The International Environment and Its Influence on the Entrepreneurial Internationalization of Firms: The Case of Polish Businesses (Miedzynarodowe srodowisko i jego wplyw na miedzynarodowa przedsiebiorczosc firm: przypadek polskich firm)

The article focuses on the international environment, which is one of the main variables in the internationalization process of firms from the perspective of international entrepreneurship. The main goal of this study is the identification of the key factors in the internationalization of the firms, inherent in the international environment, and the exploration of the impact of these factors on the process of the internationalization of Polish firms. The paper presents the partial results of a survey based on a sample of 355 companies operating in Poland. The questionnaire was completed in 2015 as a part of the OPUS 4 project as carried out at the Cracow University of Economics. Using information from Polish companies, the study finds that pull factors have a positive influence on the level of internationalization of the examined businesses. Production companies are the main beneficiaries of the internationalization process and Polish born globals take advantage of their adjustments to the ecology. The results presented in the article are just a starting point for further analyses, including not only the simple seven-dimensional PLESCET approach, but also the process of organizational learning, the accumulation of knowledge coming from the environment, and the taking advantage of environmental opportunities.