each SME. The interview data were supplemented with secondary data sources, including publicly available information on the firms and their activities. A within-case and cross-case analysis was performed based around the three research foci identified above. The research findings reveal that while there is a high level of confidence among the SMEs studied for internationalisation, e-commerce adoption in these firms was at a medium level of maturity. Facilitators and inhibitors of both internationalisation and e-commerce adoption are presented. A major contribution of the study is the consideration of the mutual effects between the two phenomena, in order to raise awareness of internationalisation and e-commerce in SMEs and their significance for SMEs’ competitiveness.

Organisational learning has been identified as a lasting source of competitive advantage in uncertain environments. Plentiful research has highlighted that knowledge and skills and the capabilities they develop are strategic resources and that effective utilisation of these resources enhances firm innovation and performance. However, in spite of this widespread recognition, family businesses, specifically family SMEs, have not been the subject of previous research exploring the strategic impact of organisational learning on innovation and firm performance. This research, therefore, sets out a theoretical framework drawing upon organisational learning theory and innovation, and explores the strategic links between organisational learning, innovation and firm performance “within” family SMEs and “between” family and non-family SMEs. The study was undertaken in an Australian context using a sample of 222 manufacturing SMEs comprised of 104 family and 118 non-family SMEs. The data were obtained from the Business Longitudinal Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics over the financial years 1995/96 - 1997/98, which provides the most recent available comprehensive longitudinal dataset of SMEs in Australia. The study involved three constructs: organisational learning, innovation and firm performance. Organisational learning was operationalised using commitment to learning, shared vision, and networking. To measure commitment to learning, three variables, employee training, management development, and comparison of performance were used. Shared vision was measured using the presence of formal planning in the firms. Networking was measured using the existence of external networks. The innovation construct was measured using product and process innovation intensity, and firm performance was measured by growth of sales and rate of return on total assets. Data were analysed using two tests: regression analysis and the Chow test. Whereas the former test was conducted to explore the direct and indirect effects of organisational learning on innovation and firm performance “within” family SMEs, the latter was conducted to compare those effects “between” family and non-family SMEs. Our “within” results, concerning the direct effects of organisational learning on innovation found that network relationships positively influenced innovation in family SMEs. With regard to the direct effects of organisational learning on performance, we found that management development and formal planning were positively linked with family SMEs’ performance. Moreover, relating to innovation and firm performance, our research concludes that innovation in family SMEs is positively linked with their performance. In the case of the indirect effect, we found that networks affect firm performance via innovation. With respect to the “between” results, we found that whereas the effects of formal planning and innovation on firm performance of family SMEs were stronger than for non-family SMEs, the effects of employee training and management development on firm performance were stronger in non-family SMEs. Concerning networks, we found a stronger effect of family SMEs’ networks on their innovation than non-family SMEs. Finally, we re-emphasised the necessity of more scholarly studies linking organisational learning with family business characteristics such as familiness, leadership, ownership, social interactions and organisational process.

In today’s technological environment, organizational capabilities for managing change are regarded as important for business survival and growth. In particular, dynamic organizational capabilities have attracted considerable research interest over the past decade. Recently several studies have suggested that dynamic capabilities may be associated with a concept termed organizational fitness. What is not clear in this emerging research stream is whether firms with superior organizational fitness are more likely to prosper than unfit firms. In addition, relatively little attention has been directed toward creating a systemic model of dynamic capabilities that explains organizational fitness. The nature of fitness has been intensively debated in the biological sciences over a period of several decades. A confusing variety of fitness definitions have emerged from this literature. The lack of an agreed definition of fitness has resulted in several streams of research on organizational fitness. As a result of this fragmentation, there has been little progress toward answering the question of how to measure organizational fitness. The fragmentation in organizational fitness literature is problematic, because research into the relationship between organizational fitness and firm performance is not well-advanced. In this study, organizational fitness is defined in terms of organizational capability to produce variation. By defining fitness in this way, the tautological criticisms leveled against existing concepts of fitness are avoided. The definition of fitness proposed here accommodates both an evolutionary learning perspective and a perspective of strategic management, and thus reflects an integrative approach to the concept. A notable feature of the literature exploring organizational fitness is that it has been focused on large corporations. However, a growing body of literature suggests that SMEs are different from large firms and need to be examined in their own right. SMEs are important contributors to business in most countries throughout the world. This study addresses that perceived gap in the literature and asks: What relationship, if any, is there between organizational fitness and business performance for SMEs? Theory is developed and tested here by means of a large sample of SMEs in New Zealand. Two distinct aspects of organizational fitness are identified for SMEs. First, survival fitness is associated with generic combinative capabilities. Second, growth fitness is associated with knowledge assimilation and transformation. SME growth fitness and survival fitness are each found to be positively related to business performance under a variety of contexts. Further, an increase of growth fitness and survival fitness provides a means of alleviating selection pressures for SMEs. That is, dynamic capabilities of knowledge assimilation and integration are found to be positively associated with SME business performance. In contrast to studies that advocate SME development of context-dependent capabilities, the findings of this study suggest an alternative perspective: variable selection pressures can be influenced by SMEs with a high level of survival and growth fitness.

With growing levels of organic food consumption in the retail sector and government municipality goals to increase consumption of organic foods at public schools and institutions, private, independant food service businesses in Sweden risk slipping under the radar when it comes to understanding how they are responding to the global problem of industrialised, fossil fuel intensive and highly unsustainable agriculture. In Sweden, KRAV, an incorporaed association that develops standards for organic agriculture, governs certification for a range of industry actors, including restaurants. From the perspective of corporate social responsibilty (CSR) in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), independant, owner-managed food-service businesses become the subjects of a study into motives for engaging in CSR through environmental certification. Guided by an explorative case study research approach, qualitative data in the form of semi-structured interviews were conducted with management representatives of a number of food service businesses in Uppsala and Stockholm, Sweden. Supported by a thorough literature review, the motives of these persons were identified and explored with the help of a conceptual framewrk based on profitability, legitimacy and sustainability motives. Additionally, the political view of CSR, using the concept of global corporate citizenship, was considered with regard to these commincated motives. Lastly the findings were reflected upon with respect to previous research specifically related to CSR in SMEs. As it turns out, it was found that the motivating factors for certifying with the KRAV restaurant certification were difficult to demarcate from broader ethical guiding principles related to supporting the organic movement. However, it was clear that legitimacy, specifically moral legitimacy, as well as profitabilty are critical elements to consider in understanding what motives restarant owner-managers to obtain KRAV restaurant certification. Finally, it was also concluded that in reacting to globalisation, the behaviour of the restaurants can be considered as global corporate citizenship inasmuch as they are providing a channelling role with regard to citizens’ political rights to actively participate in the global space and collective will formation.

Different stakeholders are now showing a higher interest in organisations’ social responsibility than ever before, creating an increased pressure on organisations' sustainability performance. Various researchers (e.g. Emerson, 2003; Lingane & Olsen, 2004) stress that in order to meet this pressure and to achieve a true sustainable development, organisations need to fully incorporate social values through social accounting. Although numerous organisations report on their social impacts (Hahn & Kühnen, 2013), it is often said that small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are lagging behind in terms of sustainability performance (Cassells & Lewis, 2011). A few studies have addressed this by investigating difficulties for social enterprises to conduct social accounting but a research gap is evident regarding practical implications for SMEs in the for-profit sector. Through an embedded case study design of a sustainability network of for-profit SMEs on Gotland, we sought to explain SME managers perception of difficulties and benefits associated with social accounting, and how such attitudes relate to their sustainability practices. Through a triangulation design, surveys and qualitative interviews were applied to determine the relationship between attitudes and actions. A theoretical framework by Thomas and Lamm (2012), based on Ajzen’s (2005) theory of planned behaviour and Suchman’s (1995) typology of legitimacies was used for analysis. The SME managers were found to have a neutral attitude towards social accounting and they all engaged in practical actions rather than social impact measurement or social reporting. Thus, the results reflect consistency between attitudes towards social accounting and actions, i.e. the intention to perform social accounting. The SME managers perceived the difficulties of social accounting to outweigh the benefits of it, and were insecure about their abilities to perform social accounting. The findings of this study could confirm previously found implications of social accounting and further found that the SME managers expected additional difficulties for companies in the service sector and for those without employees.

This study explored the processes of innovation among innovative rural manufacturing SMEs by using the narratives of the owner/mangers of case study firms and other actors involved in the innovation process. This was consistent with the ontology of critical realism that was selected which entailed the use of case study method as a tool for data collection. This study makes a number of incremental rather than radical contributions to innovation theory and our understanding of innovation among rural Manufacturing SMEs. The results of this study shows the importance of opinions of owner/managers in the measurement of innovation considering that the majority were either unaware of the need to register their innovation and the lack of support organizations in rural areas who can advice SMEs on the need for patents and the registration process. Regarding the characteristics of innovation in rural areas, the results showed that rural innovative SMEs are likely to be relatively strong in innovations where effects of scale are not yet important but where they can make use of their flexibility and proximity to market demand. The results of this study showed that SMEs received ideas for their innovations from various sources located both within and outside the case study area. The firms then used different approaches to develop their innovations including internalised design and externalised manufacturing, externalised design and internalised manufacturing, and internalised both design and manufacturing. Lastly, rurality did not appear to constrain the processes of innovation since SMEs had developed strategies that enabled them to adapt and adjust to their rural environment in order to remain innovative.

Organisational learning has been identified as a lasting source of competitive advantage in uncertain environments. Plentiful research has highlighted that knowledge and skills and the capabilities they develop are strategic resources and that effective utilisation of these resources enhances firm innovation and performance. However, in spite of this widespread recognition, family businesses, specifically family SMEs, have not been the subject of previous research exploring the strategic impact of organisational learning on innovation and firm performance. This research, therefore, sets out a theoretical framework drawing upon organisational learning theory and innovation, and explores the strategic links between organisational learning, innovation and firm performance “within” family SMEs and “between” family and non-family SMEs. The study was undertaken in an Australian context using a sample of 222 manufacturing SMEs comprised of 104 family and 118 non-family SMEs. The data were obtained from the Business Longitudinal Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics over the financial years 1995/96 - 1997/98, which provides the most recent available comprehensive longitudinal dataset of SMEs in Australia. The study involved three constructs: organisational learning, innovation and firm performance. Organisational learning was operationalised using commitment to learning, shared vision, and networking. To measure commitment to learning, three variables, employee training, management development, and comparison of performance were used. Shared vision was measured using the presence of formal planning in the firms. Networking was measured using the existence of external networks. The innovation construct was measured using product and process innovation intensity, and firm performance was measured by growth of sales and rate of return on total assets. Data were analysed using two tests: regression analysis and the Chow test. Whereas the former test was conducted to explore the direct and indirect effects of organisational learning on innovation and firm performance “within” family SMEs, the latter was conducted to compare those effects “between” family and non-family SMEs. Our “within” results, concerning the direct effects of organisational learning on innovation found that network relationships positively influenced innovation in family SMEs. With regard to the direct effects of organisational learning on performance, we found that management development and formal planning were positively linked with family SMEs’ performance. Moreover, relating to innovation and firm performance, our research concludes that innovation in family SMEs is positively linked with their performance. In the case of the indirect effect, we found that networks affect firm performance via innovation. With respect to the “between” results, we found that whereas the effects of formal planning and innovation on firm performance of family SMEs were stronger than for non-family SMEs, the effects of employee training and management development on firm performance were stronger in non-family SMEs. Concerning networks, we found a stronger effect of family SMEs’ networks on their innovation than non-family SMEs. Finally, we re-emphasised the necessity of more scholarly studies linking organisational learning with family business characteristics such as familiness, leadership, ownership, social interactions and organisational process.

In today’s technological environment, organizational capabilities for managing change are regarded as important for business survival and growth. In particular, dynamic organizational capabilities have attracted considerable research interest over the past decade. Recently several studies have suggested that dynamic capabilities may be associated with a concept termed organizational fitness. What is not clear in this emerging research stream is whether firms with superior organizational fitness are more likely to prosper than unfit firms. In addition, relatively little attention has been directed toward creating a systemic model of dynamic capabilities that explains organizational fitness. The nature of fitness has been intensively debated in the biological sciences over a period of several decades. A confusing variety of fitness definitions have emerged from this literature. The lack of an agreed definition of fitness has resulted in several streams of research on organizational fitness. As a result of this fragmentation, there has been little progress toward answering the question of how to measure organizational fitness. The fragmentation in organizational fitness literature is problematic, because research into the relationship between organizational fitness and firm performance is not well-advanced. In this study, organizational fitness is defined in terms of organizational capability to produce variation. By defining fitness in this way, the tautological criticisms leveled against existing concepts of fitness are avoided. The definition of fitness proposed here accommodates both an evolutionary learning perspective and a perspective of strategic management, and thus reflects an integrative approach to the concept. A notable feature of the literature exploring organizational fitness is that it has been focused on large corporations. However, a growing body of literature suggests that SMEs are different from large firms and need to be examined in their own right. SMEs are important contributors to business in most countries throughout the world. This study addresses that perceived gap in the literature and asks: What relationship, if any, is there between organizational fitness and business performance for SMEs? Theory is developed and tested here by means of a large sample of SMEs in New Zealand. Two distinct aspects of organizational fitness are identified for SMEs. First, survival fitness is associated with generic combinative capabilities. Second, growth fitness is associated with knowledge assimilation and transformation. SME growth fitness and survival fitness are each found to be positively related to business performance under a variety of contexts. Further, an increase of growth fitness and survival fitness provides a means of alleviating selection pressures for SMEs. That is, dynamic capabilities of knowledge assimilation and integration are found to be positively associated with SME business performance. In contrast to studies that advocate SME development of context-dependent capabilities, the findings of this study suggest an alternative perspective: variable selection pressures can be influenced by SMEs with a high level of survival and growth fitness.

This research focuses on internationalisation and e-commerce in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a significant part of the New Zealand economy. Based on interviews in ten SMEs, this study explores the internationalisation process and adoption of e-commerce in these enterprises. Both phenomena are examined separately to explore relevant issues, followed by consideration of the interrelationship between the two phenomena. Ten case studies of New Zealand SMEs engaged in international business were conducted. Qualitative data was collected in semi-structured interviews with key members of each SME. The interview data were supplemented with secondary data sources, including publicly available information on the firms and their activities. A within-case and cross-case analysis was performed based around the three research foci identified above. The research findings reveal that while there is a high level of confidence among the SMEs studied for internationalisation, e-commerce adoption in these firms was at a medium level of maturity. Facilitators and inhibitors of both internationalisation and e-commerce adoption are presented. A major contribution of the study is the consideration of the mutual effects between the two phenomena, in order to raise awareness of internationalisation and e-commerce in SMEs and their significance for SMEs’ competitiveness.