In response to calls for more policy-relevant academic research, this paper undertakes a stewardship approach to examine an engaged scholarship policy programme targeted at supporting the internationalization of Small and MediumSized Enterprises (SMEs) in Scotland, namely the Global Companies Development Programme (GCDP). The study was undertaken by academics and included a combined formal evaluation and research study, a follow-up workshop and group interviews over a ten-year-period. This study extends the stewardship approach to the engaged scholarship context. The findings suggest that stakeholders view their collaboration as a “supra-organizational” formation through which they can identify and empathize with its objectives; require skilful boundary spanners who consistently promote the objectives of the collaboration in the participating organizations; and, accentuate effective knowledge generation and transfer to SME internationalization activities that reflect the outcomes of their collaboration. We discuss policy implications for the development of private-public and interagency partnerships.

We employ the opportunity-based international entrepreneurial culture (IEC) comprehensive notion that draws upon the opportunity-based view (OBV). The OBV supports the idea that entrepreneurs mold the organizational behavior and characteristics of their firms to pursue opportunities abroad. We set out to explore possible attitudinal differences as regards exploitation of opportunities within firms in each of three internationalization dimensions that are previously identified in the literature, notably time to internationalization, country market presence and international mode. We perform eighteen case studies on high-performing internationalized small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in knowledge intensive sectors. The evidence refines the OBV as it manifests how three IEC characteristics (namely risk attitude, market orientation and networking propensity) matter for firms in the three internationalization dimensions. The study further adds to the international entrepreneurship literature that has until now myopically focused on international new ventures as if they were the sole opportunity-driven group of internationalized SMEs.

In September 2014, the people of Scotland will vote in a referendum proposing that Scotland should become an independent country. If voters in Scotland accept the proposal, Scotland would become a new country. The White Paper containing the case for independence (Scottish Government, 2013) clearly states that an independent Scotland would continue to be an open economy. In these circumstances, foreign direct investment (FDI) both inward and outward, and foreign trade, would be central to the Scottish economy. In effect, a yes vote leads to the creation of a new small developed economy that is heavily integrated into the global economy. In different parts of the world, separatist movements are seeking to break away from the countries they currently are part of, for example, Wallonia and Flanders in Belgium, Catalonia, and the Basque Country in Spain, Quebec in Canada, various parts of Indonesia and in many other places. International business research has not investigated the implications for FDI and trade of the possibilities of successful separatist movements creating new small open economies. It is possible that a number of new small open economies could emerge in the coming years. There is research, but not much, on existing small open economies and FDI and trade (Barry and Kearney, 2006; Hooley et al, 1996). This work reveals that small open economies can prosper and attract considerable volumes of FDI that often stimulates exports.

We seek to provide a comprehensive operationalization of firm-specific variables that constitute multinational enterprise subsidiary entrepreneurial competencies. Towards this objective, we bring together notions from the fields of entrepreneurship and international business. Drawing on an empirical study of 260 subsidiaries located in the UK, we propose a comprehensive set of scales encompassing innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, learning, intra-multinational networking, extra-multinational networking and autonomy; which capture distinct subsidiary entrepreneurial competencies at the subsidiary level. Research and managerial implications are discussed. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to undertake an analysis of the implications of potential Scottish independence for inward foreign direct investment (FDI), multinational enterprise strategies and the local economy.Design/methodology/approach– This paper takes a multidisciplinary approach drawing on literature and evidence in the international business and management, political economy and economic geography fields to analyse the role and impact of inward FDI in Scotland following possible Scottish independence.Findings– Scotland continues as an attractive location for FDI, with greater diversity than hitherto. While the country’s comparative advantages in immobile natural resources provide some protection from uncertainty, weak embeddedness is a risk factor irrespective of independence. A range of transition costs of independence are identified, which could be high and of indeterminate duration, and some will be sector-specific. There are also new possibilities for tailoring of policies and potential reindustrialization opportunities in renewable technologies. The foreign investors most vulnerable to political risks and uncertainties are those whose market scope is the rest of the UK (rUK) either as exporters or value-chain integrators, in addition to the high political risk industries of energy, banking and financial services and defence. Scottish subsidiaries’ significance within their parent MNE groups will also be a major factor in determining responses to political risks and uncertainties.Originality/value– Specific focus on the impact of potential independence on the foreign-owned sector as a major contributor to the Scottish economy.

We conceptualize a learning–based model of international new ventures (INVs)’ post–entry internationalization speed focusing upon two measures: country scope speed and international commitment speed. We contribute to a deeper understanding of the pace of international expansion of the new venture once it has become an INV by articulating the role of (1) the speed of learning, influenced by social capital and absorptive capacity, and (2) the content of learning represented by knowledge accumulation. We also offer a more refined perspective on organizational learning, which indicates that different stages in the process of exploitative learning require different forms of social capital.

The mode of doing business across national borders was considered a pioneering topic in the late 1970s when concern was with the mode as a means of foreign market entry. Today, barriers to international trade and investment are significantly eroded and internationalization eased by improvements in technology, infrastructure and deregulation, and it is pertinent to ask: 'Does entry mode matter?' The question is addressed through a discussion of literature explicitly focused on entry modes, and that examining internationalization and international entrepreneurship more widely. Concluding that insufficient attention is paid to mode variety and motivations in both bodies of research, a series of models positioning modes within the internationalization process are advanced. The models demonstrate the confluence of influences from dynamic processes, and decision criteria on entry mode selection, motivations and internationalization path. While the role of the entry mode in current internationalization processes has evolved with changes in the world economy, it remains an important topic for research. Specifically, the authors call for research on the influence of technological change on entry modes; and deeper investigation of specific modes such as exporting, and of the role of social capital in the formation of formal modes of international business activity.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of two categories of sources of technology on subsidiary performance. These technology sources can be associated either with the internal Multinational Enterprise (MNE) system; or, the local environment in which the subsidiary is based.

The regional location of multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries in their host country and their associated entrepreneurial output and networking activities are likely to affect their economic development contribution, measured in terms of technology and management know-how transfers; enhancement of innovativeness of other firms; and company spinoffs. This theme has considerable research and public policy value. We investigate the issue drawing from a large-scale study of 264 MNC subsidiaries based in the UK. The findings show that activities in developed regions are associated with higher economic development contribution than those in less developed regions. Moreover, entrepreneurial output and networking with partners external to the MNC system positively affect economic development contribution. Key implications of this study are that entrepreneurship critically influences economic development contribution, underlying the importance of the MNC subsidiary research stream; and that the policy practice of supply-side measures fostering entrepreneurial output and embeddedness in local networks seems to be appropriate to pursue.

This paper explores the major developments in the multinational enterprise (MNE) literature; along with the research conducted on Scottish-based MNE subsidiaries and the policy changes that have taken place in Scotland aimed at promoting foreign direct investment (FDI). It is suggested that subsidiaries may evolve from the branch plant to the developmental and the entrepreneurial subsidiary type; with each of these three subsidiary types contributing differently to the economic development of the host country. The empirical evidence from an in-depth analysis of IBM, Greenock, Scotland attests to the importance of the entrepreneurial subsidiary activities for the host economy. Implications for research and public policy are discussed.

In this paper we examine the location determinants of the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Poland, at a regional level. Using survey data from an on-line questionnaire in February 2005 and a multinomial logit model incorporating the investor's specific characteristics, we show that knowledge-seeking factors alongside market and agglomeration factors, act as the main drivers for the inflow of FDI to the Mazowieckie region (including Warsaw), while efficiency and geographical factors encourage FDI to the other areas of Poland. Some implications are drawn for FDI attraction policy in Poland.

The subjects of the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and international entrepreneurship are very exciting and topical ones. In particular the growth of the global knowledge economy is associated with the emergence of many intellectual-capital-intensive SMEs, whose adventurous and entrepreneurial strategies may lead to early and rapid internationalization and globalization. These phenomena are not confi ned to developed countries as, for example, the expansion of the Indian software industry in Bangalore and the rapid growth of private sector internationalized SMEs from China have revealed. However, international entrepreneurial behaviour is not limited to early internationalizing SMEs. Thus opportunity recognition, for example, may be associated with ongoing business operations, and hence include low-technology and traditional SMEs and cautious as well as ambitious fi rms. The internationalization of small fi rms has traditionally been capturing a major share of investigation on the international business agenda. Despite the fact that big multinationals have been increasingly engaging in the exchange of goods and services in the international business arena, signifi cant market, resource or network opportunities appear for internationalized small fi rms also. It is of signifi cant importance to their managers to fi nd out which strategies work best in the international marketplace. In addition, policy-makers are keen to discover how they can assist their national small fi rms in their endeavours abroad. This edited research-based volume has its genesis in a one-day seminar organized by the Centre for Internationalization and Enterprise Research (CIER – http://www.gla.ac.uk/cier) at the University of Glasgow on 23 Apri l2007. The editors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Department of Management at the University of Glasgow, Targeting Innovation Ltd and Scottish Enterprise in undertaking this event. The seminar was designed to

This chapter discusses the role of network relationships in the internationalization of small knowledge-intensive firms (SKIFs) by specifically highlighting their foreign, spatially scattered network relationships, which can be a significant resource. The following two issues are dealt with: how foreign network relationships are developed and the impact they have on the internationalization of SKIFs. This chapter focuses on the Indian software industry and cites the example of four case-firms in Bangalore. Three effects of foreign network relationships on the internationalization of SKIFs, namely, opportunities, information and advice are noted. Managerial implications include the importance of leveraging network relationships proactively and with discernment.

Multinational subsidiaries constitute a potential source of social capital for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that can help in the internationalization process. Such social capital is particularly valuable because it is a form of bridging (socially heterogeneous), rather than bonding (socially homogenous), social capital, and could therefore potentially lead to new information, ideas and opportunities. However, even in the best situations, limits on information exchange and trust hamper collaboration between SMEs and multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries. Facilitation by a neutral agency may help in overcoming these barriers. This chapter presents the case of the Scottish Technology and Collaboration (STAC) initiative as an illustration of the facilitation process - comprising architecting, brokering and coaching - and its outcomes, chiefly the formation of social capital, which in turn has the potential to lead to knowledge outcomes and, ultimately, internationalization for the SME. This case reveals important implications for both policy and theories of SME internationalization, especially the need to recognize and lever underutilized sources of social capital.

This conceptual chapter seeks to answer the research question: What are the determinants of internationalization in small knowledge-intensive firms (SKIFs)? It does so by establishing the meaning of the term 'small knowledge-intensive firm', by synthesizing literature from the small firm and knowledge-intensive firm literatures, and then subsequently marrying this definition with internationalization literature to yield a conceptual framework involving such key influences on internationalization as firm size, knowledge-intensity, the entrepreneur and environment. In each of these aspects, network relationships are seen to be influential. Implications of this discussion include the importance for SKIFs to prioritize and nurture network relationships, while seeking to strike a balance between strategy-making and responding opportunistically to new possibilities that emerge through these relationships.

This chapter discusses the role of network relationships in the internationalization of small knowledge-intensive firms (SKIFs) by highlighting their local, spatially concentrated network relationships, which can serve as a significant local resource. Little is known in this regard with respect to a developing economy context. Primarily on the basis of a study of four case-firms in Bangalore software industry and available secondary data, two issues are dealt with: (a) how local network relationships - such as those within clusters or industrial districts - are developed and (b) the impact that these relationships have on the internationalization of SKIFs, namely, reputation-related, quality-related and networking benefits. However, it also emerged from follow-up interviews with local academic experts that these benefits may be passively rather than actively accrued, suggesting that some local resources may be overlooked or wasted.