An Examination of Key Issues in a Small Chinese Manufacturing Firm’s Internationalisation: A Longitudinal Case Study Approach

In contributing to the literature at the IE/Marketing interface, the aim of this research is to understand how Chinese small firms internationalise. The four key issues emerged and discussed are: (1) market orientation; (2) knowledge and entrepreneurial learning; (3) social capital; and (4) innovation. This was examined by employing a longitudinal qualitative case study using the grounded theory approach. This thesis is empirically-based, and is characterised by three key features: a) it uses a process approach; b) it focuses on its contribution to the growing body of the IE literature by exploring a unique case phenomenon; and c) it provides a ‘micro-level’ perspective: the key issues were examined as they evolve in the process of firms’ internationalisation. The methodology is grounded in a social constructionist approach in which narrative accounts are used to develop understanding of the processes of entrepreneurial internationalisation, over a period of six years. Data were gathered primarily through in-depth interviews and observations on-site. A number of important results emerged from this study. Key findings are: (1) whilst individual’s knowledge plays a vital role in decisions made to expand internationally, the competence to learn and absorb capacity at the firm level overall played a significant role in the growth stage and in sustaining the overall competitive advantages and performances. (2) Social capital plays a crucial role in small firms’ internationalisation however, its various dimensions plays a dissimilar role in the process. (3) MO and innovation appears to be factors, embedding within, and interacting with, other factors, acting as both antecedent and outcome of international expansions. Moreover, the close coupling of these four key issues and their interaction with various factors has been advanced to explain the forward momentum of firms’ internationalisation. Finally, an integrated conceptual framework was developed which offers a holistic view in IE and in China for future theory testing