Özet:

In our research, as Yin (2009) stated the “case study approach” is used when the current context in real life or a situation within the environment needs to be investigated. The research is a qualitative based on semi-structured interviews. In the study, the criterion sampling method is used and the sample is selected from middle and senior managers working in the export, import, sales, marketing, and strategy departments of the Turkish textile and clothing companies within SME’s. Interviews consisting of 29 semi-structured questions were conducted online and recorded with the oral approval of the participants. As Creswell (2013) points out, before the interviews, participants were informed about the purpose of the research and it is essential to be a caring and emphatic listener, adhering to questions throughout the interview. The interviews lasted an average of 25-30 minutes and were performed between 1-31 December 2021. To ensure the validity and reliability of the research, the survey questions were evaluated by an academic and an experienced manager in the sector and necessary arrangements were made. A pilot interview was conducted to test the comprehensibility of the interview questions and the validity of the questions was confirmed by sharing the results of this interview with both an expert and academic. In addition, in the encodings made by two different coders on the interview document, the consensus among the coders was found to be above the accepted level with 87.50 per cent. In the theme of organizational learning, the participants mostly expressed their opinions about openness to development/innovation and training. Participants stated that training is important for them as much as innovation. These statements were reflected in the analysis and we found a strong relationship between the two codes. In the light of these findings, it is concluded that organizational learning has a relation to technological innovation and digitalization. A similar result was found in a study of textile SMEs by Abbas et al. (2020), the researchers found a positive relationship between organizational learning and organizational innovation. Tam & Atan (2021) also stated that the knowledge, skills, and experience of the workforce had a positive effect on digitalization. In their qualitative work in Italy, Matarazzo et al. (2021) have shown that organizational capabilities, and in particular the role of family members involved in management, have a positive relationship to achieving a successful digital transformation. Budhiraja (2019), Chênevert et al., (2019) and Chamanian et al. (2018) also found similar positive relationships between organizational learning and digitalization in their research. In the theme of digitalization, strong relationships have been found between digital platforms and online communication, technological innovation, and B2B online sales. In the theme of internationalization, a strong relationship is found between market research and plan/strategy formulation processes and technological innovations, and the use of technology. These findings show that digitalization has a relation to internationalization. Like our research, the studies of Denicolai et al. (2021), Lecerf & Omrani (2019) and Macchion et al. (2017) have found a positive relationship between digitalization and internationalization. One study conducted between 2005 and 2009 by Bergamaschi et al. (2021), focused on how digitalization strengthens the balance between perceived risk and return in internationalization and under what conditions digitalization affects international competitive advantage and performance. Chen & Kamal (2016) and Watson et al. (2018) examined how digital internationalization eliminates the importance of distance and location for SMEs and creates new market opportunities.

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