THE IMPACT OF THE NUMBER OF SERVICED REGIONAL MARKETS IN REDUCING THE PERCEPTION OF BARRIERS TO EXPORT: THE CASE OF CHINESE MANUFACTURING SMES

Year 2013, Volume: 5 Issue: 1, 283 - 297, 01.06.2013

Robin Stuart Bell

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore the relative perceptions of Chinese
manufacturing SME decision makers, who are involved in different numbers of
overseas markets, towards selected barriers to export. This research investigates
and compares the perceptions of Chinese SME decision makers who have
experience of differing numbers of regional markets. Existing literature implies
that experiential knowledge is a key regulator of resource commitment to foreign
markets. The accumulation of experiential knowledge should be increased as
enterprises operate in a greater number of diverse markets. Subsequently, it could
be expected that this accumulation of experiential knowledge should be an
enabling factor in overcoming or mitigating the barriers to internationalization and
should thus reduce the perceptions of barriers. The research tests this proposition
utilizing a self-administered questionnaire. It assesses the perception of difficulty
of the selected barriers and then statistically analyses the differences in perception
between respondents with experience in differing number of geographical regions.
The research methodology adopted a quantitative approach and data was collected
from 119 SME decision makers in China who were involved in exporting to
different numbers of regional markets. The data was then subjected to statistical
analysis using between-group tests of difference.
The findings highlight differences in perceptions of certain key barriers to
internationalization based on the number of geographical export markets that
SME manufacturers are actively involved in.

Keywords

Export, SME, China

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