Title: Managing SMEs' internationalisation process. A Delphi approach for identifying antecedent factors

Authors: Jamshid Alinasab; Seid Mohammad Reza Mirahmadi; Hassan Ghorbani; Francesco Caputo

Addresses: Management Department, Mobarakeh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran ' Management Department, Dolatabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran ' Management Department, Mobarakeh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran ' Department of Economics, Management, and Institutions (DEMI), University of Naples 'Federico II' – Napoli, NA, Italy

Abstract: Entering in the international market to increase sales presents challenges, problems, and various factors that must be considered to make an effective decision. Nevertheless, the nature of companies' scale is also an essential parameter, which is inherently limited in small and medium-sized enterprises compared to large corporations. The study's primary objective is to use the Delphi method to determine the factors that influence small and medium-sized enterprises' decision to enter the international market. A non-randomised, purposeful judgmental approach was employed in sampling to choose experts in the Delphi procedure, and 39 experts eventually participated in this investigation. Finally, 18 factors and 72 sub-factors were verified after three stages.

Keywords: internationalisation; international market entry; Delphi approach; small and medium sized enterprises; SMEs; decision-making.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMFA.2022.120934

International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting, 2022 Vol.14 No.1, pp.1 - 19

Received: 03 Mar 2021
Accepted: 08 Oct 2021
Published online: 17 Feb 2022 *

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