Evaluating the Firm’s Readiness for Internationalization: from the Design to the Application of an International QualificationFramework

In light of the major changes having marked the evolution of SME global expansion over the past two decades,this article revisits export diagnostic frameworks and advances updated approaches. As the conditions andvariables that have characterized the SME’s internationalization process have been overhauled, a new frameworkis required to evaluate their readiness for going global. Supported by research findings and by SMEs’ practicalexperiences abroad, this article lays down an international qualification framework that goes beyond the binaryprovision “Go or No Go” in that it casts a wider focus upon the new realities facing the SME overseas. Indeed,the international qualification framework proposed specifies the SME’s preparedness for internationalizationthen defines preliminary axes in terms of product-market couples and internationalization modalities.