Internationalisation Strategies of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. The Case of Belgium

This paper analyses the internationalisation strategies of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) exporting from Belgium. A distinction is made between International new ventures (INV), i.e. SMEs that begin to export soon after inception and traditional internationalising SMEs. A large and important group of INVs operate on a global scale. This contrasts with traditional internationalising firms, which typically concentrate sales in a few countries close to home. In examining strategic differences between internationalised SMEs, we find a clear association between SMEs that use a very focused strategy toward niche markets and INVs operating on a global scale. Traditional internationalisers occur more often in mass product markets. Using the same survey evidence, we similarly find the need for public support to be very different between the different strategic types of SME.