Investigating the Export Marketing Activity of SMEs Operating in International Healthcare Markets

The paper reports on an investigation of the characteristics associated with small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) exporters that operate in international healthcare markets. A framework is initially developed to analyse (a) the factors that stimulate such firms to venture overseas, (b) the key barriers to export, (c) the international market coverage where the firms do business, and (d) their success factors associated with trading internationally. Based on a sample of 112 SMEs, our findings reveal that although business growth, profits and a large market size were seen to motivate firms to venture overseas, finding an appropriate partner was a key barrier. Cultural issues were not found to prevent the sample of firms from doing business internationally, but having high-quality products and competitive prices were considered important ingredients of success. Several managerial implications are also extracted from the study that business support providers and governmental sources can use to assist firms...

[1]  R. Morgan.  Export stimuli and export barriers: evidence from empirical research studies , 1997 .

[2]  Ian Fillis,et al.  Small firm internationalisation: an investigative survey and future research directions , 2001 .

[3]  Kurt J. Miesenbock.  Small Businesses and Exporting: A Literature Review , 1988 .

[4]  Leonidas C. Leonidou,et al.  The Export Development Process: An Integrative Review of Empirical Models , 1996 .

[5]  Robert E. Morgan,et al.  Differences in Perceptions of Exporting Problems Based on Firm Size and Export Market Experience , 1994 .

[6]  J. Johanson,et al.  Facing Foreign Market Turbulence: Three Swedish Multinationals in Iran , 1996 .

[7]  Leonidas C. Leonidou,et al.  Export stimulation research: Review, evaluation and integration , 1995 .

[8]  S. Tamer Cavusgil,et al.  Internal Determinants of Export Marketing Behavior: An Empirical Investigation , 1981 .

[9]  C. Katsikeas,et al.  Perceived Export Success Factors of Small and Medium-Sized Canadian Firms , 1997 .

[10]  Masaaki Kotabe,et al.  The Effect of Export Assistance Program Usage on Export Performance: A Contingency Explanation , 2001 .

[11]  Nigel F. Piercy,et al.  Identifying Managerial Influences on Exporting: Past Research and Future Directions , 1998 .

[12]  George S. Yip,et al.  The Role of the Internationalization Process in the Performance of Newly Internationalizing Firms , 2000 .

[13]  Douglas Dow,et al.  A Note on Psychological Distance and Export Market Selection , 2000 .

[14]  Hartmut H. Holzmüller,et al.  Structural Modeling of Success Factors in Exporting: Cross-Validation and Further Development of an Export Performance Model , 1996 .

[15]  Terry S. Overton,et al.  Brief vs. Comprehensive Descriptions in Measuring Intentions to Purchase , 1971 .

[16]  Leonidas C. Leonidou,et al.  An Analysis of the Barriers Hindering Small Business Export Development , 2004 .

[17]  Colin Campbell-Hunt,et al.  A Strategic Approach to Internationalization: A Traditional versus a “Born-Global” Approach , 2004 .

[18]  G. Albaum,et al.  Reducing the Impact of Barriers to Exporting: A Managerial Perspective , 1995 .

[19]  Ø. Moen,et al.  Born Global or Gradual Global? Examining the Export Behavior of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises , 2002 .

[20]  B. Schlegelmilch,et al.  Psychic distance: a concept past its due date? , 2000 .

[21]  J. Johanson,et al.  The Internationalization Process of the Firm—A Model of Knowledge Development and Increasing Foreign Market Commitments , 1977 .