An Empirical Study Of The Determining Factors Of Korean SME Globalization Speed And Performance

Due to changes in the global business environment, more and more early-stage SMEs (small-to-medium enterprises) are joining the push for globalization. Traditional globalization theories don’t fully account for this phenomenon. Based on resource-based theory and network theories, this study sets out to examine the effects of Entrepreneurship Characteristics, Technology Characteristics, Network Characteristics on globalization speed alongside the interactive correlation between the speed and performance of globalization. Furthermore, building on past relevant research, this study sets up a research model with Entrepreneurship Characteristics, Technology Characteristics and networks factor as variables, and has achieved the following results.Proceeding from the findings of past research and covering such factors as business experience of entrepreneurs, overseas experience of entrepreneurs, R&D strengths, high-tech capabilities, network application capabilities, the strength of connections network, this study uses entrepreneurship, technology and networks as proxy variables, and carries out an empirical study of185Korean SMEs, each employing fewer than300employees. By using SPSS regression model, this research concludes that the business and overseas experience of entrepreneurs, R&D strengths, high-tech capabilities, network between cooperative businesses and network application capabilities are all factors that bear on globalization speed; and the size of overseas market corresponds positively with the speed of globalization, which in turn has a positive bearing on globalization performance.This research has led to the following conclusion:entrepreneurship, technology and networks at Korean SMEs are the factors that could enable radical globalization, and are essential for SMEs to rapidly tap into overseas markets. This research result has several implications:firstly, the entrepreneur’s accumulated experience before the start of the enterprise bears greatly on globalization decisions and therefore entrepreneurs are important resources for SMEs; Secondly, those SMEs lacking resources can draw on technical expertise and network in developing a competitive edge and breaking into overseas markets, therefore proving that established incrementalist theories on globalization don’t fully account for SMEs’realities on the ground; thirdly, globalization speed has a positive influence on globalization performance, thereby showing the way for future research.