Abstract
Theoretical framework – Our review examines the relational approach to internationalization and the strategic approach to family businesses. It covers three types of social capital, market orientation, and international business orientation. Design/methodology/approach – This is a fuzzy-set qualitative case study. Seven family SMEs from the fishing sector in Campeche, Mexico, compose the sample. Findings – Linking is determining factor for internationalization. The cessation of internationalization occurs in family businesses because of a lack of international entrepreneurship, the family's presence, and a lack of vertical links. Practical & social implications – This study expands the research on internationalization in family SMEs in an emerging economy context, empirically demonstrating how the analyzed exporters' social capital links directly influence their activity. For business professionals, the challenge is to manage their links abroad. Our results show that links play a crucial role in internationalization in this context. Exporters that have not internationalized are advised to strengthen their connections with key government institutions. Originality/value – We show that there is more than one optimal way for family SMEs to succeed in internationalization. Research on the internationalization of family businesses in Mexico is very scarce. Thus, this study responds to calls for further research on the internationalization of SMEs in emerging economies.
Highlights
IntroductionThere are several contributions of interest on the internationalization of family businesses from the 1990s, the knowledge about the internationalization of family businesses (hereinafter FBs) from emerging economies remains limited (Carney, Essen, Gedajlovic, & Huegens, 2015; Essen, Carney, & Gedajlovic, 2015; Sabah, Carsrud, & Kocak, 2014; Tasavori, Zaefarian, & Eng, 2018).The processes of family-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are different from in other types of enterprises (Abdellatif, Amann, & Jaussaud, 2010; Hennart, Majocchi, & Forlani, 2019)
This was achieved by: (i) examining littlestudied variables concerning the internationalization of FBs, as is the case of linking and market orientation, and their relationship with networks and internationalization; (ii) showing the existence of a more optimal and novel way for family small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to achieve success in internationalization; (iii) studying FBs from a relational perspective and internationalization in more advanced stages of creation and commercial development; (iv) addressing the need to deepen the research on the internationalization of SMEs in emerging economies, especially in Mexico, where research on the internationalization of FBs is scarce, and (v) addressing the need to understand the decline of the economic sector examined, which is so crucial for the country
This research primarily focuses on companies in emerging market contexts such as Mexico, where research on the internationalization of FBs is still very scarce
Summary
There are several contributions of interest on the internationalization of family businesses from the 1990s, the knowledge about the internationalization of family businesses (hereinafter FBs) from emerging economies remains limited (Carney, Essen, Gedajlovic, & Huegens, 2015; Essen, Carney, & Gedajlovic, 2015; Sabah, Carsrud, & Kocak, 2014; Tasavori, Zaefarian, & Eng, 2018).The processes of family-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are different from in other types of enterprises (Abdellatif, Amann, & Jaussaud, 2010; Hennart, Majocchi, & Forlani, 2019). In addition to the main differences due to their family nature, size, and resources, this type of firm is more prone to social capital issues (Kontinen & Ojala, 2011a). This is of particular interest in emerging economies, where there are often unstable institutional environments, frequent changes in the legal system, and a large black economy (Smallbone & Welter, 2001). There is insufficient knowledge about the different types of social capital and how they influence the internationalization of FBs (Gittins, Lang, & Sass, 2015) Their roles may vary depending on the family firm’s identity (Uhlaner, Matser, Berent, & Flören, 2015)
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