Smaller Manufacturing Enterprises In An International Context

This book provides an overview of approaches to internationalization as experienced by smaller manufacturing enterprises over a relatively long period of time — the 35-year period from 1974 to 2009. The original research on which this study is based dates back to the mid-1970s, when academic interest in export studies, market entry modes, and internationalization approaches, among others, have their origins. With practical examples of companies from both inside and outside the USA, readers will be able to understand how smaller manufacturing enterprises approach the world of international commerce, how they prepare themselves for it, and what really draws them into the world of international commerce./a

This book provides an overview of approaches to internationalization as experienced by smaller manufacturing enterprises over a relatively long period of time ? the 35-year period from 1974 to 2009. The original research on which this study is based dates back to the mid-1970s, when academic interest in export studies, market entry modes, and internationalization approaches, among others, have their origins. With practical examples of companies from both inside and outside the USA, readers will be able to understand how smaller manufacturing enterprises approach the world of international commerce, how they prepare themselves for it, and what really draws them into the world of international commerce.

Over the last twenty years, there has been an increasing number of factors that have placed the manufacturing strategies of companies and countries in a global context. This book reviews and addresses the global manufacturing strategy area through research in the four major economic areas of the world: Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. International Manufacturing Strategies: Context, Content and Change is the result of a single major research project undertaken in twenty countries, focusing on the manufacturing strategies and practices in each, and uses research data to focus on factors specific to industrial countries or regions and those which are common across the group of countries or the entire sample The core of this book is a set of chapters reviewing individual countries. Each country is reviewed in a format with an overall common approach: the socio-economic background; the distinctive results for that country from the research and the link between the two. Most will be illustrated by a small case study of a company. Following this is an integrating review of the findings from various countries, the different trajectories followed, and the impact on external variables and the socioeconomic context on those. The final part of the book is devoted to new ideas and developments in functional areas and in manufacturing strategy that have been developed from the analysis conducted during the research.

India is the only developing country with an extensive set of policies designed to promote and protect small enterprises. By examining Indian small enterprise development and policy in an international context, this book provides lessons for industrial policy in developing economies. The authors draw on data from new and intensive surveys of several industries in India and other countries to elucidate the relative advantages of large and small units, especially with regard to the efficiency of labor and capital use. Concluding that modern small enterprises are not reliably more labor-intensive than larger enterprises, and often use capital and labor less efficiently, they present a plan of policy reform that advocates promotion of agriculture and industrial equality in achieving adequate demand for labor.

DIVExplores how and why small and medium-sized businesses are flourishing in the global marketplace /div

With growing international business, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been faced with increased competition, but also with enhanced opportunities. Edith Olejnik addresses four major issues within the context of SMEs’ internationalization process: First, she identifies the three different internationalization patterns that SMEs take and analyzes how these patterns develop over time. Second, she looks at dynamic changes of foreign operation modes and the managerial reasons for these changes. Third, she derives an empirical classification of smaller family firms and profiles them using a comprehensive set of organizational variables. Fourth, she investigates the relationship between firm-level processes and dynamic capabilities in driving the international performance of SMEs. Based on theoretical considerations and empirical analyses this work provides important implications for research and management practice.

This is a study of economic change, jobs, and public policy in the Clydeside conurbation.

The mechanical engineering sector is one of the key industries of Germany, characterized by small and medium sized companies (SMEs) with resource constraints, customized small-scale production, and a dependency on global markets. Research on SMEs manufacturing in culturally and geographically distant emerging economies is still scarce. The research objective of this dissertation was to determine the relevant aspects and successful behavior of German special purpose machinery SMEs for the establishment and operation of a wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary in India. The empirical analysis is a qualitative study with in-depth expert and firm interviews. The interconnected research findings consisting of the cultural and economic restrictions of the emerging market India, internationalization of SMEs, the importance of the entrepreneur and key personnel, the specificities of manufacturing of customized machinery in India, the relevant influencing cultural differences between Germany and India, and the resulting success factors are linked in an overall model that highlights the interplay and interdependencies of these aspects. The dissertation, thus, closes a research gap by broaden past research on internationalization of SMEs and cultural dimension research by identifying the relevant influences for the specific context of German mechanical engineering SMEs with a manufacturing subsidiary in India.