Lawyers facing internationalization

Growth-related factors seem to be a particularly important internal motivator among the SMEs investigated in these recent studies. This reflects the increasing appreciation of the growth opportunities associated with internationalization among this category of firms. It is interesting to note that in their quest for international market-led growth, SMEs increasingly seem to seek access and integration into the lucrative supply chains of international players. Another equally important endogenous motivation is the possession of critical resource factors, including knowledge resources and capabilities, by the investigated SMEs. Reflecting their status as social entities, SMEs are also motivated in their internationalization decisions by factors within their external environment, including networks and supply chain links, social ties, and the sector and region to which they belong. This appears to mitigate some of the resource-related impediments associated with SME internationalization (OECD, 2010). As noted by an example in a recent report, where Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish enterprises form part of a global value chain and where these firms frequently gain business due to sourcing from abroad (Statistics Denmark, 2010). These resource-related factors typically take different forms, with those pertaining to managers‟ internationalization knowledge and firms‟ innovation, technological and relational capabilities seeming to be most influential. Of particular salience is the observed importance of firms sectorial and regional origin, as is the reported increasing relevance of network/social ties, and immigrant links in SME internationalization. These findings, indeed, raise the question of whether, and the extent to which, these drivers of SME internationalization behavior are factored into government support provision. The foregoing review of recent relevant evidence suggests the continuing relevance of both internal and external motivations for SME internationalization.