Product–Market Growth Strategies and SME Performance in International Markets: Evidence From Chinese Manufacturers

This study empirically examined 276 Chinese manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the SEM and regression analysis to explore the relationships between product-market growth strategies and international performance. Based on the empirical results, this study found that market penetration and development strategies significantly promote firm’s financial performance in the international market. But the product development and diversification strategies significantly restrain the financial performance. Besides, market penetration and product development strategies have a significantly positive effect on strategic performance in international markets. However, the market development and diversification strategies show a significant negative effect on the strategic performance.