Globalization has been a hot topic recently. Many firms experience that their domestic market is too limited for them to conduct their business in. This restriction leads to firms seeking customers on different markets, in different nations, where the companies’ supplies meet the consumers’ demands. Therefore, companies are constantly seeking new places to do business in. Developing economies have been in the scope of many firms recently, with China being in the frontline with its massive labour force and cheap labour costs. However, attention is heading towards the African continent, with its rich natural resources and, like China, large labour force. The purpose of this dissertation is to see how Swedish firms have tried to establish themselves on the emerging African market. In order to achieve this, an abductive research approach has been selected. Qualitative interviews with important people in four Swedish companies have been conducted. The empirical findings suggest that Swedish firms have great opportunities to enter the African market and continue to develop there. Furthermore, there is no method of expansion that is better than another. It all comes down to what specific assets that characterize the company in question. Whether it is a service-oriented company, a manufacturing company or an exporting company will perhaps decide what entry mode would be most suitable. To our knowledge, there is no dissertation that deals with this topic. Consequently, this paper will highlight this research area.

Internationalization is important for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) since it is a way to survive and to grow. Emerging markets have enormous latent possibilities for SMEs but behind the possibilities there are potential risks linked to political and institutional factors, uncertain economic and market conditions, and unknown business environments. National culture is one of the factors that create distance between home and host countries. In this paper, the author intends to examine the importance of cultural distance in the internationalization process and the relationship between the international experiences and cultural distance. The author focuses on the internationalization process of Swedish SMEs in Russia. Since culture is a complex phenomenon, the author scrutinizes the nature of cultural distance by employing a qualitative method by in-depth interviewing of managers from two Swedish SMEs. The theoretical framework is important for the analysis and consists of the Uppsala internationalization model and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Through the analysis of empirical data and previous research, the author finds that there are significant cultural differences between Russia and Sweden but the role of cultural distance in the internationalization process of the Swedish firms in Russia should not be exaggerated. The author’s conclusions are that cultural distance as a part of psychic distance has influence on the choice of entry mode though its impact is implicit and comes along with other factors. Another finding is that the international experiences of the firms have a great influence on the internationalization process - in the way that cultural distance becomes less important.

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Internationalization within the information communication technology (ICT) sector has become more essential today and this has raised the international competition over customers. The Nordic markets growth and development in its ICT sector has brought new competition and has been the substance of change in business concerning, organizational changes, reduce transaction costs and rationalize and restrict supply chains. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to compare the Nordic ICT markets and the potential for small IT firm namely, Radar Group International AB. To be able to understand Radar Group’s potential in the Nordic IT markets this thesis is divided in to two aspects, market selection and entry mode selection. When we have evaluated the Nordic markets we made, based on our findings recommendations to Radar Group in what market to enter and how to enter that market. For comprehensive understanding of this study, we choose concentration of the theoretical framework committed to the subject, market selection and entry mode selection. Furthermore, we used qualitative method in collecting the empirical data consisting of raw data and in-depth interviews with three international IT firms based in Sweden about their market selection and entry mode selection. Our conclusion indicates that Radar Group should explore the Norwegian market as it offers greater customer potentials and stronger economic growth. While expanding to the Norwegian market, it is our opinion that Radar Group should use Joint venture as their entry mode. It is the most suitable mode for Radar Group in terms of financial aspect, the company’s business concept and previous experience.

No description available.

This study explored the educational benefits of institutional efforts to internationalize education as perceived and experienced by domestic and international undergraduate students at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The intent of the study was to (1) understand the ways in which students reported benefiting from the range of programs and activities associated with Internationalization-at-Home initiatives, and (2) ascertain which of the three dominant internationalization frameworks (Global Competency, Academic Capitalism, and Academic Colonialism) likely inform the institutional practices experienced by these students. Using a social-constructivist approach, this qualitative study employed an inter-related set of data collection instruments and processes including a web-based survey, focus group interview, and document analysis. Senior undergraduate students from the faculties of Arts and Science, Applied Science and School of Business, participated in the study which was carried out in 2007. Four themes emerged from the analysis of data generated by the web-based survey and the focus group interview. Expressed as benefits to either the students and/or to the institution itself, these themes include: (1) a broadened knowledge and understanding of other nations, cultures, and global issues; (2) networking and the development of social and emotional skills; (3) the generation of revenue; and (4) contributing to the reproduction of Western knowledge. Overall, these themes collectively speak to the institution’s internationalization goals, and a measure of commitment to more than one internationalization goal, with less than a half of the student participants reporting that developing global competence was the main benefit derived. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2008-01-28 22:42:16.612

The question of the influence of social capital on internationalization has been an important researched topic, as one of the factors for entering and post-entry operation on a foreign market. However there is a lack of knowledge, deepening on the importance social networks and relationships have for committing to a big foreign market such as the United States. The purpose of this research is to provide a better understanding of the importance of a network of social ties when it comes to a firms’ commitment to a foreign market. This study has the goal of proving knowledge on the importance of social capital to firms’ commitment to a foreign market, by explaining better its positive and negative sides over the process. The theory in this work is being divided into three parts: internationalization of SMEs, social capital and influence of social capital on the firm’s commitment to a foreign market. The theoretical framework is based on the previous researches done in accordance to the topic of this thesis. A model is presented at the end of the theoretical framework in order to be outlined the process of analyzing the three firm cases later on. This study is using qualitative research method in order to find an answer to the research question set at the beginning of the project. Abductive method, combing the inductive and deductive approaches, is chosen as a way to interpret and explain causality on the elected topic and to develop the existing theory. Primary and secondary data have been collected through the research process by conducting interviews with firm representatives, looking at official web pages and reports. Three Swedish companies have been engaged in this research because of their successful establishment on the U.S. market. The results of this study are showing the importance social capital in the internationalization process. Networks should be considered as a crucial issue and cannot be neglected since this may lead to bad results, performance, loss of growth and position on the foreign market. However, different commitment results are coming from different approaches followed by companies. There might be both positive and negative results outlined from using social capital, which will lead to increased or decreased mode of internationalization. / Master thesis

The purpose with this thesis is to explain and explore how born global companies utilize important resources in the internationalization process. The globalized world that we live in today has increased the information sharing and new technologies have changed the way companies approach the international market. Evidence in previous literature has revealed that companies have a faster approach to the international market and tend to skip the incremental internationalization process that the traditional Uppsala internationalization model supports. These companies have instead been defined as born global companies that set up their activity targeting a market that is either global by nature or within a niche field that has a very limited potential on the domestic market. We have based on the existing literature of born global companies found a research gap that this thesis aims to fill, and that is to contribute with new understandings about which resources that are utilized during the internationalization process. In order to find an answer to this research gap, a research question was formed as follows: which resources are important for the born global company and how are resources utilized during the internationalization process? A framework has been created from the previous literature and we could see that much of the existing research was conducted on the born global company´s networks, knowledge and the lack of financial capital. We could moreover see that the characteristic of the founder was seen as important but that not much of the literature actually dealt with the importance of the resources at different stages in the internationalization process. In our methodology, we have used a point of departure in where the world is socially constructed and that every situation incorporates some elements of interpretive judgments. We have furthermore used an inductive approach and collected the data from qualitative case study interviews, in order to reveal new findings rather than to test existing theory. Our empirical data consists of findings from nine born global companies as well as three Incubator centers from the northern part of Sweden. The reason to include the Incubator centers in this thesis is to give the thesis a dimension of which resources experts within the field of start-ups companies believe are important for born global companies to possess in the internationalization process. All our companies are moreover located in the northern part of Sweden and can be seen as technology driven companies. The research reveals interesting findings about which resources that were utilized and when in the internationalization process resources were seen as important. The technological knowledge was found to be important early on in the internationalization process while competence of market and sales were seen as missing in the initial stage. The amount of financial capital was moreover often perceived as adequate in the early internationalization phase but inadequate in a later stage when the company wanted to expand and thus acquire more resources. Resources related to networks were seen as the most important resources and it tends to be personal networks early on in the internationalization process. These networks were seen as shifting more towards the company´s networks, as contacts with resellers, distributors as well as collaborations with partners were created during the internationalization process.

Η διδακτορική διατριβή με τίτλο: «Προσαρμογή των πολιτικών για την ενίσχυση της ανταγωνιστικότητας των επιχειρήσεων στο νέο επιχειρηματικό περιβάλλον» εστιάζει στη μελέτη των ελληνικών πολυεθνικών επιχειρήσεων και συγκεκριμένα στα κριτήρια επιλογής της χώρας υποδοχής των διεθνών επιχειρηματικών τους δραστηριοτήτων για την ενίσχυση της ανταγωνιστικότητάς τους. Οι στόχοι της διδακτορικής διατριβής, ήταν: 1. η μελέτη των κινήτρων, των οφελών, των στρατηγικών και των προσκομμάτων για τη διεθνοποίηση των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων, 2. η καταγραφή των πολιτικών ενίσχυσης της ανταγωνιστικότητας των επιχειρήσεων που ισχύουν στη χώρα, 3. η ανάλυση των τάσεων για το θέμα της διεθνοποίησης που επικρατούν σήμερα στο παγκόσμιο περιβάλλον, 4. η αξιολόγηση της ανταγωνιστικότητας της ελληνικής οικονομίας, και, τέλος, 5. η πρόταση για τις αναγκαίες προσαρμογές των πολιτικών που ενισχύουν την ανταγωνιστικότητα των επιχειρήσεων στη χώρα μας, μέσω της υλοποίησης διεθνών επιχειρηματικών δραστηριοτήτων. Η διδακτορική διατριβή, αφού έχει μελετήσει τα κίνητρα και τα προσκόμματα των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων για την επιλογή μιας χώρας υποδοχής διεθνών επιχειρηματικών δραστηριοτήτων, ολοκληρώνεται με την πρόταση προσαρμογής των υφιστάμενων πολιτικών και με την υιοθέτηση νέων, που στόχο έχουν την αποτελεσματική ενίσχυση της ανταγωνιστικότητας των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων στο νέο επιχειρηματικό περιβάλλον. Τα ερευνητικά ερωτήματα της παρούσας εργασίας είναι πέντε (5) και οργανώνονται κατά τον ακόλουθο τρόπο: • τρία από αυτά αφορούν τη μελέτη των κινήτρων των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων για τη χωροθέτηση της διεθνούς παραγωγής τους: α.1.) στα Βαλκάνια, α.2.) στη Δυτική Ευρώπη, και, α.3.) στον Υπόλοιπο Κόσμο, • ένα από τα πέντε εξετάζει ως μελέτη περίπτωσης τη γειτονική Βουλγαρία, ενώ, • το πέμπτο από αυτά εξετάσει συνολικά τη συμπεριφορά των διεθνοποιημένων ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων που ακολουθούν στρατηγική οριζόντιας ολοκλήρωσης. Συγκεκριμένα τα ερευνητικά ερωτήματα είναι: (Ε1) Ποια είναι τα κριτήρια με τα οποία λαμβάνεται η απόφαση των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων για τη δημιουργία άμεσης επένδυσης στις χώρες των Βαλκανίων; (Ε2) Ποιοι είναι οι παράγοντες που υπαγορεύουν την παρουσία των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων στις αγορές των χωρών της Δυτικής Ευρώπης; (Ε3) Πόσοι και ποιοι είναι οι καθοριστικοί παράγοντες για την ανάληψη δράσεων εξαγωγής προϊόντων από τις ελληνικές επιχειρήσεις στις χώρες του «Υπόλοιπου Κόσμου»; (Ε4) Ποιοι είναι οι βασικοί παράγοντες διεθνοποίησης των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων στη γειτονική Βουλγαρία; (Ε5) Από ποιους παράγοντες εξαρτάται η επιλογή της στρατηγικής «οριζόντιας ολοκλήρωσης» για τις ελληνικές επιχειρήσεις που υλοποιούν άμεσες επενδύσεις στο εξωτερικό; / The doctoral dissertation entitled “Adaptation of Policies for Strengthening the Competitiveness of Firms within the New Business Environment” focuses on the study of Greek multinational firms and more specifically on the criteria for the selection of countries that are to host their international business activities, under the general objective of strengthening their competitive edge. The objectives of the doctoral dissertation have been the following: 1. to study the incentives, prospective gains, entrepreneurial strategies and possible obstacles related to the process of internationalization of Greek firms, 2. to record policies for strengthening business competitiveness that are currently in force in the country, 3. to analyze tendencies and approaches to the issue of entrepreneurial internationalization that are currently prevalent in the global environment, 4. to evaluate the competitiveness of the Greek economy, and, finally, 5. to put forth proposals for the necessary adaptation and adjustment of policies that apply to our country for strengthening business competitiveness through the implementation of international business activities. Having examined the incentives afforded and obstacles faced by Greek firms in their selection of a third country to host their international business activities, the doctoral dissertation concludes with a proposal for the adaptation of existing policies and the adoption of new ones, aimed at an effective strengthening of Greek firm competitiveness within the new business environment. The five (5) research themes of the present research work are organized in the following fashion: • three of these themes regard the study of incentives afforded to Greek firms for the spatial location of their international productive activities, (a.1.) in the Balkans, (a.2.) in Western Europe and (a.3.) in the rest of the world, • one of the five research themes regards our neighboring Bulgaria as a case study, while • the fifth of these themes regards an overall examination of the behavior of internationalized Greek firms that follow a strategy of horizontal integration. More specifically, research questions are as follows: (Ε1) What are the criteria utilized by Greek firms in the process of deciding the location of a direct investment in the Balkan countries? (Ε2) What are the underlying factors for the presence of Greek firms in the markets of Western European countries? (Ε3) What are the defining factors that lead to the adoption by Greek firms of product exporting actions aimed at countries of “the rest of the world”? (Ε4) What are the main factors leading to the internationalization of Greek firms by locating in neighboring Bulgaria? (Ε5) In reference to Greek firms that are in the process of implementing direct investment projects abroad, what are the factors on which the choice of a strategy of “horizontal integration” depends?

Many studies have highlighted that EMNEs are utilizing strategic asset-seeking (SAS) internationalization as a means to upgrade their capabilities and build up their competitive advantages (Lecraw, 1993; Makino et al., 2002; Child and Rodrigues, 2005). However, no research has specifically examined or directly studied how a firm's internal capability, with the particular focus on absorptive capacity, influences the outcome of EMNEs' SAS international activities. The overall aim of this research is to explore how absorptive capacity of EMNEs influences the outcome of their SAS internationalization, specifically focusing on two key dimensions of absorptive capacity, i.e. the ability to identify external assets, and the ability to acquire external assets. Given the exploratory nature of this research, a qualitative multiple case study method was adopted. Altogether, four Chinese MNEs were selected with a total of 10 SAS events conducted by them respectively. We clearly demonstrated the linkages between firms' absorptive capacity and SAS outcomes. We found that the outcome of case companies' SAS events were not effective in terms of gaining substantial assets, rather case companies can gain reputation and other benefits through the events. We found a new element comprising absorptive capacity, i.e. the ability to retain the acquired assets. We argued that it is a precondition for assimilation to happen. We demonstrated how firms' absorptive capacity in the dimensions of identification, acquisition and the new emerged dimension, i.e. retention ability, together influenced their SAS outcomes. We also explored the underpinning factors for each dimension of absorptive capacity. An integrated model was developed. Our study is the first to specifically explore the linkage between absorptive capacity and EMNEs' SAS internationalization. We made several contributions to international business literature on SAS events and literature on absorptive capacity respectively. Specifically, we attempted to gain understanding of why EMNEs' SAS strategies may or may not be fully effective, to enhance our understanding of absorptive capacity issues in emerging country contexts, and to achieve potential conceptual enrichment.