Firm age, sales growth and survival of internationalized SMEs: does human capital play a role?

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the moderating effect of human capital in the form of a CEO’s educational background and firm age at the time of internationalization on growth and survival.Design/methodology/approachThe research study is based on primary data gathered from 102 internationalized small and medium enterprises (SMEs) belonging to the engineering industry in Bangalore district, Karnataka, India.FindingsThe results reveal that human capital significantly improves sales growth but had no impact on the survival of internationalized SMEs.Practical implicationsThe paper includes practical implications for the CEOs of SMEs to successfully strategize their efforts towards growth and survival in the international market.Originality/valueThis research study enhances the importance of human capital and its impact on the growth and survival of internationalized SMEs in the context of an emerging economy where research studies are limited and largely unexplored till date.