Internationalisation of value chain activities of small firms: An international value chain approach

Small firms are increasingly engaging with international markets, often with great speed and closeto firm inception. Yet, our current understanding of small firm internationalisation processesremains limited. This paper proposes an international value chain approach (IVCA) to internationalentrepreneurship, focusing on dimensions of internationalised value chain activities, internationalisationage and speed, choice of markets, and geographic scope of internationalisation.Used in studying the internationalisation of value chain activities of eight small New Zealandfirms, the IVCA allows firm internationalisation to be explored in greater depth and from multipledimensions, opening new insights into the internationalisation processes of small firms.