First contact: the influence of serendipity, planning and antecedent relations in the internationalisation of SMEs

This empirical paper attempts to explain inward and outward internationalisation of small and medium-sized firms (SME) as a function of serendipity, interpersonal links and planning. In order to research this issue, a project with multiple study objects was designed within which the internationalisation processes of eight SMEs were mapped through personal interviews. The results of this study indicate that neither rational planning, interpersonal and interfirm linkages, or serendipity alone, appear to explain the internationalisation of SMEs and that a more dynamic definition of firm strategy is called for.