Abstract
Internationalization of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) may contribute greatly to the welfare of a country. Yet, it is unclear why some SMEs (successfully) internationalize whereas others stay domestic. In this project, we aim to better understand which motivational drivers explain whether an entrepreneur aspires and expects internationalization, and whether (s)he is able to actually reach these goals. Does, for example, an entrepreneur who wants to have impact on others (typically for those scoring low on the power motive) have higher internationalization aspirations? We explicitly recognize the existence of two motivational systems: An explicit and an implicit one. The implicit system operates outside of conscious awareness and control, and the explicit one functions at a conscious level. Besides the impact of personality aspects, we also attribute attention to firm and environmental characteristics. As such, we aim to better understand the integrated 'fit' configurations of implicit / explicit personality profiles and environmental characteristics leading to actual internationalization behavior (and subsequent international performance). We execute computer-led Implicit Association Tests and tailor-made surveys, and adopt secondary information from existing databases to allow us to unravel the factors influencing an SME's decision to internationalize, and its internationalization behavior.
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