Teaching Notes for Cases in Internationalization of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
Teaching Notes for Cases in Internationalization of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

Author(s): Veit Wohlgemuth, Anamarija Delić, Julia Perić, Aleksandar Erceg, Sunčica Oberman Peterka, Tine Lehmann
Subject(s): Economy, Supranational / Global Economy, Business Economy / Management, Socio-Economic Research, Transport / Logistics
Published by: Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Ekonomski fakultet u Osijeku
Keywords: teaching notes; SMEs; internationalization; entrepreneurship;
Summary/Abstract: The teaching notes in this book are one outcome of the Erasmus+ project INTernational ENtrepreneurship Skills Europe (INTENSE) which ended in August 2019. The project aimed to achieve targets set out in the “Agenda for the modernisation of Europe’s higher education systems” by improving the quality and relevance of higher education, by promoting mobility and cross-border cooperation, and by linking higher education, research and business sectors. The main project partners were five HEIs from different European countries: Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, Germany, Turku University of Applied Sciences, Finland, Hogeschool Utrecht, the Netherlands, University Colleges Leuven-Limburg, Belgium and Josip Juraj Strossmayer of Osijek, Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia. The objective of the project was to develop and implement an innovative and multifaceted teaching module on the internationalisation of SMEs to boost the entrepreneurial behaviour and internationalization of students, HEI staff and SMEs. These characteristics are linked to increased employability of both HEI students and HEI university staff, and to a better understanding of the process of internationalisation of SMEs by students and SMEs. The development of innovation competences and versatile international skills requires practice-oriented learning environments, the utilization of active learning, and innovative teaching methods. Lecturers are key players in supporting students’ innovation-oriented action, by deviating from the traditional teacher-centred approach. Instead, the project relied on international university-company cooperation as a learning environment. This enhanced not only students’ but also teachers’ and SMEs’ innovation competences, entrepreneurial skills and knowledge about internationalisation beyond classical classroom teaching. The involved SMEs also benefitted by receiving advice on their international business activities. However, the students did not just consult local SMEs in their internationalisation process but also cooperated with another student team in the target market of the SME’s internationalisation. The students documented their consultancy stories in teaching case studies. In this book we are presenting teaching notes for some of the case studies that are one result of the students’ and professors’ work during the transnational student consultancy projects. The connected cases and teaching notes summarise the main challenges that our partner firms faced and that the students were supposed to solve. We hope you will find them useful for your classes and that you and your students can benefit from our learning experience through these cases.

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