Factors determining the appearance of ‘born global’ companies: analysis of early internationalisation for SMES in Colombia

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify the factors that influence exporter

behaviour for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Colombia.

Information is analysed from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)

Colombia 2010, a report related to SMEs that became international within

their first two years of existence. The authors used the systems of structural

equations methodology, which permits the generation of a scheme of relations

among the variables. Amongst the results is a model consistent with

the literature on the theory of internationalisation, involving aspects related

to the internal characteristics of the organisation, the business orientation of

the directors, and aspects related to the business environment. The business

directors’ orientation is the most important factor for the development of

exports (0,88), followed by internal factors (0,80) and the business environment

(0,76).