Abstract

The main purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the process by which small and medium-sized enterprises achieve sustained growth in crisis environments. It consists of three essays that explore this process from theoretical, empirical and normative perspectives, and elaborates the choices and actions taken by managers toward sustained growth in a crisis environment. The focus is on the process of internationalization and the development of versatile resources and capabilities that contribute to SME sustained growth. Previous studies have not adequately explored sustained growth over a prolonged crisis period nor the key driving forces required to achieve it. This study makes a unique contribution by conducting a process analysis and providing a holistic method to capture the internationalization and sustained growth of SMEs in a crisis context. The theoretical foundations of Penrose’s growth theory and the dynamic capabilities literature help confirm the relationship between proactive internationalization, capability development, and growth, and shed light on how this relationship is achieved and endures in a crisis context. Theoretical contributions lie in exposing our assumptions in the crisis literature and shifting the mode of theorizing to a process-based approach, demonstrating that sustained growth can be achieved in a crisis context. The study identifies a multidimensional framework that uncovers a continuous, non-linear process of versatile resource and capability development that contributes to sustained growth, through specific managerial and value creating mechanisms.