There is no unambiguous definition of internationalization although a lot of theories that has made great contribution to enterprise internationalization have been propounded. The company’s operation on the local market differs from its operation on foreign markets. Examples of many companies indicate that internationalization processes, even if they enable them to gain new markets, involve the need to overcome various types of barriers.
Internationalization raises interest, but it also generates many problems that entrepreneurs need to deal with. The entrepreneurs from Podlaskie voivodeship indicated several barriers that hamper or even make it impossible to establish business activity on foreign markets.
The most important barrier in the implementation of projects on foreign markets is the financial barrier. Internationalization-related expenditures may deter enterprises from international expansion, but also impede the implementation of market strategies and achieving the assumed competitive position
Another group of internal barriers is the information (knowledge) barriers. Companies experience a lack of knowledge in the field of legal and financial regulations, about the market and clients. In addition, insufficient language competences of SME employees are a significant barrier.
Among the external barriers, respondents pointed primarily to strong competition on the foreign market and unfavourable legal and financial regulations. These barriers make the attempts to operate on the international market seem extremely risky. In contrast to internal barriers, which can be realistically estimated, perception of external barriers as subjective and yet significantly inhibits international projects.
To gain more knowledge, we encourage reading the scientific publication entitled: “Barriers in the internationalization of Podlasie SMEs – GoSmart BSR project experience” here.
This research was supported by the project ‘Strengthening smart specialisation by fostering transnational cooperation (GoSmart BSR)’ which has received funding from the European Union Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020, https://gosmartbsr.eu/
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