SMEs’ International Strategic Groups and Top Managers’ Psychological Characteristics

Ângelo Cabral,José Ferreira,Fernando Carvalho

doi:10.3390/admsci10040092

Ângelo Cabral, José Ferreira + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci10040092

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Abstract

This research analyzed the small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) international strategies concerning the scale and scope of the international activities. The major purpose was to study the international top managers’ psychological characteristics as distinctive capabilities within the defined international strategic groups. The international top managers’ cultural intelligence and emotional intelligence were taken as main characteristics to act in the international business environment. Therefore, we took as the main motivation to perform the present investigation the need to understand which psychological characteristics may help the international top managers to pursue high degrees of internationalization in their firms. This study was conducted in Portugal, and the sample was composed of 307 Portuguese SMEs’ international top managers directly responsible for the firms’ international decisions. The multinomial logistic regression method was used to test the hypotheses. The firms were classified into three international strategic groups based on the internationalization scale and scope. The degree of internationalization reflects that combination, creating groups with a high, medium, and low international exposure. The main result indicates as a distinctive capability, the international top managers’ cultural intelligence within the firms that exhibit a high international strategic positioning. Regarding the main contributions, this article contributes to the bodies of knowledge of international SMEs, cultural intelligence, emotional intelligence, and networking. This study also contributes to upper echelons theory and the resource-based view.

Highlights

The present research is grounded in the international business and psychology fields
Taking into account some components of this concept, namely, managerial tie utilization, trust, and solidarity (e.g., Cui et al 2020), for instance, we suggest the relevant role that emotional intelligence and cultural intelligence may have in managers’ interpersonal contacts and in building trust and solidarity
Following Podsakoff et al (2003), the Harman’s single factor test was performed, and the result suggests that common method bias is not a major concern

Summary

Introduction

The present research is grounded in the international business and psychology fields. The conceptual and empirical approach addresses small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) internationalization and their top managers’ psychological characteristics. The international strategy of SMEs is taken as an extremely important decision reflected in a multidimensional construct concerning the firms’ international strategic decisions. We took the combination between the scale and scope of the internationalization of SMEs (e.g., Cerrato and Fernhaber 2018) as a decisive blend to capture a more accurate picture of the different international strategies and strategic groups. The international scale and scope, besides measuring the magnitude of the firms’ international activities, embodies an important mirror of the firms’ international strategic positioning (cf Kumar Singal and Kumar Jain 2014). We defined three major international strategic groups in regard to the international exposure of SMEs. In relation to the top managers’

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