Designing a Dynamic Model for Internationalization of Small & Medium-Sized Knowledge-Based Enterprises (Case Study: Herbal Medicine Industry)

In this research, the factors affecting the internationalization of knowledge-based enterprises in traditional as well as early pathways have been studied to present a model that gains its dynamics both from receiving feedback on factors and from the diversity of the conditions governing the international business environment. In this regard, we considered the knowledge-based enterprises active in Iran's herbal medicine industry that are classified as small and medium enterprises. In the beginning, 14 main factors affecting the internationalization of companies are determined. Then, using the fuzzy cognitive map technique, the relations and neural concepts governing the factors affecting the internationalization of the studied companies are evaluated for two different situations related to before and after the international sanctions in Iran, and finally, the dynamic model of internationalization for knowledge-based enterprises is proposed using the definition of internationalization including the three dimensions of time, scope and scale, also the value of importance and variation of internationalization factors in two aforesaid situations. The data analysis shows that the application of the existing approaches in the internationalization literature of companies, which are often presented in a non-dynamic way, is not effective for knowledge-based companies alone, and requires an integrated approach, taking into account the feedback of the concepts that are compatible with the current conditions of business.