Abstract
The internationalization of businesses is among the most examined topics in both the economic and management literature. The growing competitive pressures deriving from the emerging countries set new challenges and push, above all, the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to search for new paths of international development. In the current economic scenario, the crucial role of SMEs is undeniable, which in most cases are family businesses, in international contexts. Therefore, it is interesting to focus the attention on the identification of the successful strategic factors, which characterize the internationalization models of SMEs, in particular family businesses, and of the internal and external conditions which allow their introduction in the widest international circuits and the admission to advanced forms of internationalization which, besides the simple merchant form, develops through productive delocalizations, openings of the value chain and international reorganizations of the supply chain. The chapter aims at illustrating the connection between the purpose of the family, who is the proprietor of the business, to preserve, enrich, share and acquire the entrepreneurial and management capacities, which are typical of the family business, and the choices concerning the convenience to foreign expansion and the modalities of entry in the markets. In this way, it is highlighted that the choice of pursuing the internationalization strategy, as well as the modality through which it is possible to carry out it, is influenced not only (in any case not exclusively) by the business dimensions, but also rather by the peculiarities of the family business.
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Notes
- 1.
Hitt et al. (2007, p. 251).
- 2.
In this respect, policies and instruments supporting internationalization, carried out by various bodies (MED the Ministry of Economic Development, FTI, Foreign Trade Institute, CIPE, the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning) may be considered.
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Cristiano, E. (2020). The Growth of Family Businesses: The Path to Internationalization. In: Leotta, A. (eds) Management Controlling and Governance of Family Businesses. Contributions to Management Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47741-7_5
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