Reconfiguration of Sophisticated Managerial Capabilities when Pursuing International Opportunities Insights from International SMEs in Colombia
Main Article Content
Keywords
Managerial capability reconfiguration, International opportunities, Dynamic managerial capabilities, SME internationalization, Latin American emerging economies, Colombia
Abstract
This study aims to understand how managers deploy their managerial capabilities when pursuing international opportunities and how these capabilities are reconfigured to achieve international performance in the context of a Latin American emerging economy. Adopting a dynamic managerial capability approach as the primary theoretical lens, while incorporating insights from managerial cognition as micro foundations, the study employs a qualitative, inductive theory-building methodology based on a multiple case study of four international small and medium-sized enterprises from Colombia. The findings reveal three key insights. First, the three DMC underpinnings—managerial cognition, managerial human capital, and managerial social capital—have separable effects on opportunity-driven behavior and intertwine with one another to reconfigure and create more sophisticated managerial capabilities. Second, managers initially deploy these capabilities to adapt to national institutional conditions (particularly government inefficiency and regulatory voids) and subsequently reconfigure them to achieve international performance. Third, opportunity-driven behavior itself can be conceptualized as a dynamic managerial capability, enabling managers to become more alert, agile, innovative, strategically decisive, and adaptable when pursuing international opportunities to achieve international performance for their firms.
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References
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European Comission. (2010). *SME definition | Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs*. https\://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition\_en
Felzensztein, C., Saridakis, G., Idris, B., & Elizondo, G. P. (2021). Do economic freedom, business experience, and firm size affect internationalization speed? Evidence from small firms in Chile, Colombia, and Peru. *Journal of International Entrepreneurship 2021*, 1–42. https\://doi.org/10.1007/S10843-021-00303-W
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Gioia, D. A., Corley, K. G., & Hamilton, A. L. (2013). Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive Research. *Organizational Research Methods*, *16*(1), 15–31. https\://doi.org/10.1177/1094428112452151
Gonzalez-Perez, M. A., Manotas, E. C., & Ciravegna, L. (2016). International SMEs from emerging markets—Insights from the Colombian textile and apparel industry. *Journal of International Entrepreneurship*, *14*(1), 9–31. https\://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-016-0170-3
Hambrick. (2007). Upper Echelons theory: an update. *Academy of Management Review*, *32*(2), 334–343. https\://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2007.24345254
Helfat, & Martin. (2015). Dynamic managerial capabilities: review and assessment of managerial impact on strategic change. *Journal of Management*, *41*(5), 1281–1312. https\://doi.org/10.1177/0149206314561301
Helfat, & Peteraf. (2015). Managerial cognitive capabilities and the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities. *Strategic Management Journal*, *36*(6), 831–850. https\://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2247
Heubeck, T., & Meckl, R. (2022). Antecedents to cognitive business model evaluation: a dynamic managerial capabilities perspective. *Review of Managerial Science*, *16*(8). https\://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-021-00503-7
Hock-Doepgen, M., Heaton, S., Clauss, T., & Block, J. (2025). Identifying microfoundations of dynamic managerial capabilities for business model innovation. *Strategic Management Journal*, *46*(2). https\://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3663
Hurmerinta, L., Nummela, N., & Paavilainen-Mäntymäki, E. (2015). Opening and closing doors: The role of language in international opportunity recognition and exploitation. *International Business Review*, *24*(6), 1082–1094. https\://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2015.04.010
Jafari-Sadeghi, V., Amoozad Mahdiraji, H., Bresciani, S., & Pellicelli, A. C. (2021). Context-specific micro-foundations and successful SME internationalisation in emerging markets: A mixed-method analysis of managerial resources and dynamic capabilities. *Journal of Business Research*, *134*. https\://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.027
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Kiss, N., Danis, W., & Cavusgil, T. (2012). International entrepreneurship research in emerging economies: A critical review and research agenda. *Journal of Business Venturing*, *27*(2), 266–290. https\://doi.org/10.1016/J.JBUSVENT.2011.09.004
Kontinen, T., & Ojala, A. (2011). International opportunity recognition among small and medium-sized family firms. *Journal of Small Business Management*, *49*(3), 490–514. https\://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-627X.2011.00326.x
Kor, Y. Y., & Mesko, A. (2013). Dynamic managerial capabilities: Configuration and orchestration of top executives’ capabilities and the firm’s dominant logic. *Strategic Management Journal*, *34*(2), 233–244. https\://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2000
Korhonen, S., & Leppäaho, T. (2019). Well-trodden highways and roads less traveled: Entrepreneurial-oriented behavior and identity construction in international entrepreneurship narratives. *Journal of International Entrepreneurship*, *17*(3), 355–388. https\://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-019-00246-3
Kryeziu, L., Kurutkan, M. N., Krasniqi, B. A., Ramadani, V., Hajrullahu, V., & Haziri, A. (2024). Cognitive styles and dynamic managerial capabilities: implications for SMEs in a transition economy. *International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research*, *30*(1). https\://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-04-2023-0406
Lamb, P., Sandberg, J., & Liesch, P. W. (2011). Small firm internationalisation unveiled through phenomenography. *Journal of International Business Studies*, *42*(5), 672–693. https\://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2011.8
Lindstrand, A., & Hånell, S. M. (2017). International and market-specific social capital effects on international opportunity exploitation in the internationalization process. *Journal of World Business*, *52*(5), 653–663. https\://doi.org/10.1016/J.JWB.2017.05.002
Lu, Y., Zhou, L., Bruton, G., & Li, W. (2010). Capabilities as a mediator linking resources and the international performance of entrepreneurial firms in an emerging economy. *Journal of International Business Studies*, *41*(3), 419–436. https\://doi.org/10.1057/JIBS.2009.73
Mainela, T., Puhakka, V., & Servais, P. (2014). The Concept of International Opportunity in International Entrepreneurship: A Review and a Research Agenda. *International Journal of Management Reviews*, *16*(1), 105–129. https\://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12011
Merín-Rodrigáñez, J., Alegre, J., & Dasí, À. (2025). International entrepreneurship in innovative SMEs: Examining the connection between CEOs’ dynamic managerial capabilities, business model innovation and export performance. *International Business Review*, *34*(2). https\://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2024.102321
Mostafiz, M. I., Sambasivan, M., & Goh, S. K. (2019). Impacts of dynamic managerial capability and international opportunity identification on firm performance. *Multinational Business Review*, MBR-09-2018-0061. https\://doi.org/10.1108/MBR-09-2018-0061
Nummela, N., Saarenketo, S., & Puumalainen, K. (2004). A global mindset - A prerequisite for successful internationalization? *Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences / Revue Canadienne Des Sciences de l’Administration*, *21*(1), 51–64. https\://doi.org/10.1111/j.1936-4490.2004.tb00322.x
Orengo, K. (2012). Internationalization and Entrepreneurial Orientation. A Network perspective: Four Cases of Puerto Rican SMEs. *AD-Minister*, *21*.
Oviatt, B. ., & McDougall, P. (2005). Defining international entrepreneurship and modeling the speed of internationalization. *Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice*, *29*(5), 537–554. https\://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2005.00097.x
Patton, M. Q. (2014). *Qualitative research & evaluation methods + writing up qualitative research, 3rd ed.* Sage Publications.
Tabares, A. (2017). International entrepreneurship under an institutional regulative dimension: A cross-national study. *Espacios*, *38*(52).
Tabares, A., Alvarez, C., & Urbano, D. (2015). Born Globals From the Resource-Based Theory: a Case Study in Colombia. *Journal of Technology Management & Innovation*, *10*(2), 155–165. https\://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242015000200011
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Aug 12, 2026
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Tabares, A. (2026). Reconfiguration of Sophisticated Managerial Capabilities when Pursuing International Opportunities : Insights from International SMEs in Colombia. AD-Minister, (48), 17–31. https://doi.org/10.17230/Ad-minister.48.3 (Original work published August 11, 2026)
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