Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop the international entrepreneurship theory, by examining the entrepreneurial characteristics of international new venture (INV) originating in Poland. Furthermore, it is assessed in the study whether these characteristics relate to the performance of INVs, considering the role of the age of the company. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected via a CATI survey of 105 Polish small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), conforming to the early internationalization criteria, and 128 gradually internationalized SMEs. Student’s t-tests, correlation and, regression analysis were applied for group comparisons and relationship testing. Findings The Polish INVs are characterized by higher innovativeness and risk propensity than gradual exporters. Moreover, medium-strength correlations between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) elements and performance were found. The regression analysis proved that new product introduction, risk taking, and experience influence INV performance. Research limitations/implications The sample includes Polish SMEs from one sector. Moreover, most of the analyzed companies admitted being successful abroad, which may have influenced the study results. Practical implications Fast launching of new products and product development are important for quick expansion. A conciliatory approach to competitors is associated with better performance. Regarding the policy makers, the development of “breakthrough innovations” might not be as important as assisting the INVs in product launches. Originality/value An under-researched topic of EO of SMEs from a post-transformation market and its relationships with performance is explored. Moreover, the correlation of the company’s age and experience with success is studied.

Trauma is a leading cause of death and disability in young adults in developed countries with the high impact on future patient quality of life and productivity. The traumatic injury of the vessels is one of the most dangerous types of injury, requiring a fast and reliable diagnosis and, in vast majority of cases, immediate surgical treatment. In this chapter, the authors describe various types of vascular injuries according to injury types and locations. The prehospital care algorithms in patients with vascular trauma are proposed with the emphasis on bleeding control techniques and transportation technique to the nearest hospital. In the next subsection, the various peripheral vascular injuries of specific body areas are described. The truncal vessel trauma is discussed in the next subsection, focusing on fast diagnosis and decision on surgery. In the last subsection, a problem of iatrogenic vascular injury is described due to a rapid increase of minimally invasive techniques in which a vascular injury, as a complication of therapy, may occur.

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the following four groups of factors on success perception by managers of Polish small-and medium-sized international new ventures (SMEs INVs): 1) competitive strategy expressed by international orientation of top management and applied marketingmix tools, 2) competitive strategy analyzed within M.E. Porter's framework, 3) sector-specific determinants (industrial branches), and 4) main export markets. Two measures of success perception are considered: subjective evaluation of firm's financial situation and assessment of firm's success as compared to competitors. The methods of data analyses are correlations and multiple linear regression (SPSS software). The analysis is conducted separately for smallsized companies and for medium-sized firms. The hypotheses concerning the roles of international orientation, marketing-mix tools, industrial branches, and main export markets in explaining success have been fully or partially confirmed. The factors that are most positively related to the perception of success across both groups of firms and two measures of success perceptions are high-quality products, good product development strategy and capability to create unique products, i.e. differentiation strategy. The obtained results imply that the most fundamental factor of success is a good product policy within the framework of a differentiation strategy. The second objective of this paper is to provide a comparison between small and medium-sized enterprises, analyzing whether there is a reason to consider SMEs as a uniform category, or whether the factors explaining success are different depending on firms' size.

The key objective of this paper is to describe and evaluate the competitive strategies applied by Polish born global enterprises. To reveal these strategies, two competitive models developed by M.E. Porter are applied to an original data set obtained from 256 small and medium Polish enterprises through a survey employing the CATI technique. The outcomes of these strategies, as perceived by the companies applying them, are also evaluated against two hypotheses. We conclude that Polish firms apply both basic strategies of competition, i.e. cost leadership strategies and differentiation strategies and that a substantial majority of companies perceive themselves to have succeeded on the market.

e main objective of this paper is to describe and compare the impact of two factors: competitive strategy (analyzed mainly through marketing-mix tools) and sector-speci c determinants (i.e. industry type), on success perception of Polish born globals. e statistical analysis (SPSS) has been applied to the original data set obtained from 256 Polish SMEs through a questionnaire and CATI technique. e outcomes have been evaluated against three hypotheses. Our research revealed that unlike the born globals from highly developed countries, the success perception of decision makers from Polish early internationalized rms is only weakly a ected by the industry type. e decision makers strongly support the statement that the success of their rms depends on competitive strategy and marketing tools which they apply. e answer to the basic research problem is that competitive strategy plays more important role than sector-speci c determinants in success perception of Polish early internationalized rms.