# Assessing SMEs' Internationalisation Strategies in Action
## 3 Phase of Content Analysis
Following is a description of the object of the author's analysis, the methodology used, and the results obtained. [PERSON] et al. (2009) [139] surveyed 141 foreign and Chinese-owned exporting SMEs located in China to identify the international trade competencies and export barriers between the highly successful SMEs and low successful SMEs. The analysis found financial management at the highest level of competency, which was further followed by marketing, export operations, and human resource management, respectively. Whereas, government export policy and treatment have emerged as dominant barriers. [PERSON] et al. (2015) [140] studied the barriers which frequently hinder SMEs' efforts of international market expansions. In doing so, a total of 40 barriers was identified, which were further categorized into 10 groups. [PERSON] et al. (2015) [141] conducted a qualitative study and analysed Indian textile SMEs. They categorized the main internationalisation drivers and barriers related to SMEs' international development. Likewise, [PERSON] (2013) proposed a theoretical framework about the recent trends in Spanish SMEs internationalisation [142]. [PERSON] et al. (2009) [129] adopted a qualitative methodology to build an understanding of the significant barriers in international expansion faced by SMEs UK retailers. Results confirmed that SMEs UK retailers are facing both entry and growth stage problems during international expansion. [PERSON] and [PERSON] (2019) [143] provided deep insights on the barriers faced by SMEs from emerging economies when doing business abroad and, especially, to discriminate among its different sources of liabilities. The study focused on few main areas: limited knowledge of external markets, socio-cultural differences, unfamiliarity with different contexts and business practices, and limited local business contacts, reliable representatives, and control systems. In summary, the literature that focuses on this area highlights a variety of internationalisation barriers for the international integration phase. The barriers were classified into four categories: socio-political barriers (e.g., institutional and political), environmental barriers (e.g., uncertainty and dissimilarity), market barriers and barriers related to resources (e.g., technology, and human resources). Ultimately, the authors who have done work on the internationalisation barriers for the international integration phase analysed all the varieties of internationalisation barriers: socio-political barriers, environmental barriers, market barriers, barriers related to resources. It follows, therefore, exhaustive literature about this area. We present in Table 12 a classification of the topics covered by the work of the authors examined. **Area 10: Impact of international extension on performance**  
The tenth area includes 3 papers and focuses on the impact of international extension on performance. Following is a description of the study objective, the methodology used, and the results obtained. [PERSON] et al. (2012) [146] presented a cycle of learning to investigate the internationalisation of SMEs. Researchers stated that among the various stages of the learning cycle, the initial stage is more significant as compared to other stages. Thus, internationalisation occurs as a by-product of social action. [PERSON] and [PERSON] (2019) [147] explored how digital platforms impact New Zealand SMEs companies' entry into the Chinese market. The obtained results suggested that digital platforms ease \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline
**Barriers** & **References** \\ \hline Market & [140; 142; 144] \\ \hline Resources & [139; 145] \\ \hline Environmental & [129; 145] \\ \hline Socio-political & [129; 139; 141; 143] \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 12: International integration barriers. entry barriers to some extent, particularly in helping overcome resource constraints and facilitating access to network.