Ethnic networks and small firm internationalisation: a study of UK-based Indian enterprises

Abstract

This paper draws upon on a sample of 21 UK-based Indian small- and medium-sized enterprises to explore the impact of ethnic networks on the internationalisation of minority ethnic businesses. Issues examined include the perceived importance of such networks in the study firms' international expansion and how this perception might have been affected by the firms' overall level of development. It emerged that these network resources provided useful intelligence and contacts that bridged critical gaps in the study firms' international knowledge and experience, and facilitated their selection of international partners, particularly at the early internationalisation stages. The managerial, policy and future research implications of the findings are discussed.