Abstract
Increasing the export has been an important agenda to many countries as it contributes to economic growth. Exporting is the most common way to expand business and penetrate international market. The role of SMEs in global market has increased which contribute to economic growth of a country. However, SMEs are facing challenges in entering export markets due to limited resources, competition with multinationals, and many other factors. Hence, SMEs must make sure that they are prepared to enter the export market as to minimize the risks of failure in international market. The objective of this paper is to examine export readiness among SMEs in Malaysia as studies have shown that export readiness influenced export performance. Interviews were conducted on eight manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia to examine their perception and level of export readiness. Among the important dimensions to export readiness are motivational factors, management commitment, product consideration, and financial resources. The findings showed that SMEs are motivated and have the intention to enter international market, but their motivations do not necessarily manifested into commitment to export. This study contributes significantly to the theory of export readiness and extends literature on export readiness among SMEs. Further researches are also suggested.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ahmad NH, Seet PS (2009) Dissecting behaviours associated with business failure: a qualitative study of SME owners in Malaysia and Australia. Asian Soc Sci 5(9):98–104
Al-Hyari K, Al-Weshah G, Alnsour M (2012) Barriers to internationalisation in SMEs: evidence from Jordan. Mark Intell Plan 30(2):188–211
Burpitt WJ, Rondinelli DA (2000) Small firms’ motivations for exporting: to earn and learn? J Small Bus Manag 38(4):1–14
Dominguez LV, Sequeira CG (1993) Determinants of LDC exporters’ performance: a cross-national study. J Int Bus Stud 24(1):19–40
Doole I, Grimes T, Demack S (2006) An exploration of the management practices and processes most closely associated with high levels of export capability in SMEs. Mark Intell Plan 24(6):632–647
Ecel A, Atukunda R, Napakor E, Otim J (2013) Uganda-China trade evaluated from an export readiness perspective; evidence from oil-seed exports. Glob Adv Res J Manag Bus Stud 2(5):279–284
Eldik AV, Viviers W (2005) The measurement of export readiness of companies in South Africa. South Afr Bus Rev 9(2):1–11
Gerschewski S, Rose EL, Scott-Kennel J (2007) Understanding pre-export behaviour of small and medium-sized firms in New Zealand: towards a model of export readiness. Unpublished masters thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington
KTAK PK (2006) Keusahawanan: PUNB perkenal skim usahawan pemborong. Retrieved on 16 August 2013 at http://www.idesa.net.my/modules/news/article.php?
Liesch PW, Knight GA (1999) Information internationalization and hurdle rates in small and medium enterprise internationalization. J Int Bus Stud 30(1):383–394
Lincoln YS, Guba EG (1985) Naturalistic inquiry. Sage, Newbury Park
Maurel C (2009) Determinants of export performance in French wine SMEs. Int J Wine Bus Res 21(2):119–142
Meso P, Smith R (2000) A resource-based view of organizational knowledge management systems. J Knowl Manag 4(3):224–234
Pope RA (2002) Why small firms export: another look. J Small Bus Manag 40:17–26
Rosnan H, Abd Aziz ZD (2012) Faculty of Bussiness Management, Universiti Teknologi. MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia. In: Business, Engineering and Industrial Applications (ISBEIA), 2012 IEEE Symposium, IEEE, September, pp 250–253
Saleh AS, Ndubisi NO (2006) An evaluation of SME development in Malaysia. Int Rev Bus Res Pap 2(1):1–14
Small Business Administration (2001) The state of small businesses 1999–2000. Accessed on 12 September 2013 at www.sba.gov/advo/stats/stateofsb99_00.pdf
Somsuk N, Wonglimpiyarat J, Laosirihongthong T (2012) Technology business incubators and industrial development: resource-based view. Ind Manag Data Syst 11(2):245–267
Stenbacka C (2001) Qualitative research requires quality concepts of its own. Manag Decis 39(7):551–555
Tan A, Brewer P, Liesch PW (2008) Constructing an internationalisation readiness index. In: Proceedings of AIB 2008 annual meeting: knowledge development and exchange in international business networks. Universita Bocconi, Milan, 30 June–3 July 2008
Tesform G, Lutz C (2006) A classification of export marketing problems of small and medium sized manufacturing firms in developing countries. Int J Emerg Mark 1(3):262–281
Thurik R, Wennekers S (2004) Entrepreneurship, small business and economic growth. J Small Bus Enterp Dev 11(1):140–149
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to acknowledge the Research Management Institute (RMI) UiTM, Shah Alam, and Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) for the financial support through the Research Acculturation Grants, File No: 600-RMI/RAGS 5/3(148/2012).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this paper
Cite this paper
Rosnan, H., Saihani, S.B., Yusoff, N., Daud, N.M. (2016). Export Readiness Among Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Malaysia. In: Pyeman, J., Wan Rashid, W., Hanif, A., Syed Mohamad, S., Tan, P. (eds) Proceedings of the 1st AAGBS International Conference on Business Management 2014 (AiCoBM 2014). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-426-9_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-426-9_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-287-425-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-287-426-9
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)