Today, companies can and, should, make bolder attempts at international expansion. These two developments require elaboration. Several trends of recent decades help explain why smaller enterprises can successfully cultivate export markets. First is the development of niche markets. Customers in mature economies are increasingly demanding specialized or customized products.
Second trend relates to changes in process technology.
The new machine tools now allow manufacturing of complex, non-standardized parts fairly easily. Third are advances in communications technology. Gone are the days of large, vertically-integrated firms where information flows were expensive and took considerable time to be shared. With latest telecommunications and computer technology, managers can manage operations across firm boundaries. Information is now readily and more quickly accessible to everyone.