Competitive priorities of manufacturing firms for internationalization: An empirical research

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to identify the competitive priorities of the manufacturing firms in their internationalization efforts. Design/methodology/approach - A structured questionnaire survey is conducted involving 569 manufacturing firms in China. The competitive priority in internationalization efforts is gauged by combining the degree of emphasis of manufacturing firms on a certain factor over the past three years and the level of improvement of the factor into an index. Findings - It is found that "technology level", "cost control", and "brand consciousness" are the top three most important factors affecting the competitiveness of internationalization of manufacturing in China. The three bottlenecked factors that impede internationalization include "Internationalization business experience", "Financing capacity" and "Senior managers with management know-how". Practical implications - With the rapid development of economy globalization, firms in the Chinese manufacturing sector have begun the process of internationalization. As these young firms venture into the foreign markets, they may face some uncertainty and risks which entail a process of learning and adaptation. It is hoped that the empirical findings can shed some insight for improving the process of internationalization of the manufacturing sector. Originality/value - There is a paucity of internationalization efforts from manufacturing firms in developing countries. By examining the competitive priority of the Chinese manufacturing firms, this study can enrich the body of knowledge on internationalization of manufacturing firms in developing countries.