The research on international new ventures, particularly born global enterprises, has consistently held a central position in the internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). While a surge of studies has focused on the accelerated internationalisation of SMEs, less attention has been given to their entry modes. This oversight is rooted in the traditional belief that SMEs, due to their small size, are best suited for exclusive concentration on exporting. Contrary to this notion, researchers advocate for the consideration of higher-commitment entry modes, such as licensing, franchising, and joint ventures, leading to the conceptualisation of ‘mMNEs’ to describe this evolving category of internationalised SMEs. Consequently, there is a call for future studies to challenge traditional perceptions of SMEs and explore the determinants of mMNEs. Addressing this research gap, this study aims to examine the impact of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), encompassing innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking, as well as regulatory institutions on the likelihood of internationalised SMEs transitioning into mMNEs. Specifically, this study investigates two primary relationships: (1) the direct influence of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking on mMNEs and (2) the moderating role of regulatory institutions on the association between EO and mMNEs. Drawing on a survey of 253 Malaysian internationalised SMEs and employing logistic regression analysis, the findings indicate that proactiveness and a propensity for risk-taking facilitate the adoption of higher-commitment entry modes. Additionally, supportive regulatory institutions enhance the likelihood of SMEs with high proactiveness and risk-taking propensity becoming mMNEs. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of how both internal factors (EO) and external factors (regulatory institutions) play crucial roles in explaining mMNEs behaviour.

对国际新企业，特别是诞生的全球企业的研究，一直在中小企业国际化研究中占据核心地位。尽管大量研究集中在中小企业的加速国际化上，但对其进入模式的关注较少。这种监督植根于一种传统观念，即中小企业由于规模较小，最适合专注于出口。与这一观点相反，研究人员主张考虑更高承诺的进入模式，例如许可、特许经营和合资企业，从而产生了“跨国企业”的概念来描述这一不断发展的国际化中小企业类别。因此，需要未来的研究挑战中小企业的传统观念并探索跨国企业的决定因素。为了解决这一研究空白，本研究旨在探讨创业导向（EO）（包括创新性、主动性和风险承担）以及监管机构对国际化中小企业转型为跨国企业可能性的影响。具体来说，本研究调查了两个主要关系：(1) 创新性、主动性和风险承担对跨国企业的直接影响；(2) 监管机构对跨国公司与跨国企业之间关联的调节作用。根据对 253 家马来西亚国际化中小企业的调查并采用逻辑回归分析，研究结果表明，主动性和冒险倾向有助于采用更高承诺的进入模式。此外，支持性监管机构提高了具有高度主动性和冒险倾向的中小企业成为跨国企业的可能性。这些结果有助于更深入地了解内部因素（EO）和外部因素（监管机构）如何在解释跨国企业行为中发挥关键作用。