Internationalising high-technology-based UK firms’ information-gathering activities

Previous studies have shown that lack of information can provide an obstacle to firms’ endeavour to be competitive in oversea markets. This study provides empirical data that examine how managers of internationalising UK high-technology firms perceive the usefulness of overseas market information, their levels of utilisation, plus perceptions of the types of data required. Findings are based on a postal survey of winners of the Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement; also reported are selected findings from a series of in-depth interviews. This paper sets out to establish whether statistical differences exist between two sub-samples identified by their overseas market expansion strategies: those that concentrate on key markets as opposed to those that spread sales over a number of markets. Results from follow-up interviews provide in-depth data to support the quantitative findings.