Factors influencing internationalization of micro-enterprises and SMEs in Central Europe

Abstract

Internationalizing a company is particularly challenging for microenterprises and SMEs due to the limited resources available for managing strategic activities. This paper aimed to create a model of the factors influencing the internationalization process of micro-enterprises and SMEs from Central Europe. The study employed principal component analysis to identify latent components of the model, namely innovation, strategic management (SM), and barriers. The factors and their relationships were analyzed using Logit regression and ANOVA. Additionally, the influence of two control variables on the selected factors and barriers to internationalization was examined. The research findings indicate that the most significant barrier to internationalization is the difference in tax policies. Furthermore, a significant correlation exists between innovation and strategic management barriers, while the strategies for innovation depend on the size and age of the company. © 2025, Centre of Sociological Research. All rights reserved.