Information, knowledge and collaboration management in the internationalisation of SMEs: A systematic literature review

• Lack of studies addressing information management in internationalisation of SMEs.
• No evidence on how SMEs can convert information into knowledge for making decisions.
• Collaboration is not well explored for more effective internationalisation outcomes.
• New information and knowledge models are needed to improve internationalisation.
• Collaborative decision-support models are required for better internationalisation.

Information and knowledge can be seen as key resources for improving the internationalisation processes of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Collaboration has also been considered as an important facilitator of these processes, particularly by nurturing information and knowledge sharing. However, the current literature is unclear about the way SMEs can access information and assimilate knowledge in a collaborative network context, to support decision-making. This paper systematically reviews the literature, examining the role of information, knowledge and collaboration in internationalisation decisions of SMEs. To this end, 38 relevant journal articles were analysed, with the identification of some important issues, as well as gaps in the existing empirical knowledge. This analysis provided valuable input for the development of research suggestions and directions for future work in this area.