@PHDTHESIS{ 2020:1045443291,
 	title = {The dynamics between innovation and internationalization for SMEs : six case studies' analysis of their strategic decision-making process},
 	year = {2020},
 	url = "http://tede2.pucrs.br/tede2/handle/tede/9382",
 	abstract = "Globalization movements have expanded the borders of markets for firms from all over the
 world (CZINKOTA; SAMLI, 2007), fostering new business opportunities and challenges but
 also increasing the level of competition for global players as well as firms entering new markets
 (LOVE; ROPER, 2015). Small and medium enterprises have different characteristics and face
 different risks compared to larger multinationals in their internationalization process
 (NASSIMBENI, 2001). Academic literature has demonstrated that there is a strong and positive
 link between internationalization and innovation activities of SMEs (GOLOVKO;
 VALENTINI, 2011; LOVE; ROPER, 2015), and these strategies are closely related to firm’s
 survival and competitiveness (REN; EISINGERICH; TSAI, 2015). Studies in the areas of
 international business and international marketing have been quantitatively measuring the
 impact of these two strategies, sometimes exploring how internationalized SMEs have more
 access to diverse sources of knowledge that lead to innovation insights and other times
 demonstrating how innovative companies self-select to enter different markets, increasing sales
 volumes and distributing the innovation costs. However, innovation and internationalization
 studies still lack substance (REN; EISINGERICH; TSAI, 2015), and have not explored their
 dynamics specifically observing their decision-making process. The objective of the present
 work is to comprehend the nature of interaction between internationalization and innovation
 decisions, as growth strategies for medium companies. A multiple case study of six Brazilian
 SMEs have been developed in an attempt to comprehend how these firms consider the
 relationship between innovation and internationalization and how they make these strategic
 decisions (proactive, deliberate and formal or reactive, problem-solving and flexible). The
 analysis of the results presented twelve propositions highlighting several important aspects such
 as when innovation and internationalization are considered related, firms can adopt a different
 strategic decision-making process for each of them, deliberately chasing after exports and
 reacting to innovation needs, for example. Firms’ strategic decision-making process evolves
 from reactive to proactive, if the firm perceives practical benefits from the strategy adoption
 and develops a global mindset. Also, it can use a formal and deliberate decision process when
 establishing long term goals and shift to a more flexible and adaptable style to solve unseen
 situations after the strategy implementation. This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding
 of this dynamics and decision process in SMEs so that these firms can make more efficient and
 informed decisions, increasing their competitiveness and survival in domestic and foreign
 markets.",
 	publisher = {Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul},
 	scholl = {Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração e Negócios},
 	note = {Escola de Negócios}
}