A Correlational Analysis to Assess Major Obstacles Associated with the Internationalization of Saudi Startup Enterprises

Startups’ constant tendency to grow and scale up through internationalization is occasionally collided with a number of barriers in the domains of legalization and regulation, market and customer, environment and competitiveness, information and knowledge, resources and accessibility, and economy and culture. The sharpness of these barriers might intensify when it comes to startups from emerging markets. Consequently, a need for assessing the major obstacles associated with the internationalization of emerging markets’ startups is emphasized. In this regard, a correlational analysis has been used to identify and assess the role of these obstacles in restricting Saudi startup enterprises to operate internationally. A total of 103 participants were included in the data collection process of the study from Saudi startup enterprises. The findings have shown that liability of foreignness, managerial dispute and organizational distrust, and immaturity of home market were the most influential barrier towards internationalization process of SMEs. Coping implications were suggested to mitigate the impact of each barrier and possible avenues for future research in the area of startups’ internationalization were recommended.