Dr Rumintha WickramaSekera is an Associate Professor in International Business at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Business School.
Rumintha has lived, travelled and worked within the Indo-Pacific region. He has held visiting positions at Indiana University (USA), Purdue University (USA), Rikkyo University (Japan), Meiji Gakuin and National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan).
His research is focused on identifying the dynamics of the internationalization process of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), including his PhD research, which examined the internationalization of the Australian wine industry. Recently he has expanded his research to examine factors behind the Internationalisation and longevity of firms in Chile, Brazil, Taiwan, India and Japan.
He has published research in journals including: Management International Review, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, International Journal of Wine Marketing, Australasian Journal of Regional Studies, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Wine Business Research and Journal of International Business Education. His research has been recognised with joint Best Paper awards at Australia New Zealand Academy of International Business and the Australia New Zealand Academy of Management conferences. He is co-author of the book Global Business Today: Asia-Pacific Edition, 1st, 2nd, 3rd ,4th and 5th Edition. The most widely used introductory IB book in Australasia.
Since 2018 in association with SBAA he Co-Chaired the Australia-Japan Symposium on sustainable Small to Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) trade expansion.
WHY I SUPPORT THE SBAA THINK TANK
The continued prosperity of Australia and other similar economies is reliant on resilience of the SMEs, as SMEs are imperative to the economic vigour and success of a country in a number of ways. SMEs contribute significantly to employment by basing their operations primarily within the country and exporting their products and services rather than offshoring. The Think Tank provides an opportunity to facilitate SME expansion into international markets in a sustainable manner.
