Attitude toward internationalization and early internationalization: comparison of Indian and French SMEs' decision makers

Abstract

This research has two objectives. The first is to study the link between SMEs internationalizing at an early stage and the attitudes of their decision makers toward internationalization. The second is to analyze this relationship in an international context (India and France). We thus propose to contribute to a better understanding of the factors behind internationalization. To meet these objectives, we used an original methodology: decision makers' practices were studied using the scenario method. The assessment of attitudes toward internationalization was carried out using a new multidimensional scale of measurement. The measurement tool was distributed to decision makers in French and Indian SMEs. A database of 234 respondents was used. This research presents three main results: we found that the decision makers of SMEs with a very positive attitude towards internationalization are more conducive to internationalizing early than others but that the opposite is not always true. Contrary to our expectations, we observed that French decision makers are more favorable to internationalization than Indians. Finally, we identified that Indian decision makers are more likely to internationalize early than the French.