Las pymes manufactureras de la CAPV ante el reto de la internacionalización

This paper is an attempt to provide empirical evidence on how distinct processes of internationalization influence the performance of small and medium size enterprises (i.e., SMEs). A sample of manufacturing SMEs of the Basque Country, one of the most advanced industrial regions of Spain, is examined. Findings of our study show that early entry, via exports, in a larger number of foreign markets when the company is still adolescent (i.e., up to 15 years from inception) is associated positively with firm performance. Certain firm internal resources in both tangible and intangible forms, such as an extensive endowment of physical assets and prior internationalization experience, play a key role in the efficient exploitation of opportunities arisen from foreign market imperfections. The design of «multi-product» and «multi-market» diversification strategies might be a conflicting task for SMEs due to resource constraints of small businesses and the increased complexity involved in the simultaneous implementation of both types of strategies. Our results show that there is a zero-sum like effect of the side by side application of both strategies on business performance.