Analysis of Performance Indicators in International Companies

Abstract

Assessing the performance of internationalized companies is essential to identify their success or failure in internationalization processes, especially in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), as their resources (whether human, financial, or technological) are limited compared to multinational corporations. Therefore, evaluating investments becomes crucial to ensure that resources are being allocated correctly. Identifying the essential performance indicators for this assessment is one of the most complex processes due to the lack of consensus in the literature on this topic.

  The central purpose of this article is to identify and understand the various ways of measuring the performance of internationalized companies, with special attention to SMEs, contributing to the referencing and schematization of the most commonly used performance indicators in studies on companies' internationalization. Based on a review of the existing literature most relevant to this topic, the study conducted comprises essentially a descriptive and analytical approach and proposes an integrative table of all performance indicators found in the literature, reflecting on their evolution. This study clarifies the international marketing literature and facilitates managers in identifying various indicators for assessing internationalization performance and those that best fit their business reality. This work is limited to identifying performance indicators without associating them with entry modes or stages of internationalization processes.