Managerial Perceptions of Barriers to Internationalization : An Examination of Brazil's New Technology-Based Firms

What barriers constrain internationalization of new technology-based firms (NTBFs) in emerging markets? This study addresses the question by analyzing perceptions of barriers to internationalization expressed by top executives of Brazilian NTBFs. The NTBFs belong to high technology, medium-high technology or technology-intensive service sectors. Analysis of data collected through questionnaire survey reveals three important barriers: external institutional barrier, and internal organizational capability barrier and human resource barrier. These barriers are consistent with the institutional theory, resource-based view of the firm and human capital theory. Additionally, the study indicates that Brazilian NTBFs can be partitioned into three clusters with varying extents of perceptions of the above barriers. The conclusion section discusses various contributions and limitations of the study and provides directions of future research