BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

Foreign market selection and entry are important decisions for internationalizing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) because they involve uncertainty, and influence performance. While it is inherent in effectual foreign market entry (FME) decision-making to rely on international partners and relationships to develop international markets, causal foreign market selection and business relationships/networks have frequently been presented as alternative ways to expand abroad. We conceive SMEs’ foreign market selection and entry as international business decisions and build on causal and effectual logic, and business network theory, to propose a model explaining SMEs’ international performance. We contribute to international business and SME literature by uncovering two different paths (causal and effectual) to FME collaboration and international performance. FME collaboration mediates the relation between causal foreign market selection and effectual entry decision-making and international performance. Our theoretical explanation for the mediating mechanism through which international performance can be enhanced is the network approach., Sylvie Chetty acknowledges financial support from the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Research Grant (13-UOO-065). Oscar Martín Martín acknowledges financial support from Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PID2019-105198GB-I00/AEI /10.13039/501100011033). Wensong Bai acknowledges financial support from the Guangdong Province’s 14th Five-Year Plan for Philosophy and Social Sciences’ 2022 Discipline Co-Construction Project (GD22XGL58), Guangdong Provincial Ordinary University Innovation Team Project (2022WCXTD022) and Characteristics Innovation Project (2022WTSCX123), and the Stable Support Plan Funding Project for Higher Education Institutions in Shenzhen in 2022.

While entrepreneurs play a crucial role in shaping the business environment in transitional economies, there is a lack of studies that involve such contexts. Cuba represents an idiosyncratic collectivist economy that is gradually transforming into a socialist market economy, and there is a dearth of literature on entrepreneurship in Cuba. Understanding business performance drivers and challenges faced by small firms in this context may have important theoretical and practical implications. We explore the determinants of small firms’ business performance in Cuba. We combine a capabilities and institutional perspective on entrepreneurship to explain small firms’ business performance in this turbulent transitional market. Specifically, we suggest that managerial capabilities, supply-chain problems, and institutional factors explain small firms’ business performance. We contribute to both the small firm and entrepreneurship literature by contextualizing capabilities and institutional perspectives to identify the critical role played by managerial capabilities and supply-chain problems in economies where supply is constrained., The work was supported by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para elDesarrollo [A/4633/5] and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación [PID2019-105198GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033]

International Market Selection (IMS) is a strategic and complex decision by which firms choose the markets in which to be present. Despite the undisputed academic and managerial relevance of IMS, extant reviews do not include the most recent empirical literature, do not consider different perspectives linked to alternative units of analysis and research domains, and ignore important changes in the international business environment. This research aims to carry out a holistic and systematic assessment of recent IMS empirical research, propose an IMS framework, and provide directions for future research. We contribute to the international business and management literature by updating and upgrading our understanding of IMS, by expanding the IMS conceptualization, proposing an integrative conceptual framework, and developing research propositions, and by suggesting a comprehensive, updated, and radically original research agenda., Óscar Martín Martín has received funding from the Ministry of Universities (Programa Estatal de Promoción del Talento y su Empleabilidad en I + D + i, Subprograma Estatal de Movilidad, del Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Ténica y de Innovación 2017-2020) for a mobility stay, grant PRX21/00462. Oscar Martín Martín acknowledges financial support from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PID2019-105198GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033).

While the literature emphasizes the importance of knowledge and foreign market knowledge for international performance, it is unclear about the intervening/mediating relationships. From a knowledge-based view and network approach, we posit that previous foreign market entry (FME) knowledge can be used in the selection of international markets and to enhance network capabilities and international performance. We test the relationships between these constructs in a sample of 140 Australian SMEs. We contribute to the international SME literature by explaining important mechanisms through which FME knowledge affects SMEs’ international performance. International market selection and network capability mediate its relationship with international performance., We acknowledge financial support from the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Research Grant (13-UOO-065 ) and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PID2019-105198GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 ). Wensong Bai acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72032008；71772165), and the Major Research Project of Philosophy & Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, P.R.China（17JZD018).