gender differential paper IJCRB

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INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
JUNE 2011
VOL 3, NO 2
Conclusion and Discussion
The Internationalization process has been studied widely since the conceptualization of
Uppsala model. Internationalization process of small and medium-sized enterprises is one
perspective that has attracted the researchers from looking at large companies. However, an
increasing amount of research in Internationalization of SMEs has important limitations.
Exporting may not be a suitable entry mode for a small firm. Nowadays, strategic alliances
play an important role for firms to gain competitive advantage. Hence, in this study, I
would like to investigate and describe how SMEs are using strategic alliances to develop
the international business. This evidence suggests thatinternal and external factors
influence significantly a small firms’ decision to go abroad. The small firm chooses
strategic alliance as market entry mode because this strategy canenhance a firm’s capacities
and gain for them a competitive advantage in international operation. The small firm can
chose the partner and makes a commitment with that partner who can help firm spread
globally. In order to be successful in international markets the small firm need to mange
alliances and evaluate them in accordance with
firm’s objectives.
Theoretical contributions
Due to the characteristics of small firms, my finding supports the idea that stage theory of
internationalization is not appropriate to describe the internationalization process of SMEs
(Bell, 1995; Li, Li and Dalgic, 2004; Hollenson, 2007. An understanding of SMEs
internationalization process is necessary to consider all aspects. The evidence reveals that
the company’s decission to go abroad is affected not only lack of market knowledge as
Uppsala model proposed, but internal factors and environmental factors are also strong
factors influencing firm’s strategy. This implies that the stage model overlooks the
planning phase, firm’s strategy and environment factors. However, some aspects such as
knowledge and commitment are still critical factors.
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