Title: Factor analysis of SMEs entering foreign markets: the case of Taiwanese SMEs in Vietnam

Authors: Kuei-Ying Hsu; Hsin-Pin Fu; Arthur J. Lin; Tsung-Yin Ou

Addresses: Department of International of Business Administration, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Kaohsiung (807), Taiwan ' Department of Marketing and Distribution Management, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung (824), Taiwan ' Graduate Institute of International Business, National Taipei University, New Taipei City (237), Taiwan ' Department of Marketing and Distribution Management, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung (824), Taiwan

Abstract: Internationalisation is an important issue for firms, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as compared to large enterprises, SMEs possess limited internationalisation experience and face unknown risks due to limited resources. However, if SMEs understand the determinants for entering into a foreign market and their relative importance, they could deploy their relatively limited resources optimally and maximise the success of entering the global market. Through literature review, this study proposed a three-level factor hierarchical table of SMEs entering foreign markets based on the dynamic capabilities framework. Through expert questionnaires, factor weights were obtained by using a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), and the advantages of the VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method were then used to objectively identify six critical success factors (CSFs). The results can be used as reference for Taiwanese SMEs to optimise their decision-making and resource allocation processes for entering into foreign markets.

Keywords: SMEs; entering foreign market; CSF; FAHP; VIKOR; internationalisation; dynamic capabilities; Taiwanese; decision-making; resource allocation.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2020.107020

European Journal of International Management, 2020 Vol.14 No.3, pp.524 - 550

Received: 13 Oct 2017
Accepted: 16 Apr 2018
Published online: 01 May 2020 *

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