FACTORS RELATED TO INFORMATION ACQUISITION IN EXPORTING ORGANIZATIONS

An increasing number of small firms are moving into export operations. Accompanying this movement is the need for such businesses to acquire foreign market information to attend to export threats and opportunities. We report the results of a study that used transaction cost analysis to examine potential factors related to whether small companies utilize in-house or external sources to obtain foreign market information. Results suggest that use of internal sources is associated with a small organization's management strategy, the nature of its products, the distance from its market, and the international expertise of its employees.