Technological imperatives in the internationalization process: Results from a qualitative investigation of high-tech SMEs

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine how a firm's leading-edge technology affects the way international business is conducted. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents the issues faced by high-tech, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from New Zealand in the internationalization process. Since the research is anchored within a realism framework, case studies and semi-structured in-depth interviews were applied. Findings: The research suggests that current foreign activities result in a stream of indicators closely related to the firm's technology, which are instrumental in shaping and driving future international activities. The paper demonstrates that firms tend to be influenced by the entry decisions made by other firms in the same/similar industry targeting the same market; and that a firm's technological capabilities and the advantages of specialized knowledge act as the constraints in the development of the firm's future international strategy. Practical implications: The paper helps to increase the understanding of how lack of foreign market knowledge can be perceived as an obstacle to carrying out international business. Originality/value: The paper presents the internationalization process as a dynamic process in an approach which is an extension of past thinking. However, past research has been motivated by generalizing findings across firms, to understand shared patterns in the process of internationalization. This approach overlooks the unique distinctiveness of firms in different sectors and contexts where idiosyncratic behavior is the norm rather than the exception to the rule.