中小企業在全球經濟發展中扮演舉足輕重的角色。臺灣及地緣關係密切的亞太地區，包括重要貿易夥伴歐盟地區，企業家數皆占整體九成以上。另外，臺灣最受關注的ICT（資訊與通信科技）產業，服務類別的附加價值率於2023年已超過63%，服務輸出規模逐年提升，並趨近全球平均水準，凸顯在國家經濟與國際市場中的戰略地位與發展潛力。近年國際市場競爭與市場變動因科技與商業型態變化加劇，如何協助資源有限、國際經驗相對不足，卻位居國家經濟核心的中小企業，制定合宜的市場擴張建議方案，取得國際化選擇關鍵參考訊息，並提出系統性方案改善決策偏誤，已成為當前的重要課題。

本研究以臺灣ICT產業中小企業為研究對象，採取質性多個案研究方法，選取四家具國際化經驗的中小企業進行個案研究，其中包含三家服務型企業與一家製造型企業。透過與企業負責人及國際業務高階主管之深度訪談，並三度回訪確認資料準確性，歸納出影響中小企業國際化「國家選擇」與「進入策略」的關鍵「衡量指標」並與理論對話。再據此提出具軟體架構的「國際化決策輔助系統」，協助中小企業可以簡易、低成本方式，並可即時獲取資訊與分析結果，透過系統化方法建立國際市場與進入策略的可行方案，以提升整體國際化績效。

研究結果顯示，本研究結合實務經驗與理論框架，經過驗證與修正後萃取關鍵「衡量指標」，並據此，提出具系統性、易用與靈活之「國際化決策輔助系統」，最後提出「國家選擇」和「進入策略」之決策建議，可引導過去中小企業慣於依賴網絡訊息、直覺經驗和情境判斷，達成降低依賴直覺、經驗或組織慣性的決策風險，作為進行國際市場選擇與進入策略決策時的實用輔助工具。結果表明中小企業透過導入既有的國際市場經驗，結合理論與實務應用，可有效強化國際化決策能力。亦發現傳統國際化理論與現行市場實務間存在顯著差異，例如傳統文獻多主張應先確立「國家選擇」再進行「進入策略」之線性順序決策邏輯，但實務上中小企業通常採用兩者並行的平行評估流程。此外，過往研究普遍認為影響服務型與製造型企業的國際化影響指標無法共用，而本研究結果則指出兩者在若干關鍵構面上可具互通性，例如本研究對受訪企業進行詢問，獲得確認。並經重新對「衡量指標」重要性進行包含及不包含製造型態企業做比對檢驗，發現結果兩者所獲得差異並不顯著。以下表達本研究提出兼具理論知識與實務價值之研究成果。

本研究的貢獻主要包括理論與實務兩個：理論上，發現現今國際化決策順序邏輯與企業實務運作差異及發現影響服務型態與製造型態企業於多項衡量構面呈現一致性，挑戰過往理論中不適用的觀點。最後，實務上，提供具可行性、低成本且軟體設計具彈性的「國際化決策輔助系統」，可有效作為選擇新市場及擬定進入策略參考方案，以強化中小企業的國際市場擴張能力。

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a pivotal role in global economic development. In Taiwan and the broader Asia-Pacific region, along with key trading partners such as the European Union, SMEs account for more than 90% of all enterprises. Within Taiwan’s ICT (Information and Communication Technology) industries, the value-added ratio of service-related activities exceeded 63% in 2023, with service exports steadily expanding and approaching global benchmarks. These trends underscore the industrial’s strategic importance in national economic development and its potential in international markets. In a business environment increasingly shaped by technological change and market volatility, an urgent question arises: how can resource-constrained SMEs, with limited international experience yet positioned at the core of national economic activity, be supported in developing appropriate market-expansion strategies? In particular, SMEs require reliable reference information, structured decision mechanisms, and tools that mitigate decision biases in the processes of market selection and entry strategy formulation.

This study focuses on SMEs in Taiwan’s ICT industry and adopts a qualitative multiplecase research design. Four SMEs with substantive international experience, including three service-oriented firms and one manufacturing-oriented firm, were selected for indepth investigation. Through extensive interviews with executives, combined with three rounds of data-validation follow-up consultations, this study identifies and theorizes the key evaluation indicators influencing SMEs’ “country selection” and “entry strategy” decisions. Based on these findings, the study further proposes a software-supported Internationalization Decision Support System (IDSS) that enables SMEs to access real-time information and analysis using a systematic approach. This
system provides feasible strategic recommendations for international market selection and entry-mode formulation, thereby enhancing SMEs’ overall international performance.

The results demonstrate that, by integrating practitioner insights with theoretical frameworks and refining them through iterative validation, this study extracts a set of
critical evaluation indicators and develops a systematic, flexible, and practical IDSS. The system helps reduce SMEs’ long-standing reliance on intuition, informal networks,
or organizational routines in internationalization decisions, and serves as a useful tool for improving decision quality. The findings also reveal notable discrepancies between traditional internationalization theories and actual business practices. For instance,
while existing literature commonly assumes a linear sequence in which firms first determine “country selection” before formulating “entry strategy,” SMEs in practice tend to assess both dimensions simultaneously through a parallel evaluation process. Furthermore, contrary to the widespread academic view that service-oriented and manufacturing-oriented firms require different sets of factors for internationalization decisions, this study finds substantial overlap in several key evaluative dimensions. Comparative checks by including and excluding the manufacturing case show no significant differences in indicators across firm types, reinforcing the general applicability of the research findings.

The study makes two major contributions. Theoretically, it challenges conventional assumptions regarding the sequencing of internationalization decisions and demonstrates the commonality of the key indicators relevant to service and
manufacturing SMEs. Practically, it provides a feasible, low-cost, and highly adaptable Internationalization Decision Support System that can assist SMEs in selecting new markets and formulating suitable entry strategies, thereby strengthening their capability to expand into international markets.

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