Title: Entering non-traditional and emerging markets: a matter of opportunity orientation and willingness to take risks?

Authors: Christian Hauser; Jens Hogenacker; Ralph Lehmann

Addresses: Swiss Institute for Entrepreneurship (SIFE), University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur, Comercialstrasse 22, 7000 Chur, Switzerland ' Department of Economic and Social Sciences, University of Potsdam, August-Bebel-Strasse 89, 14482 Potsdam, Germany ' Swiss Institute for Entrepreneurship (SIFE), University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur, Comercialstrasse 22, 7000 Chur, Switzerland

Abstract: Internationalisation has much in common with entrepreneurship. Entry into and development of new foreign markets is characterised by high levels of uncertainty and typically occurs under imperfect information. Based on a sample of 369 internationally active Swiss firms, we investigate the link between a firm's opportunity orientation and willingness to take risks, on one hand, and its international activities in non-traditional and emerging markets, on the other. We find suggestive evidence that the opportunity orientation - and not the risk-taking disposition - of exporting firms is an important driver of foreign market expansion into non-traditional and emerging markets.

Keywords: small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; internationalisation; export scope; opportunity orientation; willingness to take risks; uncertainty; risk taking; non-traditional markets; emerging markets; Switzerland; exporting firms; foreign market expansion.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2016.078028

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2016 Vol.29 No.1, pp.25 - 45

Received: 10 Jul 2014
Accepted: 05 Mar 2015
Published online: 31 Jul 2016 *

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