If resources are everywhere, why collaboration is not? This is especially an important question for SMEs since they have to face challenges for their survival with their limited resources. Globalization and increasing competition force smaller companies to search new ways to survive. This dissertation tries to provide elements of solution by developing three essays around the business network approach. The first essay enters the black box of business network by providing insights around international collaborations and its benefits for young internationalizing companies. The second essay builds on the international entrepreneurship literature by describing collaborations as a way for smaller companies to speed up their internationalization process. Finally, the third essay deals with the determinants of international collaboration adoption. This essay also examines the role of institutions within the business network approach of internationalization. Interviews with key public institutes and entrepreneurs suggest that collaboration has a pivotal role to play in SME internationalization, as long as the contextual factors are considered, which in turn, reduces the risks of partnerships. Through phone surveys, the study shows that network variables allow understanding why some SMEs are able to internationalize more early and rapidly than others.(ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 2016Accès libre22/01/2016(ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 2016Anglai