A Dynamic Capabilities Theory of SME Internationalisation: Evidence from Nigerian Manufacturing Firms in West African Markets

This dissertation develops and tests a dynamic capabilities theory of SME internationalisation applied to Nigerian manufacturing firms expanding into West African regional markets, making original theoretical contributions to both dynamic capabilities theory and international entrepreneurship by integrating the two frameworks through an emerging market lens. Dynamic capabilities theory, concerned with how firms build, integrate, and reconfigure resources to address changing environments, and international entrepreneurship research, examining how firms identify and exploit cross-border opportunities, have developed largely separately, creating a theoretical gap in the explanation of how resource-constrained SMEs build the specific dynamic capabilities required for successful international expansion. The dissertation addresses this gap through a two-phase mixed-methods design: a qualitative comparative case study of 12 Nigerian manufacturing SMEs with varying internationalisation trajectories in ECOWAS markets, using process tracing to reconstruct capability development sequences; followed by a quantitative survey of 200 Nigerian manufacturing SMEs testing the hypothesised capability-to-internationalisation relationships generated from the case analysis. Structural equation modelling with latent class analysis is applied in the quantitative phase. Original theoretical contributions include the construct of adaptive institutional capability, the specific capacity to interpret and navigate the diverse regulatory and informal institutional environments of ECOWAS member states; and a staged dynamic capability development model for SME internationalisation under resource constraints that differs from existing gradual internationalisation models by including non-linear and opportunistic entry pathways. Keywords: dynamic capabilities, SME internationalisation, West Africa, ECOWAS, manufacturing firms.