Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to analyze the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in relation to the international market selection (IMS). To accomplish this, an investigation of the primary factors influencing SMEs’ choice when selecting international marketswith a systematic approach way was conducted. In addition we sought to understand whether there was a relationship between the systematic approach in IMS and the characteristics of SMEs. Results revealed that the majority of SMEs adopt a non-systematic IMS. However, in the case of SMEs following a systematic approach to IMS, the study pointed out that SMEs are influenced by firm-specific and host country factors, but not by entry barriers like geographic and cultural distance. In addition, results illustrated the existence of a relationship between systematic IMS and firm size.

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