Abstract:
Previous studies on family-SME internationalization have largely focused on what resources are needed to drive an
incremental process rather than how resource management occurs in historical time. This paper focuses on the latter,
adopting a social capital perspective (capturing both internal, i.e. among family-SME board members, and external,
cross border agent dyads, relations) in order to decipher case study data from the East of England. Findings show that
it is not the presence or absence of organizational-social-capital that affects family-SME internationalization success
but rather its variable use over the years driven by the future pursuit of longevity, not growth. Key within this context is
the variable use of the international expertise and management capability of non-family managers in the family SME
intra-organizational context. Ultimately this may lead to change and learning that occurs erratically, often including
reversals, without causing family-SME progression across a sequence of incremental stages.
