Strategic capability configurations for the internationalization of SMEs: A study in equifinality

Abstract

With the advent of globalization and the knowledge economy, an important issue lies in the strategic capabilities that enable the internationalization of SMEs. Using a configurational approach grounded in strategic management and contingency theory, we argue that strategic capabilities can be leveraged for purposes of small business internationalization to the extent that they are coaligned and thus constitute capability configurations. This gives rise to a first research question: What are the different organizational configurations that characterize SMEs with regard to their strategic capabilities for internationalization? And aiming to analyze the configuration-internationalization performance relationship under the assumption of equifinality, a property of open systems, we pose a second research question: Do the different capability configurations that characterize SMEs lead to equally successful outcomes in terms of internationalization? In answer to these questions, this article presents the results of a study of 292 manufacturing firms located in Canada and France.