Purpose

Striving for growth since their early stages, many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly adopting an entrepreneurial behavior based on a rapid and early international expansion. Although some extant research have been done on the dynamic capabilities of SMEs’ accelerated internationalization–born global (BG) SMEs, no study was, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, carried on the microfoundations underlying this phenomenon. This paper aims to fill this gap in the literature and contribute to the growing theory development of SME’s microfoundations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes an integrated conceptual framework to better identify the microfoundations that influence born global SMEs internationalization by integrating individual, structural and processual – the microfoundations approach within the dynamic capabilities of sensing, seizing and reconfiguring.

Findings

Our propositions argue that born global SMEs are characterized by dynamic capabilities based on a combination of some individual (manager’s human and social capital, such as its personal orientation, experiences, cognition and intuition), process (market learning, technology development) and structural (agility, communication/coordination) factors that helps a lot in the acceleration of the internationalization process.

Research limitations/implications

Empirical study should be done to enrich the conceptual material.

Practical implications

To identify some international opportunities, companies should rely on the entrepreneurial orientation of its managers, its experience and network as well as the market-related learning and technological processes. The managerial cognition is important to seize opportunities while the manager’s human capital is needed to reconfigure resources while internationalizing rapidly.

Social implications

This research shows that individual attributes are important but insufficient to accelerate the internationalization process. Some individual characteristics are more useful in sensing international opportunities rapidly, such as manager’s international entrepreneurial, past experience and network, However, the managerial cognition is important to seize opportunities, whereas the manager’s human capital is needed to reconfigure resources while internationalizing rapidly.

Originality/value

Born global firms must develop several dynamic capabilities to foster their accelerated early international development. This paper gives insights about the individual, structural and processual of sensing international opportunities, seizing and reconfiguring resources and competencies for born globals.

中文翻译：

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加速中小企业的国际化和动态能力的微观基础：走向一个综合的概念框架

目的

许多中小型企业 (SME) 从早期阶段就开始追求增长，越来越多地采用基于快速和早期国际扩张的创业行为。尽管一些现存的研究是关于中小企业加速国际化的全球 (BG) 中小企业的动态能力，但据作者所知，还没有研究对这一现象背后的微观基础进行研究。本文旨在填补文献中的这一空白，并为中小企业微观基础理论的发展做出贡献。

设计/方法/途径

本文提出了一个综合概念框架，通过整合个体、结构和过程——感知、抓住和重新配置的动态能力中的微观基础方法，更好地识别影响天生的全球中小企业国际化的微观基础。

发现

我们的主张认为，天生的全球中小企业的特点是基于某些个人（经理的人力和社会资本，例如其个人取向、经验、认知和直觉）、过程（市场学习、技术开发）和结构（敏捷性、沟通/协调）因素，这些因素对加速国际化进程有很大帮​​助。

研究局限性/影响

应进行实证研究以丰富概念材料。

实际影响

为了识别一些国际机会，公司应该依靠其管理人员的创业导向、经验和网络以及与市场相关的学习和技术流程。管理认知对于抓住机遇很重要，而在快速国际化的同时，需要管理者的人力资本来重新配置资源。

社会影响

这项研究表明，个人属性很重要，但不足以加速国际化进程。一些个体特征更有助于快速感知国际机遇，如管理者的国际创业、过往经历和人脉等，但管理者的认知对于抓住机遇很重要，而管理者的人力资本则需要管理者在快速国际化过程中重新配置资源。

原创性/价值

天生的全球性公司必须培养多种动态能力，以促进其加速早期国际发展。本文提供了有关感知国际机会的个人、结构和过程的见解，为天生的全球人抓住和重新配置资源和能力。