Rumintha Wickramasekera

The Internetalisation of information, knowledge, and interaction components of the firm's internationalisation process

Abstract Transcending traditional national borders, the Internet is an evolving technology that has opened up many new international market opportunities. However, ambiguity remains, with limited research and understanding of how the Internet influences the firms internationalisation-process components. As a consequence, there has been a call for further investigation of the phenomenon. Thus the purpose of this study was to investigate the Internets impact on internationalisation-process components, specifically, information availability, information usage, and interactive communication, with international market growth. Analysis was undertaken using structural equation modelling. Findings highlight the positive mediating impact of the Internet on information availability and usage, with the international market growth of the firm.

An exploratory study of the factors enhancing and inhibiting export growth in the Chilean wine industry

This exploratory study investigates the main drivers that enhance and inhibit the export performance of Chilean wineries. The findings of this study suggest that the main constraints within the Chilean wineries in developing exports is the lack of financial resources, limited quantities of stocks for market expansion, managements lack of knowledge and experience, and the high cost of traveling and participating in trade shows. The main drivers of wine export performance according to the respondents are high quality of the wines, well-established network of international distributors, and marketing skills. The major inhibitors of developing wine exports are exchange rate variability, problems in selecting a reliable international distributor, and limited government support to promote wine exports. This study also shows that export managers of Chilean wineries have high educational levels and have international experience. The findings have important implications for export development efforts of both governments and managers.

Management characteristics and the decision to internationalize: exploration of exporters vs. non-exporters within the Chilean wine industry

The objective of this study was to identify the key factors differentiating between exporters and non-exporters in the Chilean wine industry. Based on survey data collected from 61 wineries, the findings show that the main barriers for non-exporters are the lack of financial resources, limited quantities of stock for market expansion, managements lack of knowledge and experience, and the high cost of travelling and participating in trade shows. The results also show that managers have educational levels and international experience exceeding those of other comparable New World wineries. Finally, in developing their main international markets, Chilean wineries did not target psychically close markets as identified in previous wine industry studies.

Management Characteristics, Attitudes and the Decision to Export

The incessant trend towards the internationalisation of the marketplace will continue to dominate the agendas of managers of Australias manufacturing establishments as they approach the next millennium. Empirical studies of the determinants of the firms export marketing behaviour have been quite prolific and internationally comprehensive (Aaby and Slater 1989) and the characteristics and attitudes of the firms main decision makers are often posed as important explanatory variables. The current study also examines the significance of managerial characteristics, commitment and attitudes towards exporting behaviour, by concentrating on a sample of firms drawn from a single industry (food and beverage processors) and with similar size and locational characteristics (small-medium firms located in regional Victoria). A logistic regression model with a binary dependent variable (ie current exporter vs non-exporter) and, initially, 19 independent variables was formulated and estimated. An optimal model utilising only six of the most significant, management-related variables was able to predict the probability of a firm being an exporter with an accuracy of over 90% . The importance of managements willingness to commit both its mind and its firms resources to the export endeavour and its recognition of the importance of price competitiveness were significant discriminators of active export behaviour. Exporting managers were also found more likely to be tertiary educated and foreign language fluent but not necessarily any younger than their non-exporting counterparts.