Open innovation and internationalization behavior: The case of Spanish firms

Abstract

Internationalization and innovation have previously been considered as related concepts. One of the main streams of the stage-model (innovation-model) literature assumes that internationalization can be described as an innovative behavior, in which firms take decisions and try to minimize risk by following a step-by-step process (Bilkey and Tesar, 1977; Reid, 1981; Czinkota, 1982; Cavusgil, 1980). More recently, a new line of research has been undertaken to establish whether innovation and internationalization strategies are complementary or substitutive. Investigations by Elena Golovko and Giovanni Valentini (2011) and Bruno Cassiman and Elena Golovko (2011) show that product innovation encourages small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) export activity, whereas Kumar (2009) finds a negative relationship between product and market diversification.