Title: Cultural intelligence development in internationalising SMEs: experiential and social learning mechanisms for successful owner-managers

Authors: Rubens Pauluzzo

Addresses: Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Udine, Udine 33100, Italy

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to measure the impact of experiential and social learning mechanisms on the creation of cultural intelligence in the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) domain. Data gathered from 244 owner-managers of Italian SMEs involved in international business activities show that social learning mechanisms can support SMEs in developing individuals' capabilities to function and manage in cultural diverse environments more effectively than experiential learning, since the acquisition of direct experience usually requires time, costs and risks that small ventures cannot always afford. The present paper extends prior research on global leaders' learning mechanisms by deepening comprehension of the rather unexplored context of internationalising SMEs learning processes, thus filling the gap on how these firms can gain knowledge from international markets.

Keywords: SMEs; international experience; cultural intelligence; leadership capabilities; learning mechanisms; experiential learning theory; social cognitive theory; moderated multiple regression analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2026.151606

European Journal of International Management, 2026 Vol.28 No.3, pp.403 - 427

Received: 18 Apr 2020
Accepted: 03 Nov 2020
Published online: 10 Feb 2026 *

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