Digital Interactions and Internationalisation of Small, Medium Enterprises

Abstract

Digital interactions of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries in regards to the internationalisation is not well explored. This research shows how the digital communications amongst service providers and SMEs enable internationalisation among SMEs. The importance of the digital interactions such as social media, online marketing and mobile phone afforded the internationalisation. The results suggest social media, online marketing and mobile phone can speed up the internationalisation when SMEs and service providers utilize the digital interactions. In other words, instead of using conventional interactions as determinant of internationalisation, digital interactions may be an enabler for SMEs in regards towards internationalisation.

Exploring the Co-Creation of Small and Medium Enterprises, and Service Providers Enabled by Digital Interactive Platforms for Internationalization: A Case Study in Malaysia

“…SMEs see the exploration of internationalization as a potential loss rather than an opportunity for firm growth and sustainability [51,65,84]. SMEs are considered to be risk averse when it comes to approaching internationalization as international markets contain barriers, mainly due to foreignness liability [28,52,85].…”

“…They play a critical role in seeking information and transforming business processes and interactions [76,103]. To cope with these new norms and changes, SMEs need to adapt accordingly and use digital technologies to support entrepreneurial activities and facilitate interactions with customers and stakeholders [11,84,104].…”

“…They provide an opportunity for SMEs to reach their international market and gain a competitive advantage [39,87,108]. Researchers have posited that SMEs need to enhance their knowledge and increase their competitive advantage in the international market by using digital technologies which can consequently accelerate the internationalization process [84,87,108].…”

“…SMEs committed to digitalization achieve early and rapid internationalization [41,93]. Therefore, there is no doubt that DIP helps SMEs to collaborate with service providers to get support programs for the early stage of their internationalization [45,84,106].…”

The contribution of digitalisation, channel integration and sustainability to the international performance of industrial SMEs

“…Digitalisation in a company consists of the application of digital technologies and infrastructures in business, economy and society (Autio, 2017). Organisations that adopt digital technologies transform their business models and create more business value (Mohamad et al ., 2019). Companies apply different types of digital technologies – such as electronic commerce, big data analysis, the Internet of Things or machine learning, amongst others – that allow them to create value (Lee et al ., 2019a, b).…”