Internationalisation process, SMEs and transitional economies: a four-country perspective

This paper is based on a research project which has, on the demand side, investigated how entrepreneurs at the head of small and medium sized, domestically owned private enterprises are coping with the problem of internationalising their business operations within the changing business environment of central and eastern Europe. On the supply side we have examined the extent to which an infrastructure of formal and informal provision is developing to match such demand in four countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The countries chosen for empirical work are closely related and territorially contiguous, namely Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. In response to these issues, the paper will discuss the implications for policy and will offer a number of policy recommendations.