Internationalization of SMEs and Organizational Factors in a Developing Country: A Case Study of ICT Industry of Iran

SMEs as an engine of growth play an important role in developing countries for poverty reduction, the role which has attracted the attention of scholars in recent years. This study explores the effect of firm’s characteristics, resources and top management team characteristics on the internationalization of SMEs. Based on the literature, a conceptual model is proposed in which firm’s resources are assumed as an intervening variable. As a result, the model shows that top management team variable has both a direct and indirect effect on internationalization. In order to survey, top managers of international SMEs in Iran ICT sector were asked to fill in a questionnaire. The resulting data was analyzed through structural equation modeling which leads us to codifying a causal model accordingly. The research results show a direct and indirect positive effect of top management team on internationalization of SMEs, however it indicates that indirect effect of firm’s characteristics is not significant. Finally, a set of guidelines are proposed for internationalization of SMEs in developing countries.