Exploring Risk Perception and Degree of Internationalization of Brazilian Small-and-Medium Enterprises

Abstract This research investigates managerial risk perception regarding internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Brazilian context. We examine how managers' perception of risk influences firms' degrees of internationalization. Likewise, we assessed how risk perception is influenced by managers' cognitive traits, such as tolerance for ambiguity and cognitive style. We provided empirical evidence for the relationships we proposed through a partial least squares structural equation model with data gathered from a survey of 149 SMEs from the State of Paraná, Brazil. Our results suggest that managers' tolerance for ambiguity is only significant for explaining risk perception for the managers with a preference for a deliberative style. Still, the research suggests that the Brazilian SMEs in our sample presented a higher degree of internationalization even when their managers perceived higher levels of risk.

摘要 本研究以巴西语境为研究背景，探讨中小企业（small and medium-sized enterprises，SMEs）国际化进程中的管理者风险感知议题，剖析管理者的风险感知如何作用于企业的国际化程度；与此同时，本研究亦评估了管理者的模糊容忍度、认知风格等认知特质对其风险感知的影响机制。本研究通过对巴西巴拉那州149家中小企业开展调研收集数据，运用偏最小二乘结构方程模型（partial least squares structural equation model）对本文提出的变量间关系进行实证检验。研究结果显示，管理者的模糊容忍度仅对具备审慎决策风格的管理者的风险感知具有显著解释效力；此外，样本中的巴西中小企业即便其管理者感知到更高的风险水平，仍呈现出较高的国际化程度。