Export of Hungarian SMEs - testing network internationalisation

Due to the global economic crisis of 2008, small and medium-sized enterprises were forced to increase their international (export) activities. As Hungary is one of the most integrated countries in global production networks, we use its example to explore what factors promote or hinder the Hungarian SMEs' internationalisation process focusing on the effects of network internationalisation. Our questionnaire survey provided a sample of 148 exporting SMEs. Our first hypothesis is that there are differences between network-participants and non-supplier firms in terms of export promoting and hindering factors. The results show such differences, but these are not statistically significant. Our second hypothesis is that stronger and looser network participant SMEs differ, which we illustrate by two case studies, pointing to the importance of management strategy.