Abstract
The current digital transformation generates opportunities and challenges for all firms that want to stay competitive. This is especially true within international contexts (Kleindienst & Ramsauer, 2015) and for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are changing the way to do business to survive and to grow in a highly competitive international marketplace (Raymond & St-Pierre, 2011) increasingly driven by new digital technologies such as Internet of Things, Big Data & Analytics, Additive Manufacturing, and Robotics.
These new technologies are transforming the conditions under which and how firms create and deliver value-based transactions within local and foreign markets (Ojala, Evers, & Rialp, 2018). In particular, the digitalization could have a relevant impact on the internationalization process of firms in terms of the timing, pace, and rhythm of internationalization, location and entry mode choice, foreign market learning and knowledge recombination, accessibility of requisite resources and capabilities in home and host markets, and the firms’ ability to manage the liabilities of foreignness and outsidership (Coviello, Cano, & Liesh, 2017). Therefore, this new competitive scenario might bear the opportunity for new modes of internationalization (Turber, Brocke, & Gassmann, 2015; Autio & Zander, 2016), new business models (Autio & Zander, 2016), and new configurations of value chains (Porter & Heppelmann, 2015).
Previous research studies, frequently confined in the context of multinational corporations (MNCs), have shown that the continuous development of digital technologies is disrupting traditional business models, (Brouthers, Geisser, Rothlauf, 2016; Yoo, 2010), value chains (Dasi, Elter, Gooderham, & Pedersen, 2017), and internationalization processes of MNCs (Coviello, et al., 2017), international new ventures (Autio & Zander, 2016) and iBusiness firms (Brouthers, et al., 2016).
However, despite the relevance of this issue in today´s global business, research on the influence of digitalization on the internationalization of SMEs is still under-represented in the literature. Hence, the idea to organize the 2.ISME interactive research development workshop and conference on “Internationalization of SMEs and Digitalization: Opportunities and Threats” at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in May 2019, which aimed at discussing fresh ideas and innovative research initiatives in the field of internationalization of SMEs in the digital age in a more workshop-like format.
We invited international scholars interested in this field, including senior PhDs and PostDocs, to submit and present their early stage research on the internationalization of SMEs at this interactive conference. We were particularly interested in empirical and conceptual papers that advance already existing knowledge from diverse disciplines affecting SMEs and their attitude towards internationalization and digitalization. The unexpectedly high number of interesting studies from authors originating from many different countries demonstrated that our idea to offer a developmental format that allows for constructive feedback and discussions among the participants was highly appreciated.
Both conference days started with a keynote speech. On the first day, Professor Farok Contractor gave an inspiring keynote speech on how digitalization increases the propensity to form international strategic alliances leading to successful SMEs internationalization. Professor Timothy Devinney, spoke about theory, testing and scientific knowledge in digital times at the beginning of the second conference day. Both keynotes were very inspiring and certainly provided food for thought for the participants.
Eleven presentations in the areas of digitalization, strategy and business models innovation, decision making and finance, and internationalization processes were held during the conference. The submitted projects varied in their methodology and stage of development. We believe that all authors benefited from the lively discussions after the presentations and will be able to develop papers further.
The conference proceedings at hand include the extended abstracts of the papers presented at the interactive conference if the authors did not signal that they want to abstain from being included for different reasons. Further information on the projects as well as the references cited in the abstracts can be obtained by contacting the authors of the papers.
We surely enjoyed hosting the international conference at our University and hope to see many of the authors at the 3rd interactive development workshop and conference on internationalization of SMEs at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in the spring 2020.
Bozen-Bolzano, July 2019
Marjaana Gunkel, Michael Nippa, and Valerio Veglio