International entrepreneurship among Finnish SMEs

Olli Kuivalainen, Sami Saarenketo, Lasse Torkkeli, Kaisu Puumalainen
  • Edward Elgar Publishing
  • DOI: 10.4337/9781783471584.00025

Drivers and Barriers of International Growth: Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises from Finland

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

What is it about?

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are companies employing 10-250 people. SMEs originating from smaller economies especially, to grow successfully means to also internationalize successfully. This study describes how the national and organizational culture can drive and restrict international growth of SMEs, and what paths SMEs choose to successfully grow and internationalize. To do so, we use the national context of Finland.

Why is it important?

Successful growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is critical for long-term development of most economies and regions in the world, including in the European Union. For this reason, both managers and policy makers should understand the forces that drive or hinder successful international growth of firms in their home country. Changes in policies and firm strategies are more effective when there is an understanding of how the home country environment helps firms in achieving international growth.

Perspectives

Dr Lasse Torkkeli
Lappeenrannan Teknillinen Yliopisto

Writing this article was a great pleasure as it has co-authors with whom I have had long standing collaborations. This study brings together the Finnish firm-level and national-level aspects that impact internationalization of Finnish SMEs. We were happy to bring together the "picture" of the determinants of international expansion of smaller firms in Finland.

Read Publication

http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781783471584.00025

The following have contributed to this page: Dr Lasse Torkkeli