摘要：Internationalization has been a topic of common interest among scholars in the field of international business since the emergence of globalization.But not much research work has been done to comprehend the process of firm internationalization in Ethiopia.This study aims to unveil the most important factors driving internationalization process of Ethiopian SMEs operating in leather and leather products industry located in Addis Ababa.The small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) sector in Ethiopia is a significant group within the economy in terms of firm numbers and total employment.Thus,their internationalization will have a significant impact on industrialization and economic development of Ethiopia.The internationalization phenomenon is examined in a more comprehensive manner than in many previous studies,through integrated theoretical lenses.Firm export propensity is the dependent variable and export driving factors are used as explanatory variables.Mixed research design approach through survey and semi-structured interviews and secondary sources are used to obtain the required data.A stratified random sampling technique is used to recruit the required respondents.A questionnaire is administered to 90 (36 exporting and 54 non-exporting) SMEs in leather and leather products industry in Addis Ababa.Similarly,interviews are conducted with nine SMEs managers and owners.Analytical techniques of factor analysis and binary logistic regression analysis are used to make sense of the collected data and test hypotheses.The statistical result indicates that managerial factors,internal marketing factors and foreign government related factors,firm ownership and size are the most significant drivers of SMEs internationalization from Ethiopia.The study concludes that internal and external factors influence internationalization of Ethiopian firms in manufacturing industry.From the results and conclusions,the study recommends policy,research and managerial implications the implementation of which will make Ethiopian SMEs more competitive in international arena.
关键词：Internationalization has been a topic of common interest among scholars in the field of international business since the emergence of globalization.But not much research work has been done to comprehend the process of firm internationalization in Ethiopia.This study aims to unveil the most important factors driving internationalization process of Ethiopian SMEs operating in leather and leather products industry located in Addis Ababa.The small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) sector in Ethiopia is a significant group within the economy in terms of firm numbers and total employment.Thus,their internationalization will have a significant impact on industrialization and economic development of Ethiopia.The internationalization phenomenon is examined in a more comprehensive manner than in many previous studies,through integrated theoretical lenses.Firm export propensity is the dependent variable and export driving factors are used as explanatory variables.Mixed research design approach through survey and semi-structured interviews and secondary sources are used to obtain the required data.A stratified random sampling technique is used to recruit the required respondents.A questionnaire is administered to 90 (36 exporting and 54 non-exporting) SMEs in leather and leather products industry in Addis Ababa.Similarly,interviews are conducted with nine SMEs managers and owners.Analytical techniques of factor analysis and binary logistic regression analysis are used to make sense of the collected data and test hypotheses.The statistical result indicates that managerial factors,internal marketing factors and foreign government related factors,firm ownership and size are the most significant drivers of SMEs internationalization from Ethiopia.The study concludes that internal and external factors influence internationalization of Ethiopian firms in manufacturing industry.From the results and conclusions,the study recommends policy,research and managerial implications the implementation of which will make Ethiopian SMEs more competitive in international arena.
