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On the Use of Digital Platforms to Support SME Internationalization in the Context of Industrial Business Associations

On the Use of Digital Platforms to Support SME Internationalization in the Context of Industrial Business Associations

Eric Costa, António Lucas Soares, Jorge Pinho de Sousa
Copyright: © 2019 |Pages: 29
ISBN13: 9781522562252|ISBN10: 1522562257|EISBN13: 9781522562269
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-6225-2.ch004
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MLA

Costa, Eric, et al. "On the Use of Digital Platforms to Support SME Internationalization in the Context of Industrial Business Associations." Handbook of Research on Expanding Business Opportunities With Information Systems and Analytics, edited by George Leal Jamil, IGI Global, 2019, pp. 66-94. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-6225-2.ch004

APA

Costa, E., Soares, A. L., & Pinho de Sousa, J. (2019). On the Use of Digital Platforms to Support SME Internationalization in the Context of Industrial Business Associations. In G. Jamil (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Expanding Business Opportunities With Information Systems and Analytics (pp. 66-94). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-6225-2.ch004

Chicago

Costa, Eric, António Lucas Soares, and Jorge Pinho de Sousa. "On the Use of Digital Platforms to Support SME Internationalization in the Context of Industrial Business Associations." In Handbook of Research on Expanding Business Opportunities With Information Systems and Analytics, edited by George Leal Jamil, 66-94. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2019. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-6225-2.ch004

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Abstract

The digital economy is creating disruptions in traditional industries and markets. Industrial business associations (IBAs) may face serious challenges in a near future to meet the needs and requirements of their members, particularly in supporting their growing international trade activities and internationalization processes. Digital platforms are already transforming different types of businesses across all markets. An IBA may use a digital platform, not only to keep up with the current technological trends of markets, but also to improve the internationalization support provided to their associate small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to present the view of these potential digital platforms' managers, by presenting the results of an exploratory field research based on 24 interviews with IBAs from Portugal, France, and the UK. Another goal is to identify current digital platforms that are being used by IBAs and to critically evaluate their potential for supporting internationalization processes of SMEs. By using these findings, a set of requirements and features for digital platforms supporting SME internationalization in the context of IBAs are derived in this chapter. These results can be used by platform designers and by IBAs for designing and developing more effective digital platforms that can meet the specific internationalization needs of their users and managers.

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