Internationalization of Internet-Enabled Entrepreneurial Firms: Evidence from Europe and North America, The

Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Mar 2004 by Loane, Sharon, McNaughton, Rod B, Bell, Jim

Firms may also experience "epochs" of internationalization, followed by periods of consolidation or retrenchment, or they may be involved in particular "episodes" that lead to rapid international expansion or de-internationalization (Crick, 2002; Oesterle, 1997; Pauwals & Matthyssens, 1999). These episodes or epochs may be triggered by environmental forces that impact the strategies of domestic or overseas customers and other network partners, as well as those that directly influence the focal firm.

The Role of the Internet in Internationalization

There is widespread agreement that the Internet is providing firms with new ways to conduct business and to exchange and communicate ideas and information (Evans & Wurster, 1997; Freed & Derfler, 1999; Gilmore & Pine, 2000; Slater, 2000; Weill & Vitale, 2001). In doing so, it enables firms to improve their efficiency and develop new ways to coordinate their activities (OECD, 1997). By its very nature the Internet is an international communications medium; however, obtaining a Web presence is both relatively simple and cheap. The Internet is not just the domain of the large multinational enterprises (MNE); Web access is available to all firms, regardless of size. The exponential advances in communications technologies, particularly the Internet, mean that SMEs may position themselves at the centre of the global stage from birth.

Without doubt the Internet is strategically significant for smaller firms and may greatly increase their levels of internationalization (Lituchy & Rail, 2000). It can offer global 24-hour visibility and may provide the basis for intranet or extranet options, which used to be exclusively the preserve of larger firms (Walczuch, Van Braven, & Lundgren, 2000). Potentially, it also gives the smaller enterprise vast international reach, allowing it to disseminate messages to the narrowest of niche markets worldwide. Therefore, SMEs can express a Web voice as salient as those of the largest undertakings and a small firm's Web pages can be as eye catching as the pages belonging to the large MNE (Verity & Hof, 1994).

According to Bennett (1997), the Internet has the potential to remove the constraints of both distance and time, facilitate the instant establishment of virtual branches throughout the world, and allow direct and immediate foreign market entry to the smallest of businesses. Hamill (1997), for example, states that an Internet connection can,

substantially improve communications with existing foreign customers, suppliers, agents and distributors, identify new customers and distributors, and generate a wealth of information on market trends and on the latest technology and research and technical developments, (p. 3)

In a similar vein, Maloff (1995) asserts that the Internet enables small firms to grow without expanding physically or incurring relocation expenses and allows them to advertise and promote themselves globally at minimal cost. he further comments that customers care very little about the physical size or remoteness of a supplier, provided high quality products at fair prices are delivered. Such considerations raise the possibility that the availability of and access to the Web removes, "at a stroke", a number of the organizational and resource constraints supposedly associated with exporting for the smaller firm.