The internationalization motives of SMEs from the Czech Republic in the context of EU accession

Foreign competition in domestic markets is still strengthening and for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) internationalization may be one way to deal with this growing rivalry. Pangarkar (2008) states that for SMEs the benefits of internationalization outweigh its disadvantages and that with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Society and economy 2016-09, Vol.38 (3), p.375-386
Main Authors: Kubičkova, Lea, TOULOVÁ, Martina, Tuzova, Marcela, Veselá, Lucie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Competition
Competitive advantage
Economic aspects
Economic policy
EU membership
EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment
Europeanization
Financial Markets
Globalization
International relations
Marketing
Memberships
National Economy
Polls & surveys
Product life cycle
Small & medium sized enterprises-SME
Small and medium sized companies
Small business
Studies
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Summary:Foreign competition in domestic markets is still strengthening and for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) internationalization may be one way to deal with this growing rivalry. Pangarkar (2008) states that for SMEs the benefits of internationalization outweigh its disadvantages and that with the increasing degree of involvement in the internationalization process the performance of SMEs also improves. However, for SMEs from some sectors of our economy, involvement in internationalization is more complex than for large enterprises; moreover, they are often inclined to enter foreign markets due to different motives. The authors carried out several surveys among Czech SMEs during the last three years and found that SMEs from some sectors of the Czech economy mentioned the EU accession of the Czech Republic as their motive for internationalization. The aim of this paper is to find out whether EU membership represents the determining factor of the SMEs’ decision to get involved in internationalization, and what its advantages or disadvantages are as perceived by SMEs in connection with their international activities. Conclusions are drawn on the basis of primary data obtained from Czech SMEs through electronic questionnaire surveys.
ISSN:1588-9726
1588-970X
DOI:10.1556/204.2016.38.3.6