Abstract
Constantly changing technologies, increasing competition, unstable demand of consumers, economic and political changes encourage managers to seek new opportunities abroad and thus, expand their firms’ activities. Considering the importance of knowledge in a number of industries, competition is shaped by the firms’ intellectual capital. Referring to the intellectual capital theory, the assumption about the importance of intellectual resources in internationalization process is suggested. Grounded on intellectual capital theory and the main aspects of SMEs internationalization the paper aims to reveal the significance of some important factors in internationalization of Lithuanian SMEs. The study is based on expert evaluation method and reports the findings from questioning the representatives of science and business. The internationalization of SMEs is driven by work experience of employees, ability to transmit experience and international orientation of managers. These factors contribute to the development of technical knowledge and strategy development processes. Consequently, obtained technical expertise and strategies lead to the higher reputation of managers in international context. The findings are significant for entrepreneurs having strong intentions to expand their businesses and policy makers, concerning about promotion and support of internationalization processes. The insights into the development of future investigations are suggested.
Highlights
Changing technologies, increasing competition, unstable demand of consumers, economic and political changes encourage managers to seek new opportunities abroad and expand their firms’ activities
Statistical data reveal that the biggest share of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) predominates by very small firms having less than 10 employees
Though educational level is seen as one of the most important aspects of human capital, surprisingly, the representatives of business indicate that educational level is the least important to internationalisation of small firms (Table 3)
Summary
Changing technologies, increasing competition, unstable demand of consumers, economic and political changes encourage managers to seek new opportunities abroad and expand their firms’ activities. IC is seen as a source of competitive advantage and significantly contributes to the performance of firms. A vast literature on SMEs internationalization aims to suggest the insights contributing to the expansion processes of small firms. The investigations focused on IC of small firms are limited and are focused on the management of intangible assets (Cohen, Kaimenakis 2007). A significant number of reported researches were carried out in the context of developed countries. The investigations of small firms in emerging markets contexts are less developed (Korsakienė, Baranauskienė 2011; Korsakienė, Tvaronavičienė 2012; Korsakienė et al 2015). Investigations of IC and interrelationships with internationalization of the SMEs is seen as a fruitful venue in the scientific literature.
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