This article is a survey of empirical research on the export activity of Italian
SMFs. It presents selected findings from 26 empirical studies on success factors
and export strategies, export entry channels, internal export organization,
information acquisition and international market research, and obstacles to
exporting. More than 10,000 exporting companies have been analyzed over a
ten-year period. Although many findings are consistent with the export marketing
literature, the survey also shows some important challenges to the established
wisdom and suggests research directions.
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