000 01922cam a2200205 4500500
005 20250121064327.0
041 _afre
042 _adc
100 1 0 _aSidibé, Doudou
_eauthor
245 0 0 _aAnalysis of the role played by networks in the processes of French SMEs’ internationalization in West Africa
260 _c2023.
500 _a99
520 _aThe international support of French SMEs by institutional networks such as Business France, BPI France and CCIs (Chambers of Commerce and Industry), although significant, is the subject of little attention in research work. This article seeks to explore their functioning and their contribution to the internationalization of French SMEs in West Africa. Thus, a mixed qualitative methodology consisting of conducting semi-structured interviews with 11 public internationalization agents and the study of four SMEs that export to West Africa was used. The results reveal an abundance of resources provided by institutional networks for a possible acceleration of the internationalization process of SMEs that already have international experience using their own networks. This choice raises the question of the opportune moment to solicit institutional networks. A first theoretical contribution calls into question the theories, which postulate that the SME does not have an international experience and first solicits institutional networks before freeing itself from them after gaining experience. A second contribution remains the hybridization of institutional, social and private networks.
690 _aFrench SMEs
690 _aWest Africa
690 _ainstitutional networks
690 _ainternationalization
786 0 _nRevue de l’Entrepreneuriat / Review of Entrepreneurship | 22 | 3 | 2023-10-25 | p. 73-97 | 1766-2524
856 4 1 _uhttps://shs.cairn.info/journal-review-of-entrepreneurship-2023-3-page-73?lang=en&redirect-ssocas=7080
999 _c475314
_d475314