Economy & Business, Volume 11, 2017

Abstract: The SME’s in Austria, especially when they offer niche products, rely on exports respectively on an international orientation of the entire company because of the limited Austrian market of a maximum of 8M consumers. Particularly in area of economic activities you get the impression that external organizations support strongly SME’s effort to reach international knowledge. An international focus must be internally critically scrutinized on the basis of various touchstones and analyzed if the benefit outweigh the risks. The performed study in West-Austria (Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg) examined how SME’s are international positioned. Variables like industry, company phase, size and others are considered and compared to each other.