Impact of e-commerce on internationalization of Iranian SMEs

Abstract: The immediate goal for any small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) is to
survive and maintain its independence. But, sooner or later, a small
company will probably want to expand. With the trends towards global
convergence and the adoption of outsourcing by firms of all sizes, growth
usually means entering the international market. Meanwhile internet and e-
commerce pose new challenges and provide new competitive opportunities for
small and medium sized firms. The propose of this study is "To gain better
understanding on impact of e-commerce on small and medium sized
internationalization in Iran". It is done by comparison of existing
literature and Iranian sample. The findings show that, Iranian SMEs use
their websites as a brochure. Also the present research examined the
influences of internet on export barriers and the findings show that
internet may help Iranian SMEs in challenging with market risks.