International Growth of a Finnish High-Tech SME: A Dynamic Capabilities Approach

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to describe how Finnish high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) can achieve growth from international markets and to explore what roles dynamic capabilities can play in SMEs’ international growth. The dynamic capabilities construct has been criticised for being too abstract. This study aims to tackle this criticism by introducing a theoretical framework for concretising dynamic capabilities and then by testing it empirically. The study’s empirical part introduces a single case study of a Finnish high-tech SME. The longitudinal research data includes five interviews of the case firm’s managers. Additionally a significant amount of secondary data was analysed during the study. Pre-planned systematic coding methods were utilised during the data-analysis phase of the study. As a result, the study provides concrete examples of dynamic capabilities identified from the international growth of the studied firm. In addition, by introducing an operationalized classification for studying dynamic capabilities qualitatively, the study has also methodological contributions.