Internacionalização e Networks em Pequenas e Médias Empresas: o papel dos laços de descendência imigratória

The international insertion of small andmedium-sized enterprises (SME) has attractedacademic attention with the emergence ofnew internationalization theories based on thenetwork approach. There is evidence that socialnetworks based on descent ties contribute to theinternational integration of firms, particularlysmall ones. The quantitative cross-sectionalstudy conducted with 71 SME affiliated with theBusiness Association of Blumenau, city marked byGerman immigration, sought to test the predictiverole of descent ties (content of ties and strengthof ties) in the degree of SME internationalization.The results suggest that only the strength ofties (frequency of contacts with the country ofdescent) contributes to explaining the degree ofinternationalization. Limitations of sample sizerequire caution in generalizing the results.