Growth through export

McCague, Carol (2005) Growth through export. Masters thesis, Dundalk Institute of Technology.

PDF (This work is made available on the understanding that the reader will not publish in any form either the whole or any part of it without permission from the author. This work may not be copied. The copyright of this work belongs to the author.) - Submitted Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (23MB)

Abstract

The vast majority of businesses in Ireland are small and medium sized enterprises. The importance of the SME contribution to the Irish economy in general, and export earnings in particular, is therefore clear. However, small business survival rates are unacceptably low and in the struggle for survival, growth is clearly an important element. Exporting is one of the most important forms of such growth. Therefore, success in export markets is crucial to the long term growth of Irish business and the Irish economy. In response to the above an extensive amount of research has been conducted with the object of tracing factors impeding export activity. In light of certain gaps in the relevant literature, this study attempts to improve our understanding of some of the factors that encourage and discourage SMEs to export. The study examines the characteristics of both exporting and non-exporting SMEs and how they differentiate from each other in regard to the background of the owner-manager, company background, and the barriers they face in relation to exporting. Following a review of extant literature certain organisational and managerial elements along with external factors were identified as potentially important discriminators between exporting and non-exporting. The methodology adopted in the study is outlined and justified. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to extract statistics. Thereafter, findings are presented and discussed. The results suggest that exporters and non-exporters differ in many ways. The main barriers appear to be within the domestic country. The report recommends that the Irish government must do more to facility SMEs exporters and non-exporters.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Business; Small and medium enterprises; Organisations; Management; Exports.
Subjects:	Business
Research Centres:	UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User:	Claire Fox
Date Deposited:	28 Jul 2015 13:11
Last Modified:	29 Jul 2015 09:30
License:	Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0
URI:	https://eprints.dkit.ie/id/eprint/420

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads