OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO SME INTERNATIONALIZATION AND GLOBALIZATION: INSIGHTS FROM A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

While small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a pivotal role in driving global economic growth, innovation, and employment, they continue to encounter substantial challenges in their efforts to internationalize. Despite their importance, existing research on SME internationalization remains fragmented and lacks theoretical cohesion, leading to inconclusive findings about how SMEs expand and compete globally. This paper addresses this critical gap by systematically reviewing and synthesizing the diverse strands of literature on SMEs’ pathways to internationalization and globalization. Employing the PRISMA framework, a rigorously structured approach for conducting systematic literature reviews, the study ensures transparency and replicability in the selection and analysis of publications. The review draws from the Scopus database, recognized for its extensive coverage of peer-reviewed academic works, and examines studies published over a 20-year period (2004–2024) across multiple subject areas to capture a holistic perspective. Through this process, seven dominant themes emerged, with strategic alliances identified as the most influential driver of SME internationalization, reflecting SMEs’ dependence on collaboration, partnership networks, and resource sharing to overcome size and resource constraints. However, the study also reveals persistent barriers to the effective implementation of these strategies, including limited financial capacity, inadequate managerial expertise, and weak institutional support. By highlighting these challenges, the review not only consolidates existing knowledge but also outlines key directions for future research, emphasizing the need to examine contextual factors such as industry dynamics, digital transformation, and regional policy environments.