The existing literature on SME internationalization has inadequately integrated joint innovation capabilities, organizational unlearning, and the internationalization process. Previous studies have primarily examined these concepts separately, obscuring their interconnection and reciprocal impact. This study fills in a gap in the literature and responds to calls for more studies (e.g., Du, Zhu & Li, 2023; Genc, Dayan & Genc, 2019) by developing and testing a moderated mediation model to examine how joint innovation capabilities affect exploratory innovation through the mediating role of organizational unlearning. The research also examines the moderating effect of the degree of internationalization on this relationship. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 300 logistics and general managers from SMEs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), utilizing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate the measurement models' validity and reliability, and to test the hypothesized relationships. The results demonstrate that organizational unlearning is a key mechanism linking collaborative innovation capabilities with exploratory innovation. Additionally, the degree of internationalization significantly moderates this relationship, with a stronger mediation effect when internationalization is low. These findings provide practical implications for SMEs and managers, especially in overseeing innovation and unlearning processes while accounting for the degree of internationalization in their growth strategies. Managers in SMEs must recognize the complexities introduced by internationalization, such as diverse cultural norms and regulatory frameworks, which can impede the process of unlearning. To address these challenges, SMEs should consider adopting region-specific innovation strategies or investing in cross-cultural training to effectively manage the integration of diverse knowledge sources.

中文翻译：

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对于中小企业来说，国际化在多大程度上值得创新？国际化程度和组织忘却在联合创新能力-探索性创新关系中的作用


关于中小企业国际化的现有文献没有充分整合联合创新能力、组织忘却和国际化过程。以前的研究主要分别研究了这些概念，模糊了它们的相互联系和相互影响。这项研究填补了文献中的空白，并响应了对更多研究的呼吁（例如，杜、朱和李，2023;Genc， Dayan & Genc， 2019）通过开发和测试一个调节的中介模型来检查联合创新能力如何通过组织忘却的中介作用影响探索性创新。该研究还考察了国际化程度对这种关系的调节作用。对来自阿拉伯联合酋长国 （UAE） 中小企业的 300 名物流和总经理进行了一项横断面调查，利用偏最小二乘结构方程模型 （PLS-SEM） 来评估测量模型的有效性和可靠性，并检验假设的关系。结果表明，组织忘却是连接协作创新能力与探索性创新的关键机制。此外，国际化程度显著调节了这种关系，当国际化程度较低时，中介效应更强。这些发现为中小企业和管理者提供了实际意义，尤其是在监督创新和忘却过程方面，同时考虑其增长战略的国际化程度。中小企业的管理者必须认识到国际化带来的复杂性，例如不同的文化规范和监管框架，这可能会阻碍忘却的过程。 为了应对这些挑战，中小企业应考虑采用针对特定地区的创新战略或投资于跨文化培训，以有效管理不同知识来源的整合。