Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a fundamental actor for the economic and social development of nations. However, these companies have poorer survival prospects than large firms (Freeman, Carroll and Hannan, 1983) and find it difficult to grow abroad (Crick and Barr, 2007). In the case of SMEs in traditional manufacturing industries, in addition to the limitations associated with their small size, there are also difficulties in maintaining competitiveness suffered by non-knowledge-intensive companies (Pla-Barber, Villar and Benito-Sarriá, 2020). For this reason, survival problems and barriers to internationalization are even more prevalent in traditional manufacturing SMEs. The main objective of this dissertation is to advance knowledge of the international competitiveness of traditional manufacturing SMEs. In order to achieve this objective, our studies are based on the analysis of the business models of these companies. This framework of the business model allows us to approach our subject of study from a new point of view and with a very complete image of the organization (Tallman, Luo and Buckley, 2018). However, the business model is a confusing framework (Klang, Wallnöfer and Hacklin, 2014). For this reason, another important objective of this thesis is to organize and operationalize the study of the business model of firms, specifically in the context of international business. This doctoral thesis is mainly composed of three studies. The first of the works includes a systematized literature review and a bibliometric analysis of the studies that, through the business models logic, address international business issues. Second study focuses on the taxonomy of organizations at the business model level and identifies three models through which traditional manufacturing SMEs compete internationally. In addition, this study also shows results on the differences in the level of performance of the identified business models. Third study analyses the geographic scope and its interplay with the business model and the internationalization of upstream activities of the value chain. This last work analyses two different dimensions of geographic scope: the breadth of countries and the breadth of regions. The sample used in the empirical analyses includes 120 Spanish exporting SMEs, which carry out their businesses in the textile, footwear and furniture industrial sectors. Given the particularities of the phenomenon under study, we use different statistical techniques, as well as various theoretical approaches, such as the resource-based view, and the configurational approach. The results of these studies contribute to expanding our knowledge about the international competitiveness of SMEs, and make important contributions to literature and have implications for researchers, managers and policymakers. First, this thesis clarifies and orders the business model and identifies future research lines. In addition, this dissertation shows a description, detailed and based on literature, of the business model components of exporting manufacturing SMEs, useful for the operationalization of the business model in future studies, and discusses the position of the business model against to other strategic concepts. Second, this work demonstrates the configurational theory and complement the resource based view with the business model logic. Our studies show high performance associated with customer orientation. They also identify a difference in the sources of valuable resources depending on the type of international expansion of the firm. Finally, this doctoral dissertation raises the business model as a whole and not as individual choices made by managers, provides guidelines for the design or redesign of Spanish manufacturing firms and raises some aspects to promote to facilitate their international expansion.