ABSTRACT
This volume’s introductory chapter highlighted the significance of small-firm internationalization as a natural domain of strategic entrepreneurship, the core idea of which is that ‘firms need to be simultaneously entrepreneurial and strategic’ (Hitt et al. 2001: 488). The subsequent eight chapters have sought to make a modest collective contribution to extant understanding of how small firms internationalize resourcefully. As noted, network relationships (the study of which is also an important domain of strategic entrepreneurship) can greatly facilitate small-firm internationalization. This idea has been the focus of the volume, comprising both conceptual pieces and the empirical papers based on case study research in the Bangalore software industry. Despite the efforts that this volume represents and the scholarly contributions of many (e.g. Coviello 2006; McNaughton and Bell 1999; Yli-Renko et al. 2002), there is still scope for more research in the future that would enhance understanding of this subject and, in particular, deepen linkages to other domains of strategic entrepreneurship. This concluding chapter offers some thoughts on two interrelated future research directions: (1) the utility of integrating internationalization and innovation research with respect to small firms and (2) the potential role of MNCs as a source of social capital. These are discussed in relation to three key themes of this volume:
1 the development of social capital; 2 the leverage of social capital; 3 the management of portfolios of social capital.
