Unlocking international entrepreneurial opportunities: The impact of dynamic capabilities on creation and discovery
研究中小企业如何利用国际动态能力识别创造型或发现型国际机会，并发现同时采用两种模式会降低国际绩效，基于中国和突尼斯303家企业的数据验证。
This study theorizes and empirically validates two international opportunity recognition modes: creation and discovery. It examines how internationalizing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) leverage international dynamic capabilities to engage in these modes and analyzes their impact on international performance. It finds that the propensity of an internationalizing SME to adopt a specific mode—whether creation or discovery—is influenced by specific organizational-level international dynamic capabilities (intelligence acquisition, inter-country coordination, reconfiguration). The strength of these relationships is moderated by industry globalization and cultural distance. Furthermore, the interaction between the two opportunity recognition modes reveals a significant negative effect. This interaction suggests that when internationalizing SMEs simultaneously engage in both modes, the effectiveness of each is diminished, leading to lower international performance outcomes. We use multi-informant, cross-industry data collected from 303 internationalizing SMEs in China and Tunisia and empirically test our model using structural equation modeling. This research contributes to the literature on international business and entrepreneurship by offering a more comprehensive understanding of the interplay between international dynamic capabilities, international opportunity recognition, and international performance, emphasizing the strategic trade-offs involved in SME internationalization.