Abstract
Economic growth is a priority in many developing countries in the drive to eradicate inequality and poverty, but elevated levels of economic growth are regarded as inimical to climate preservation and sustainability. The continuing depletion of natural resources and industrial pollution has led to increasing global pressure and government policies aimed at reducing climate deterioration. Advocates of ’strong sustainability’ are concentrated in the economically developed world, while developing countries have a greater need for economic growth and advocate weaker forms of sustainability where economic development, the promotion of employment and eradication of poverty take precedence over climate preservation concerns. Extant internationalization literature does not provide an integrated model of sustainable internationalization. (i.e., the relative emphasis of human and natural capital in contextual and universal factors in the internationalization process of developing and developed countries). To address this underexplored research gap, a cross-sectional, non-probabilistic convenience sample of South African SMEs using a mixed methods approach, and a secondary data eclectic analysis of developed and developing countries’ SME internationalization using a comparative multiple-case design, were adopted in this study. Findings indicate that both contextual and universal factors are prominent in developing and developed countries’ internationalization. The findings also suggest that developing countries initially focus on unsustainable contextual factors and later move on to embracing sustainable universal factors in their internationalization. This paper provides a conceptual model to describe the relative importance of contextual vis-à-vis universal factors in the sustainability of SMEs’ development as they pass through the various stages of internationalization over time.
Subject
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment,Geography, Planning and Development
Reference65 articles.
1. Definition of Research Gap. Comments and Suggestions for Authorshttps://www.editage.com/insights/why-it-is-important-to-identify-gaps-that-exists-in-literature
2. The North-South divide in business leaders' moral sentiment: a problem for global sustainability
3. Environment, economics and ethics: Towards an integrated model of strong corporate leadership;Coldwell,2017
4. Does a Micro-Macro Link Exist Between Managerial Value of Reciprocity, Social Capital and Firm Performance? The Case of SMEs in China
5. The effect of entrepreneurial orientation on the internationalization of SMEs in developing countries;Taylor;Afr. J. Bus. Manag.,2013
Cited by
3 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献