Innovation and internationalization dilemma in SMEs. Does family involvement matter?

Whereas traditionally innovation and internationalization have been studied separately, many scholars have recently questioned the relationship that there might be between these two strategic options. The present research aims to ascertain whether firms can concomitantly achieve internationalization and innovation instead of opting for only one of the two development strategies in the pursue of a superior performance. In so doing, the paper discusses the relationships between firm managerial capabilities, technological and marketing resources, innovation and internationalization strategies, and firm performance based on the assumptions of the resource-based view. Considering that the type of governance may play some role in the firm strategic achievement, the study also explores the influence that family involvement may exert on the investigated relationships. The hypotheses are tested empirically using the data from a survey on 169 Italian small and medium-sized enterprises, located in Tuscany, operating in the gold-fashion industry. The results show that innovation and internationalization strategies are complementary, and not substitute in the achievement of firm superior performance, that both technological and marketing resources are positively associated with the firm internationalization, whereas only resources of a technological type effectively contribute to the firm innovativeness. Furthermore, managerial capabilities are key for deploying the firm overall resource endowment. With relation to the firm type of governance, the findings show that family involvement allows higher performance along the increase of the firm internationalization level