Global Expansion - Strategic Necessity for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)? (dissertation)

Why is the number of SMEs with foreign activities so small ? What are the reasons that keep them stuck in their domestic markets? SMEs lack sufficient strategic management and awareness of their strengths and weaknesses / opportunities and threats that are rising with globalization. Language barriers add up. The majority shows external reactive behavior, operates in protected markets and is transferred over generations. The minority shows internal proactive behavior, are highly profitable in niche positions; Have the changes in business environment eliminated barriers that excluded SMEs from global expansion and made it an exclusive right of larger corporations? Are SMEs now in a position to globalize equally successful? Environmental changes have led to the result that SMEs can globalize successfully. Becoming a global player is no longer an exclusive right of large companies or state owned conglomerates with powerful political connections; Can globalization rise beyond the level of opportunity and reach a dimension of strategic necessity? The concern to globalization is in the same way affecting SMEs as large corporations. SMEs that comply to a set of specific criteria without suffering from the impacts of globalization, geographical expansion does represent a strategic opportunity. Under specific circumstances the opportunity to expand regionally / globally can reach a dimension of strategic necessity; Introduction of an internationalization process model.