The Internationalization of Argentine Smes Oriented to Nonmass Market Segments in Developed Countries

This paper analyzes the international insertion of Argentine SMEs geared to nonmass market segments in medium and low technology sectors in developed countries. This type of insertion involves products characterized by a high degree of quality and/or customization. Based on studies carried out in seven sectors producing goods or services with these characteristics, we describe two different types of insertion. The first is the export of goods designed and produced locally. The second is insertion in global value chains (GVCs), producing goods designed abroad with local collaboration in product development. Despite the differences between these two types of international insertion, we find remarkable similarities in the difficulties faced by SMEs in each case. The main challenge is to acquire knowledge about foreign markets. Possessing such knowledge is crucial since it supports the implementation of changes in the business practices needed to achieve international insertion. We describe the means of acquiring this knowledge in the case of the SMEs analyzed and present a number of public policy tools that might help other SMEs achieve similar knowledge acquisition.