Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises And The Global Economy

‘Globalization has jarred the traditional role and competitiveness of small- and medium-sized enterprises. This masterful volume comprises leading scholars, policy makers and business leaders who have new insights and strategies for SMEs creating opportunities rather than being victims of globalization. The result is a breakthrough in our understanding of entrepreneurship in the global context.’
– David B. Audretsch, Indiana University, Bloomington, US and Otto Beisheim School WHU, Germany

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often have difficulty competing in the global economy unless they collaborate with domestic or foreign partners or with public sector organizations. This book addresses the resource leverage and innovation challenges that increased global trade represents for SMEs. In doing so, it explores how SMEs can become more competitive at home and in foreign markets as stand-alone firms or as members of supplier and customer networks.

SMEs are turning increasingly to innovation as a source of competitive advantage in order to protect their home markets and participate in expanding foreign markets. The contributors to this volume – leading experts in entrepreneurship, innovation, and international business – provide in-depth coverage of the most compelling issues facing SMEs. These include: innovation as a competitive strategy, network dynamics, ways to leverage technology, internationalization, and the role of the public sector in helping SMEs to overcome resource deficiencies.

This comprehensive look at SMEs in the global marketplace will be of great interest to academics who study entrepreneurship, innovation, or international business, officials from public sector agencies with responsibility for helping SMEs to internationalize and become more innovative, and senior executives of SMEs or executives of larger companies who are considering collaboration with SMEs.

Contents:

Introduction

1. Introduction
Gerald I. Susman

PART I: INNOVATION AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
2. Exploring the Reach of Innovation-Related Cooperation in Small Firms
Mark Freel

3. Innovation, Productivity and Growth: An Analysis of Irish Data
James H. Love and Stephen Roper

4. Innovation Strategies and Manufacturing Practices: Insights from the 2005 Georgia Manufacturing Survey
Jan Youtie and Philip Shapira

PART II: NETWORK DYNAMICS
5. Economies of Speed: A Conceptual Framework to Describe Network Effectiveness
Irene J. Petrick and Carleen Maitland

6. Sourcing of Innovation as Trendsetting in the Imaging Sector: A Comparison between Large MNEs and SMEs
Johannes M. Pennings and Gino Cattani

PART III: TECHNOLOGY AND ENHANCED CAPABILITIES
7. The Fastest Growing SMEs in Canada: Their Strategies, e-Commerce and Network Practices
Hamid Etemad

8. Knowledge and Capabilities in Subcontractor’s Evolution: The Italian Case
Roberto Grandinetti, Andrea Furlan and Arnaldo Camuffo

9. The Communication of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Through the Supply Chain: A SME Perspective
Craig H. Wood and Allen Kaufman

PART IV: INTERNATIONALIZATION
10. A Comparison of the Pace and Pattern of Internationalization by US and Canadian High-Growth Firms
David J. Maslach and Rod B. McNaughton

11. The Effects of Product Diversification and International Diversification on SMEs’ Innovation
Jane Wenzhen Lu and Zhijian Wu

12. Should High-Technology SMEs Expect to Internationalize by Passing Through a Sequence of Development Stages that Affect Choice of Export Market and Entry Mode?
Marian V. Jones

13. A Comparative Study of Canadian and UK High-Technology SMEs’ Internationalization Processes
Dave Crick and Martine Spence

14. SME Choice of Export Market and Entry Mode: Theory and Research
Gerald I. Susman and Jenna P. Stites

PART V: ROLE OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR
15. US States and the Global Economy: Trends and Policies in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest
Terrence Guay

16. University Research Parks: Untapped Source of Exports from Innovation-based SMEs
Paul M. Swamidass and Venubabu Vulasa

17. Issues Surrounding the Internationalization of SMEs: Implications for Policy Makers and Researchers
Paul Westhead, Mike Wright and Deniz Ucbasaran

PART VI: EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES
Diamond V Mills, Mark Kujawa
Markel Corporation, James Hoban
X-Rite Incorporated, Joan Andrews
Revere Copper Products, Thomas O’Shaughnessy
Lake Shore Cryotronics, Inc., Karen Lint
Brock Solutions, Inc., Vivienne Ojala
DALSA Corporation, Savvas Chamberlain
US Small Business Administration, Manuel Rosales
Kennametal Inc., Markos I. Tambakeras

Index