1st Edition
Entrepreneurship in Central and Eastern Europe Development through Internationalization
The process of the transition to a market-oriented economy for countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) started some 25 years ago. A new technology base triggered the fast growth of new investments into intangible assets by global economic leaders at the beginning of the 1990s, providing the basis for a move towards a knowledge economy. During the past 25 years, entrepreneurs in CEE and the CIS have reshaped traditional industries and created new industries, combining innovative ideas with traditional competencies. Yet we still do not know very much about how and why companies led by entrepreneurs develop, how they expand globally and what the role of new knowledge and innovation is in the internationalization process. Understanding the pathways of entrepreneurial development, especially growth through internationalization, is important for the overall development of countries in transition and beyond.
Entrepreneurship in Central and Eastern Europe: Development through Internationalization provides an overview of entrepreneurship in a range of important emerging markets. This book aims to fill the gap in the literature by providing up-to-date data and case-based evidence.
With coverage of a range of national firms from countries including Belarus, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine, this book will be vital supplementary reading around international entrepreneurship and essential reading for those studying the business environment in this vital emerging market.
Foreword by Hans Landström
Part I: Conceptual framework
Chapter 1: Introduction: entrepreneurship development and internationalization in Central and Eastern Europe, Ukraine and the Commonwealth of Independent States
Danica Purg, Arnis Sauka and Tõnis Mets
Chapter 2: Internationalisation and European small- and medium- sized enterprises
David Smallbone and Hang Do
Part II: Entrepreneurs re-shaping industries: markets, products and services
Chapter 3: Entrepreneurship development through internationalisation in Latvia: the case of Laima: born sweet and global
Arnis Sauka
Chapter 4: The internationalization of Viciunai Group: a case from Lithuania
Osvaldas Stripeikis and Irena Bakanauskienė
Chapter 5: Entrepreneurship development and internationalisation in Belarus: the case of transport company TTC KristallTrans
Alena Apiakun and Tõnis Mets
Part III: Born to become global
Chapter 6: Entrepreneurial developments toward knowledge economy in Estonia: the case of Fits Me – venture-capital-backed startup going global
Tõnis Mets
Chapter 7: Born Poland, gone global: the case of successful Polish ICT company Aiton Caldwell
Ewa Lechman
Chapter 8: Entrepreneurship development and internationalization in Serbia: a case study of ComTrade and Nordeus
Sanja Marinkovic, Jovana Rakičević, Milica Jovanović and Jasna Petković
Chapter 9: Business internationalization: a case study of Telegrafia from Slovakia
Peter Džupka and Miriam Šebová
Part IV: Entrepreneurs-innovators going international
Chapter 10: The internationalisation of Richter Gedeon, the Hungarian pharmaceutical company, and entrepreneurship in Hungary
Katalin Antalóczy and Magdolna Sass
Chapter 11: Entrepreneurship and the internationalization process of Hidria – a Hidden Champion company from Slovenia
Danica Purg, Iztok Seljak and Alenka Braček Lalić
Chapter 12: Entrepreneurship and dental industry development in Ukraine: the case of dental clinic Apollonia entering international markets
Irina Tykhomyrova, Nataliya Golovkina and Mykola Radlinskyy
Part V: Conclusions and implications
Chapter 13: Twenty-five years of transition: entrepreneurial activities from homeland to borderless opportunities
Tõnis Mets
Biography
Dr. Tõnis Mets is Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Tartu in Estonia.
Dr. Arnis Sauka is an Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Business at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Latvia.
Professor Dr. Danica Purg is the President and Dean of IEDC-Bled School of Management, Postgraduate Studies (Slovenia), and the President of CEEMAN, International Association for Management Development in Dynamic Societies.
'This volume considers fast-evolving environments that present special challenges to businesses and entrepreneurs. It delivers a collection of carefully crafted micro studies and a general framework to understand successful business trajectories in turbulent environments. Recommended for entrepreneurship scholars, students, practitioners.' - Tomasz Mickiewicz, 50th Anniversary Prof. of Economics, ABS, Aston University, Birmingham, UK
'Mets, Sauka and Purg offer a welcome detailed study of the many facets and variants of the international path to entrepreneurship of firms in Central and Eastern Europe, while highlighting countries’ similarities and differences. The reader finds in this welcome book a wealthy source of knowledge of the varied processes and strategies to internationalization in different firms which contributed to the varying degrees of success of countries’ in transition.' — Bruno Dallago, Department of Economics and Management, University of Trento, Italy
