Purpose

This study aims to investigate the effects of adaptive selling, as a high-level individual-level marketing capability, institutional knowledge, international opportunity recognition and general innovation-orientation of managers on the international growth of Iranian small- and medium-sized enterprises. Also, drawing on strands of research into early internationalisation firms, this study attempts to determine the impact of precocity and speed of internationalisation as a moderator of the relationship of antecedents to international growth.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is based on answers of 748 managers from 186 firms to a self-reporting questionnaire. The partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling approach was used to assess the measurement and construct the model. Furthermore, the study used a PLS multigroup design with four groups of firms to compare the paths with regard to precocity and speed of internationalisation.

Findings

Significant associations for seven out of eight hypotheses were found. The international opportunity recognition was found to mediate the relationship between institutional knowledge and adaptive selling-innovativeness. Additionally, the results of the comparisons found important implications to early and fast internationalisation.

Originality/value

This study shows that international growth stems from individual innovation orientation. It sheds light on the importance of institutional knowledge, adaptive selling and opportunity recognition for early and pacey internationalisation. The findings contribute to the international entrepreneurship literature based on both the early and gradual internationalisation.

中文翻译：

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中小企业的国际成长：探索适应性销售、制度知识、创新和机会识别的影响

目的

本研究旨在调查适应性销售作为高级个人营销能力、机构知识、国际机会识别和一般创新导向对伊朗中小企业国际增长的影响。此外，利用对早期国际化公司的研究，本研究试图确定早熟和国际化速度的影响，作为前因与国际增长关系的调节因素。

设计/方法/途径

该研究基于来自 186 家公司的 748 名经理对自我报告问卷的回答。偏最小二乘法 (PLS) 结构方程建模方法用于评估测量和构建模型。此外，该研究使用 PLS 多组设计和四组公司来比较早熟和国际化速度的路径。

发现

发现了八个假设中的七个显着关联。发现国际机会识别可以调节制度知识与适应性销售创新之间的关系。此外，比较结果发现了对早期和快速国际化的重要影响。

原创性/价值

本研究表明，国际增长源于个人创新导向。它阐明了机构知识、适应性销售和机会识别对于早期和快速国际化的重要性。这些发现为基于早期和渐进国际化的国际创业文献做出了贡献。