Study of the relationship between the main principles of effectuation and capabilities that affect internationalization performance

Recently, securing the capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises has been recognized as an important study. Much research has been done on the importance of international entrepreneurial orientation and network capabilities to achieve internationalization results, but little research has been done on the impact of effectuation. This study aims to analyze the impact of effectuation on internationalization performance by matching the main principles of effectuation with international entrepreneurial orientation, network capabilities, and previously undefined improvisational response capabilities. For this survey, an online survey was conducted from December 11, 2023 to January 15, 2024, after calling companies included in the 2022 list of exporters and importers to check whether they could respond. SPSS 26.0 and Amos 26.0 programs were used for statistical processing for empirical analysis. The results of the study showed that, in addition to the use of ownership means, the effectuation principles are related to capabilities that affect internationalization performance. When it comes to internationalization performance, network capabilities show that strength is more important than size, and improvisation response capabilities show that speed is more important than flexibility. The reason why the risk sensitivity hypothesis was rejected is that it was a difficult time to take risks and internationalize during the COVID-19 crisis.