The Internet’s Influence on Market Commitment, Uncertainty and Risk in the Internationalization Process of SMEs

Abstract

How can small firms leverage the Internet when seeking to expand their business abroad? This question has been at the centre of academic inquiry ever since the introduction of the Internet. Yet, there has recently been a number of calls for more research to explore how the Internet as a global techno-social system can add value as a driver of internationalization in small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) (Plakoyiannaki et al. 2014; Reuber and Fischer 2011; Sinkovics et al. 2013). With this study, we aim to address this call for research. Drawing on the Uppsala internationalization process model (Johanson and Vahlne 1977, 1993; Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul 1975) we explore how SMEs can leverage the Internet to create value when seeking to expand their business abroad by reducing the amount of risk associated with doing business in foreign markets. The Uppsala internationalization process model is one of the most extensively used theories within academic inquiry on SME internationalization (Coviello and McAuley 1999; Ruzzier et al. 2006) and highlights important factors which impact on the internationalization process (Fillis 2001).