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Organizational Identity, Global Mindset and the Internationalization of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

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Organizational Identity and Firm Growth

Abstract

This paper takes a look at the role a global mindset, understood as an indispensable attribute of a firm’s identity in a globalized world, has on the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Based on an empirical study of eleven SMEs headquartered in Germany, the paper finds that individual global mindsets (i.e. the global mindset of managers taking internationalization decisions), is a prerequisite for SME internationalization, while a corporate global mindset (i.e. the global mindset of the whole organization), is a result of internationalization, promoted in change projects.

JELcodes: M14, M16, L20

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Axel Springer Auto Verlag GmbH, Verlagsgruppe Auto, Computer & Sport, Axel-Springer-Platz 1, 20350, Hamburg, Germany

    Christin Lappe

  2. Berlin School of Economics and Law, Badensche Straße, 52, 10825, Berlin, Germany

    Christoph Dörrenbächer

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  1. Christin Lappe
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  2. Christoph Dörrenbächer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Berlin School of Economics and Law, Berlin, Germany

    Christoph Dörrenbächer

  2. Berlin School of Economics and Law, Berlin, Germany

    Matthias Tomenendal

  3. German Graduate School of Management and Law, European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, Heilbronn, Germany

    Sarah Stanske

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Lappe, C., Dörrenbächer, C. (2017). Organizational Identity, Global Mindset and the Internationalization of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. In: Dörrenbächer, C., Tomenendal, M., Stanske, S. (eds) Organizational Identity and Firm Growth. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57724-5_7

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