ABSTRACT
The increased regional integration within the EU has been one of the most powerful forces leading to the structural interdependence of the participating countries and firms. Traditional comparative advantages of the EU countries were challenged by the 1992 market opening. The dynamic in a firm’s competitive advantage(s) became an essential factor in its internationalisation within the EU (and elsewhere). The literature survey and the empirical part of this research demon-
strated that there was considerable impact by the EMU on SMEs’ international strategies, even if long-term effects – in particular due to the introduction of the single currency – were not known. The majority of SMEs in both samples increased their international transactions within the EU. The increased internationalisation can clearly be connected to a better exploitation of their competitive advantage(s). The investigation of the different hypotheses demonstrated that
SMEs within the same industry did not feel affected in the same way by the 1992 abolition of NTBs. SMEs producing R&D-intensive medical instruments felt strongly affected by increased integration within the EU, whereas SMEs producing standardised surgical instruments did not, or to a lesser extent. The benefits and the exploitation of increased market access depended on the dynamic of each firm’s competitive advantage(s). Unfortunately, only the case-study research permits us to relate the R&D intensity of the products and the 1992 abolition of NTBs. The questionnaire research connected the 1992 market opening and SMEs’ increased EU transactions, based on the better exploitation of their competitive advantage(s). Both the questionnaire and the case-study research showed the uniqueness of each SME’s internationalisation. A firm’s competitive advantage(s) played the central role in the choice of its foreign-market entry strategy. The distinction between SMEs of the same industry located inside and
outside industrial districts permitted us to find differences in the way they
became affected through the establishment of the EMU. As SMEs located in industrial districts were more internationalised than SMEs outside such districts, it was interesting to analyse their local competitive advantages which constituted the basis of their international success in the EU and elsewhere.
