SMEs internationalization by grafting knowledge. Unveiling the enabling mechanisms of strategic knowledge management

Abstract

ABSTRACT International knowledge plays a crucial role for firms willing to internationalize. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often try to graft it from external sources, such as advisers, consultants, etc. Among them, Temporary Export Managers (TEMs) are becoming a viable solution among SMEs to access readily available international experience at a relatively low cost. However, it is unclear how SMEs graft knowledge from TEMs and how SME-TEM interactions translate into impacts on the firm’s internationalization strategy. To address this gap, we examined 20 cases of the TEM-SME collaboration, conducting 48 semi-structured interviews in Italy. The results show that three main knowledge mechanisms are activated through TEM-SME interactions: mobilization, integration, and recombination. A grounded interpretative framework is proposed to show how these mechanisms affect strategic international knowledge, encompassing differentiated-to-differentiated, differentiated-to-integrated, and integrated-to-integrated knowledge trajectories. The study offers insights to both TEMs and SMEs to enhance knowledge grafting processes to impact SMEs’ international development.