Review of Internet-Based Theories of SMEs' Internationalization (ID: 3-022)

摘要

With the development of the world economy, especially the commercial use of the Internet, the international marketplace is changing much more broader and faster changing than before. The SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) have been traditionally considered as weak contributors to internationalization because of the financial and managerial constraints. However, international market is no longer the preserve of large international companies, commodity traders and a few pioneering high-technology companies. With increased internationalization of customers and markets, managers in most industries are now concerned about developments in both domestic and international markets. SMEs are also affected. The Internet, argued by lots of scholars presents a fundamentally different environment for international marketing. New paradigms will have to be developed to take account of SMEs' internationalization process in the emerging electronic age. The Internet's role in SMEs internationalization is not only an attractive topic in research area, but also a challenging exploration for SMEs. It focuses on the Internet theory study of SMEs' internationalization presented by scholars during 1995—2003.