The Influence of Organizational Ambidexterity on SME Speed of Internationalization

Abstract

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) require a combination of organizational and individual skills to grow more rapidly in international markets. The question is whether there is an ideal combination to compete in the present (exploitation orientation) or to prepare to compete in the future (exploration orientation), and whether managerial cognition plays a role on determining international growth. The analysis of Portuguese manufacturing SMEs suggests that the manager's cognitive systems do not have an overall influence on the growth of foreign sales to total sales (FSTS), but the two cognitive systems (experiential and analytic) have a different influence on international exploitation and exploration. International exploration and exploitation mediate the relationship between the latter variables. This study contributes to a better understanding of the role that organizational ambidexterity plays on the SMEs' speed of internationalization and how the manager's cognitive systems influence this organizational orientation.

Ambidextrous strategies in turbulent times: the experience of manufacturing SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Exploring new business opportunities. The possibility of exploiting the experience garnered in one country in another one is a key aspect in this respect (Silva et al, 2021;Vahlne and Johanson, 2013). The machinery producer in Case 7 benefited from multiple locations and reacted to the pandemic by using company sites to be closer to its customers at its specific location.…”

Entrepreneurial cognition and internationalization speed: towards a potential moderating effect of experiential and rational information processing

“…Third, no qualitative study can prove how much entrepreneurial cognition influences the earliness and speed of internationalization, an issue that only quantitative studies can fully address. Some attempts have been made, for example, by Silva et al (2021), who found that cognition has no direct impact on the speed of post-internationalization expansion but influences decisions regarding the allocation of resources to exploration and exploitation activities. Further quantitative studies are required to explore the direct and interactive effects of entrepreneurial cognition on the speed of the entire process of internationalization.…”

“…The firm-level of analysis has remained predominant, to the neglect of the decision-maker level of analysis (Maitland and Sammartino, 2015;Guercini & Milanesi, 2020). Yet, the decision-makers cognitive strategy can help to explain a venture's internationalization speed (Acedo & Jones, 2007;Silva et al, 2021). In this connection, cognitive strategy refers to "the information processing approach employed by individuals in a given situation and may be influenced by cognitive style as well as by situational factors including time constraints, amount of information available and level of uncertainty present" (Baldacchino, 2019, p. 38).…”

Unboxing organisational complexity: how does it affect business performance during the COVID-19 pandemic?

“…The greater the integration and participation of firms in international markets, the greater their degree of internationalisation (Silva et al, 2021) and, consequently, the more complex and competitive they become (Sanders and Carpenter, 1998;Lin and Lee, 2008). To explore this relationship, discriminant analysis was performed to compare firms with international operations from others.…”