Slack resources and SMEs' international performance : The moderating role of dynamic capabilities

Title data

Heubeck, Tim ; Held, Patrick ; Meckl, Reinhard:
Slack resources and SMEs' international performance : The moderating role of dynamic capabilities.
In: International Business Review. Vol. 35 (2026) Issue 5 . - 102608.
ISSN 0969-5931
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2026.102608

Official URL:

Abstract in another language

Do slack resources relate to the international performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? We examine unconstrained slack as a highly available and discretionary resource and theorize that its performance implications depend on dynamic capabilities. Using survey data from internationalized German SMEs, we find that unconstrained slack is positively associated with international performance and that this association becomes stronger as SMEs’ dynamic capabilities increase. Decomposing dynamic capabilities further suggests that the strength of this conditional relationship varies across sensing, seizing, and transforming, with the clearest subdimension pattern emerging for transforming. Marginal-effect analyses indicate that the positive slack–performance association is concentrated among SMEs with moderate to high levels of dynamic capabilities. Our findings identify an important boundary condition of the slack–performance relationship in SMEs and suggest that discretionary resource endowments are most beneficial when firms possess the capability base needed to redeploy them effectively in international markets.

Further data

Item Type:	Article in a journal
Refereed:	Yes
Keywords:	Slack resources; Small and medium-sized enterprises; Dynamic capabilities; International performance
Institutions of the University:	Faculties > Faculty of Law, Business and Economics > Department of Business Administration > Chair Business Administration IX - International Management Faculties > Faculty of Law, Business and Economics > Department of Business Administration > Chair Business Administration IX - International Management > Chair Business Administration IX - International Management - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Reinhard Meckl
Result of work at the UBT:	Yes
DDC Subjects:	300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
Date Deposited:	12 May 2026 05:59
Last Modified:	12 May 2026 05:59
URI:	https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/97020