Verslininkų vadybinis potencialas ir smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo įmonių internacionalizacija

Abstract

Kolektyvinėje monografijoje „Verslininkų vadybinis potencialas ir smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo įmonių internacionalizacija“ kompleksiškai nagrinėjamas SVĮ verslininkų vadybinis potencialas internacionalizacijos procesų kontekste. Išskirtinis dėmesys skiriamas internacionalizacijos teorijų raidai, institucinės aplinkos suformuotoms aplinkybėms, ypač ES šalyse plėtojamai verslo paramos sistemai. Atskleidžiama verslininkų ir vadovų tarptautinė patirtis, įvertinamas turimas vadybinis potencialas, išryškinami dėsningumai ir pateikiami verslininkų vadybinio potencialo plėtojimo prioritetai. Kolektyvinė monografija skiriama akademinei bendruomenei, verslo atstovams ir praktikams, besidomintiems vadybinio potencialo ir internacionalizacijos klausimais.

Economic growth is intrinsic to the growth and prosperity of small and medium business, that plays an important role in countries’ economy due to its potential of revenue generation, workplace creation and innovations. Small and medium enterprises help ensure political stability and achieve country’s social-economic goals, such as the raise of living standards and minimization of segregation and poverty. On the other hand, small firms are more flexible in comparison to largecompanies, thus they can respond to changing environmental conditions more quickly. Therefore, much attention is given to the establishment of SMEs and the development of appropriate political measures both in the EU and other countries. Hence, the scientific literature discusses a phenomenon of entrepreneurship with great emphasis on individuals, who possess specific personal characteristics and competences, and on external factors influencing the entrepreneurship. For small open economies, including Lithuania, that are characterized by limited home markets, both, the establishment of SMEs and their internationalization are important. Processes of globalization and market liberalization, effective communication and the development of advanced technologies not only become great challenge for small firms, that face growing competition in local markets, but also open new international opportunities. Therefore, the internationalization caneven be defined as a success of small firms. Processes of internationalization, or, in other words, growing involvement in international activities, have long been an object of interest of scientists who analyze large multinational corporations. However, traditional theories of internationalization do not fully reveal causes of SMEs’ internationalization. On one hand, it is agreed that risks related to the size, age and foreignness become great challenge for small firms in the international arena. On the other hand, it is aimed to substantiate why, despite of the influence of various contextualconstrains, there are innovative, proactive, risk-taking, or by nature entrepreneur companies who become involved in international markets form early stages. Thus, it is no coincidence that research areas, where, in contrast to traditional theories of internationalization, the role of an entrepreneur in the identification and exploitation of international opportunities is highlighted, are developed.Presuming the size of a firm and limited resources,it can be stated that internationalization processes are determined by entrepreneurs’ and managers’ managerial potential that, in turn, is formed by accumulated experience as well as individual and professional reserves. Results of researches conducted in international context are not explicit and stimulate active discussions among scientists. It should be noted that the majority of researches were conducted in developed countries, while researches conducted in emerging economies are relatively fragmented. Accordingly, researches conducted in Lithuania are not sufficient for the disclosure of relations between entrepreneurs’ managerial potential and the internationalization. Therefore, this collective monograph was prepared during the execution of a project “The impact of entrepreneurs’ managerial potential on internationalization of small and medium enterprises” (Nr. MIP-097/2014) funded by the Research Council of Lithuania. Entrepreneurs’ managerial potential is a determining factor of small firms’ success and sustainable growth. However, its evaluation is a significant challenge both from management science and practical perspectives. This monograph presents researches that aim to evaluate the relationship between components of SME entrepreneurs’ managerial potential and internationalization, and to provide recommendations for the use of SME entrepreneurs' manager potential. [...]