International entrepreneurship, export planning and export performance: evidence from a sample of winemaking SMEs

While some entrepreneurs opt to be born global from inception, others internationalise their firms over time; these are inherently different cases with unlike causal variables, forms and consequences. This article models and tests the influence that international entrepreneurship exerts on the export performance of a firm. Five hypotheses are derived from the literature. With a sample of winemaking SMEs, we test these by means of moderated hierarchical regression analysis. The results discuss the relationship of cognitive traits with international entrepreneurship and highlight the importance of combining these cognitive characteristics with strategic planning in order enhance export performance

I territori delle imprese nell'economia globale

Leggere i distretti industriali attraverso le lenti dell\u2019economia della conoscenza \ue8 utile non solo per comprendere la ragione profonda che ha sancito il successo competitivo di questi sistemi nel passato, ma anche per formulare un\u2019ipotesi fondata sulla loro (possibile) riproduzione ed evoluzione. Il distretto industriale marshalliano riusciva a generare al suo interno una frazione significativa delle conoscenze necessarie a riprodursi e adattarsi all\u2019ambiente competitivo. La situazione per\uf2 si \ue8 capovolta con l\u2019avanzare del processo di globalizzazione e, allo stato attuale, le chances competitive dei distretti industriali dipendono dalla capacit\ue0 di questi sistemi di collegarsi ai circuiti cognitivi dell\u2019economia globale. Si tratta di un passaggio evolutivo che richiede la presenza di attori locali capaci di fungere da interfacce cognitive o gatekeepers della conoscenza tra il contesto distrettuale e l\u2019ambiente globale. Il destino dei distretti industriali o meglio di ciascuno di essi dipende dunque dal concreto operare al suo interno di questo tipo di attori. Il ragionamento esposto sopra in modo schematico viene sviluppato nella prima sezione del presente capitolo. Le due sezioni successive identificano i soggetti che svolgono il complesso lavoro cognitivo tra locale e globale, e analizza il modo in cui operano. L\u2019osservatorio utilizzato \ue8 rappresentato dai distretti industriali localizzati nell\u2019Italia del Nord-Est

Local/global cognitive interfaces within industrial districts: an Italian case study

none1With the advance of globalization the competitive chances of industrial districts depends increasingly on their ability to connect to the cognitive circuits of the global economy. This challenge demands the presence of local actors capable of acting as cognitive interfaces between the district context and the global environment. The paper focuses on a specific category of local/global cognitive interfaces, i.e. the institutions that provide knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). The purpose is to explain how institutional KIBS play this role. The paper developes a detailed analysis of the case of such an institution operating in the chair manufacturing district, North-East Italy. Based on this case study, a model is proposed for interpreting the role of local/global cognitive interface that institutional KIBS are able to perform. The first part of the framework shows the cognitive processes hosted by this type of institutions and the connections between such processes and the KIBS’s stock of knowledge. The second part of the model considers the interdependent core capabilities that enable a KIBS to act effectively as local/global cognitive interface. The role that institutions acting as KIBS can play in promoting the survival of industrial districts has been discussed in some studies, but no model has been proposed as yet to explain how these institutions can play such an important part. The paper aims to begin to fill this gap.noneR. GRANDINETTIGrandinetti, Robert