THE GLOBALIZATION OF SMALLER AGRI-FOOD FIRMS: A DECISION-MAKING FRAMEWORK TESTED THROUGH CASE RESEARCH

Anecdotal evidence suggests that smaller firms are responding in various ways to market trends towards globalization. A fundamental question arises as to why some smaller firms are including global markets in their strategies and business operations while other firms with similar size and product mix are not. This paper hypothesizes necessary and sufficient conditions for a smaller agri-food firm to become actively global in perspective and practice. An hypothesized decision framework is articulated and results are reported from eight cases used to test this framework. The paper concludes that perceptions about competitive advantages and effective demand, and operative decision rules employed by the firm will determine if and when a firm can globalize its scope of operations.