Drivers, Success Factors and Difficulties of Internationalization Towards China and Japan for Dutch SMEs
This research is conducted for analysing the main drivers, main success factors and main difficulties of internationalization towards China and Japan for Dutch SMEs. Furthermore, it analyses the differences between the Dutch culture and the Chinese and Japanese culture. This exploratory study tries to define internationalization, show the position of SMEs in the Netherlands and their international scope and to identify the influencing factors of internationalization. In order gather this information, a qualitative research will be conducted. The main drivers of Dutch SME companies are Pioneering and Fear of Missing Out. The main success factors for internationalization are Preliminary Research, Intercultural Competence, Government Collaboration, Local Partner and Trust. This research shows a visual representation of the large differences between the cultures by outlining the dimensions of Hofstede for each of the cultures. The Intercultural Competence factor is needed to cope with these large differences and know how to be respectful in foreign countries. The main difficulties of Internationalization are characteristics of the Dutch culture, namely: Underestimation and Arrogance shown by Dutch companies. A Dutch company should try to avoid acting in this way and be aware of the different culture in either China or Japan.