Submitted by Riccardo Degano (riccardo.degano@gmail.com) on 2016-03-09T21:48:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 29022016_MasterThesis_BR_Final.pdf: 1047509 bytes, checksum: 29eeca11947106b1b1086a9b6f746e23 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Luiza Holme (ana.holme@fgv.br) on 2016-03-10T12:19:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 29022016_MasterThesis_BR_Final.pdf: 1047509 bytes, checksum: 29eeca11947106b1b1086a9b6f746e23 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-10T12:39:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 29022016_MasterThesis_BR_Final.pdf: 1047509 bytes, checksum: 29eeca11947106b1b1086a9b6f746e23 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-25 / The international entry mode choices have a relevant importance for the impact they have on successful internationalization strategies. Many theories have been developed to describe which entry mode may be better than another according to the particular situation. The CAGE Distances Framework developed by Ghemawat to identify which dimensions companies should look when develop an internationalization strategy, may be useful to identify also how those dimensions impact on the international entry mode decision. The aim of this thesis is to study which kind of relationship exists between Cultural, Administrative, Geographic and Economic Distances and international entry mode choice. It analyzes a sample of companies that have been entered in Brazil through a logistic regression. According to this analysis, a negative and significant relation between Cultural Distance and need of control exists, a positive one exists between Administrative and Geographic, while no significant relationship has been found with the Economic dimension. Those findings are conceivably explainable through the theories found by scholars, but a deeper analysis that may take into account the specificity of every country is highly recommended, like the one developed with Brazil in this thesis. / As opções internacionais de modo de entrada tem siginificativa importância no que diz respeito ao sucesso de estratégias de internacionalização. Diversos modelos teóricos têm sido desenvolvidos para descrever de que maneira um modo de entrada pode ser do que outro de acordo com uma situação específica. O teoria das distâncias CAGE, desenvolvido por Ghemawat visando a identificação de quais dimensões as empresas devem explorar quando desenvolvem uma estratégia de internacionalização, pode também ser útil para identificar como tais dimensões impactam sobre as decisões de modo de entrada em um contexto internacional. O objetivo desta tese é estudar que tipo de relação existente entre Distâncias Cultural, Administrativa, Geográfica e Econômica e a decisão do modo de entrada. Analisa uma amostra de empresas estrangeiras atuantes no mercado Brasileiro por meio de uma regressão logística. De acordo com esta análise, existe uma relação negativa e significativa entre Distância Cultural e necessidade de controle, uma relação positiva entre a Distância Administrativa e Geográfica, enquanto nenhuma relação significativa foi encontrada com a dimensão econômica. Essas descobertas já foram conceitualmente antecipadas por proposições teóricas previamente propostas em outros estudos, mas deve ser considerado que uma análise mais profunda focando especificidades de cada país seria altamente recomendada, tal como o desenvolvido com o Brasil nesta dissertação.

Abstract   Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to show how the firm-specific resources interact with the institutional context of an emerging country in the case of E-business micro firms. This is done by identifying the factors and investigating the outcomes of those factors which give these firms economic performance from the perspective of the entry, as well as growth. This study aims at extending the knowledge on the entry and strategies of E-business micro firms entering into China. The goal of the study is to answer the research question, “How can firm-specific resources, paired with country-specific institutional context influence the successful entering into China for micro e-businesses?”, and to provide entrepreneurs which desire to internationalize on the Chinese market with a frame of reference and good practices in E-business.   Frame of references: Literature on SMEs and their associated entry modes, institutional context, firm resources and performance was used to develop a theoretical basis for the paper. The research gap was found in the corroboration of these terms in the context of the emerging Chinese E-business market.   Method: This study has adopted an inductive approach and was exploratory in nature. Qualitative case studies were employed to collect and analyze data with regards to micro E-businesses currently active on the Chinese market. The firms found are all foreign to China but active on Chinese soil. To collect primary data, we have used semi-structured interviews. For secondary data, we have used financial data, websites, and firms’ power point presentations. Following, the data was categorized, coded and analyzed according to professional research methods. Because the study is inductive, the literature was linked and discussed in relation to the findings.   Findings: The findings are numerous, stemming from both the analysis of the data, as well as from the coupling of the initial firm-resource findings with the institutional context findings. The discussion and conclusion hold all the findings. Due to their amount, they cannot be presented here in their entirety. However, the two major findings and criteria to be considered in the case of our research questions are: Proposition 1: For micro B2C E-businesses, the tangible resource is less important than the intangible resource. The capability of applying the Chinese market knowledge and experience to the institutional context, and bringing the results into the entry strategy is more important than the tangible resources Proposition 2: In a matured E-business institutional context, a partnership entry mode which requires lower investment is preferable for foreign micro E-businesses and can lead to a higher possibility for success.

這篇論文主要探討兩間外國電動工具製造商，進入台灣的策略選擇是銷售子公司或是代理商為例子。透過與兩間公司訪談，與筆者以前在其中一間電動工具製造商的產業經驗，再經過資料收集、產業報告分析、文獻資料等，來比較兩間公司進入台灣市場的原因，研究結果發現兩間公司進入台灣選擇採用銷售子公司直接銷售或是採用代理商模式，取決於企業自身擁有的資源條件，以及進入國的政治、經濟、文化等環境因素。企業的產品獨特性高，可以採用銷售子公司來進入新市場，如果企業的產品與市場同質性較高，則可採用代理商進入市場。 / This paper focuses primarily on two foreign manufacturers of power tools, and their choice of methods when entering Taiwan market via the used subsidiaries or agents. I compared their decision making process and their considerations of entry in Taiwan markets through in-depth interviews along with my previous first-hand experience in the industrial fields, data collection, industry analysis, and literature review. The results showed that whether these two companies choose to adopt the sales subsidiaries or to use agency, depends on the resources they have control over as well as the political, economic and cultural environmental factors of the targeted markets and countries. In theory, if a company's products are unique, one should consider to use the sales subsidiary to enter the market. On the other hand, if the enterprise's products are similar to those in the market, one can use agents to penetrate the market.

This research studies the phenomena of hospital groups expanding beyond their home country by setting up operations in less developed countries, and patients travelling out of their country for healthcare services, by looking at the internationalisation of private healthcare firms from Singapore. The research helps to address a gap in the literature as there is a lack of firm-level research on internationalisation of healthcare firms, and even more so for firms from Southeast Asia. For practitioners, the research offers a better understanding of the internationalisation strategies and choices adopted by healthcare firms, and more generally, service firms. With the region which Singapore is part of undergoing rapid integration, the study also offers useful insights on the impact of regional integration on internationalisation of healthcare firms. Using a multiple-case study of four private healthcare firms from Singapore, the research examines the where (market selection), how (entry modes) and when (timing) of their internationalisation, as well as their response to regional integration, in the context of existing literature on internationalisation of firms. The study shows that the internationalisation strategies of healthcare firms from Singapore, in relation to market selection, entry modes and timing of entry, were well-explained by existing theories on internationalisation of firms. Family ownership was identified as a reason for the deviation from theory for one of the cases. Specifically on the internationalisation of healthcare firms, the study shows that healthcare services in Singapore is undergoing commodification, with increasing use of and emphasis on 'marketing' to procure patients-customers; increasing emphasis on quality; and the creation of customers and consumers. This has made healthcare services increasingly 'exportable' in the sense that they can be 'sold' overseas away from the point of 'production', via representative offices, instead of having to rely on higher commitment non-export entry modes as indicated in the literature. Another deviation from literature was the case firms' stated preference to make market entry using management contract instead of joint venture. This can be attributed to their strategic need to internationalise quickly and the high cost of building new healthcare facilities. Using the findings from the analysis, the thesis proposed a characterization of the internationalisation strategies of a healthcare firm from Singapore, in terms of market selection, entry modes and timing of entry. A conceptual model on the internationalisation of healthcare firms was also developed, identifying the factors which may influence the internationalisation of healthcare firms. Besides, the study identified that the healthcare firms went through four phases of internationalisation process, namely, learning, opportunistic, de-internationalisation and maturisation, with each presenting some unique patterns of internationalisation by the firms. Further analysis showed that the four phases tied in well with the 'Link-Leverage-Learn' framework of Mathews (2006) for emerging/second wave multinational enterprises (MNEs), hence offering a new perspective for evaluating the internationalisation of such firms in future. On impact of regional integration, a possible 'ideal' model for a healthcare MNE in an economically integrated region was proposed. Applying the model, it is proposed that internationalisation by healthcare MNEs will increase as the region integrates, and there will be further consolidation within the industry. Healthcare MNEs from small countries like Singapore are likely to compete particularly strongly, as they are under even greater pressure to secure the foreign markets given the constraint of their small domestic population.

With the FinTech industry being one of heavy expansion, geographic markets have thus far reached varying levels of maturity. This is suggested to favour Born Global firms (BGs) as a common rationale behind their non-domestic inception is to exploit maturity differences among markets. How FinTech BGs internationalize is hence an alluring topic, and albeitFinTech having risen to being amongst the most prominent areas of finance, FinTechmarket expansion has been granted little academic focus. Moreover, amid FinTech BGs often being equity financed and high growth, and the recent years’ favourable capital market conditions combined with surging FinTech valuation multiples, a need for strategically sound market expansion processes may not have existed. Recent trends are however conveying similarities to the dot com crash, and a new climate may be looming, justifying more research within the subject. This thesis hence aimed to enhance the understanding of how FinTechs internationalize in an industry characterised by BG opportunities, and to understand how FinTech BGsshould derive entry strategies to new markets. Through embarking from the academia, a conceptual framework was formed with variables believed to exert influence on FinTech BGs’ market expansion. A qualitative case study of a Swedish FinTech BG was thereafter conducted, examining its applicability,to understand how the BG status affect market expansion endeavors, and how such endeavors should be planned. The findings suggest that the geographical division of FinTech BGs’ ecosystems is the primary source of competitive advantages, and that one should leverage these in expansion endeavors. The thesis further argues that the value encompassed in technology opens opportunities for financially constrained expansion. It moreover adds to the discussion about entry modes in service industries, and argues that there is no vested interest in having distinctive lines among entry modes, and that they should be viewed as compliments. Finally, the study argues that valuation and funding should be granted larger focus in internationalization research. The findings suggest that BGs can exploit the geographical division between M&A targets and their own investors in search of arbitrage opportunities, a topic inviting further research. / Till följd av FinTech-industrins snabba expansion har geografiska marknader uppnått olika mognadsgrader. Ett sådant klimat påstås vara Born Global-företag (BGs) till gagn då deras utländska grundande ofta motiveras av att utnyttja mognadsskillnader mellan marknader. Hur FinTech BGs internationaliserar är därmed ett intressant ämne, men trots att FinTech har vuxit till ett av de mest framträdande områdena inom finans har FinTechs marknadsexpansion beviljats lite akademiskt fokus. Vidare, då FinTech BGs tenderar att vara kapitalfinansierade och snabbt växande, samt med hänsyn taget till de senaste årens starka börsklimat och höga värderingsmultiplar, har ett behov för en strategisk sund marknadsexpansionsprocess kanske inte funnits. Nya trender visar dock på likheter med IT-bubblan, och ett nytt klimat kan därmed vara förestående, vilket motiverar fler studier inom ämnet. Detta arbete syftade därmed till att förbättra förståelsen för hur FinTechs internationaliserar i en industri som kännetecknas av BG-möjligheter, samt att förstå hur FinTech BGs bör utforma en strategi för att expandera till nya marknader. Genom att ta avstamp i akademin skapades ett konceptuellt ramverk innehållande variabler som ansågs påverka FinTech BGs geografiska expansion. En kvalitativ fallstudie på ett svenskt FinTech BG genomfördes därefter, där dess tillämpbarhet undersöktes för att förstå hur BG-kännetecken påverkar marknadsexpansion, samt vad som bör tas i beaktande när sådan expansion planeras. Resultaten tyder på att FinTech BGs geografiskt utspridda ekosystem är deras primära källa till konkurrensfördelar, och att man bör dra nytta av detta när man internationaliserar. Studien argumenterar vidare för att det värde som finns i teknologin öppnar upp möjligheter till marknadsexpansion under finansiella begränsningar. Dessutom adderar rapporten till diskussionen gällande metoder för inträde på nyamarknader inom serviceindustrier, och argumenterar för att det inte finns ett egenintresse med tydliga avgränsningar mellan olika metoder utan att de bör ses som komplement. Slutligen argumenterar studien för att företagsvärdering och finansiering bör bli givna större fokus inom internationaliseringsforskning. Resultaten tyder på att BGs kan utnyttjadet faktum att förvärvskandidater och deras egna investerare befinner sig i olika geografieri sökande efter arbitragemöjligheter, ett område som bjuder in till vidare forskning.

This research develops and tests a model of the service unit ownership and control patterns used by international service companies. The main purpose of this study is to investigate trivariate causal relationships among environmental factors, organizational structure, and perceived performance in the internationalization process of service firms. A service firm operating in foreign soil has a choice of three general entry mode strategies offering different degrees of ownership and control of its remote operating units located in foreign countries -- full ownership arrangement, joint venture arrangement, and franchising arrangement. The entry mode strategies chosen depend on the factors relating to internal environment of a specific firm, industry related factors in which the firm operates, and external environment of the operating units at national context. This study identifies these factors, investigates how they affect the firm's choice of entry modes, and finally examines the impact of entry mode on firm's performance. The overall model has been explained by contingency theory that conceptualizes optimal level of ownership and control mode as a response by the firm to the interplay of environmental factors and as a determinant of firm's performance. To this core can be added complementary theories which are borrowed from agency theory, transaction cost theory, and resource dependence theory. These theories explain the linkages between market entry mode and each type of environmental factors. In order to empirically test the hypotheses, data were collected from hospitality firms regarding the ownership structure of subsidiaries located in foreign countries. As a whole, the conceptual model developed in the study received strong support from the empirical study. This study found a positive impact of contingency fit on performance and so support contingency theory in which some combinations of the environmental dimensions and organizational structure will lead to better organizational performance. Another finding of this study indicates that the increased level of ownership and control will result in enhancing the level of perceived performance. It should be noted that contingency model-based mode choice would provide managers with the optimal performance because there is not one best performing mode choice in volatile international market. Next, the relationship of market environment with organizational structure was examined through three different perspectives. Market environment was investigated at firm, industry, and national context, which includes five factors -- monitoring uncertainty, asset specificity, cultural distance, political uncertainty, and economic uncertainty. The model is suggestive of a picture in which five environmental factors vie for affecting the choice of market entry modes. All five environmental factors were found to be significantly related to firms' organizational structure. Among five environmental factors, cultural uncertainty has the largest effect on the choice of entry mode followed by monitoring uncertainty, political uncertainty, asset specificity, and economic uncertainty. One of the important implications of this research is the inclusion of franchising as an actual management strategy and competitive business practice that is related to international ownership and control strategy. Higher degrees of uncertainty associated with the foreign market encourage external dependence of the venture, in which the operation depends more heavily on local relationships. Franchising substitutes the loss of ownership by an increase of external relationships and it takes without losing control on retail operation. Resource exploitation depends on the local market for either inputs or outputs for better performance. Understanding the fit between the each set of contingent variables and the elements of ownership and control strategy will allow marketers to determine when franchising is the suitable mode of operation in global markets. Collectively, these results suggest that the choice of an organizational form for international service firms involves a complex balance of firm, industry, and country level factors. Managers can maximize performance by aligning entry mode strategy with external contextual circumstances as well as internal resources. Managers may also be able to make better mode choice decisions using the theory-driven criteria examined in this study, increasing their chances for financial and non-financial success. / Ph. D.

Globalization and the rapid growth of online-transaction through e-commerce platforms is increasing at a fast pace, not to mention the acceleration during and after the pandemic of Covid-19. The purpose with this qualitative case study of a company operating in the fragrance industry is to give a better understanding of how a company successfully succeeded in internationalizing by utilizing a B2B e-commerce strategy, and how the same company can change strategy to utilize B2C e-commerce to enter a new market which in this case are Sweden. A key factor of the company's success turned out to be the building of the customer and supplier network, and the tight collaboration with already existing giants in the market to attract suppliers in the first place. This allowed the company to provide good customer service, and a variety of products. Further, to be able to enter the Swedish market promotional activities, a customer-centric website that provides in store-like experience, close relationships with their consumers, and cooperation with brand suppliers to build a strong strategic alliance has been shown as important factors in order to succeed in a B2C e-commerce internationalization process.

Globalization in the business environment today is something that affects almost every firm around the world. It has given opportunities not only to multinational enterprises (MNE) but also to small and medium enterprises (SME). In this study SME food service firms has been one of the main subjects and we find it interesting to investigate their internationalization process in the globalized market. This has been investigated with the help of a network approach and the main purpose of the thesis is to gain a deeper understanding in how SMEs in the food industry use a network approach when going into the international marketplace. The study used a qualitative case study as research method and the data has been gathered and analyzed from an interview with the CEO and founder of a food service firm in Sweden. The findings from the study suggest that it is crucial for SME food service firms to use their networks when expanding internationally. Furthermore, it is important to have a well thought out expansion strategy, including agents in the target market extending to strong market research. Our findings also suggest that SME characteristics are not fully applicable for SMEs in the food service industry. In addition to above, the findings also suggest that internal factors, for example a global mindset, is the strongest force in stimulating firms in the food service industry to start an internationalization process.

E-commerce is an arguably new way of trading goods or services for monetary values through electronic means. It has increased in volume over the past years and it is not predicted to stop increasing in Sweden. The Swedish market holds a substantial amount of internet users who are in fact e-consumers. The European Union has taken a series of measures to harmonize the legislation regarding e-commerce in order to increase cross border e-commerce between the member states. The authors aimed to investigate the effect of the Swedish legislation on foreign companies’ establishment process on the Swedish e-commerce market. In order to achieve this, two in-depth interviews were conducted, one with a lawyer with considerable competence regarding e-commerce and the other one was in association with our case study on a French company that recently entered the Swedish e-commerce market. The research resulted in the notion that the Swedish legislation does differ from the European legal standards and that foreign ECCs have to adapt to the Swedish legislation. Another important finding is that European legislation is different between nations due to the variations in the interpretations of the same law text incorporated into the national legislations in the member states of the European Union. The resource based model of entry was also re-interpreted to facilitate the internationalization process of the companies.

The food and beverage industry in Taiwan is becoming increasingly competitive. Companies have therefore been trying to expand their operations abroad to different countries, both emerging and developed economies. How the companies expand and operate abroad is a challenging issue faced by every company that tries to enter foreign countries. This research starts out from the practitioners’ perspectives, and addresses critical management issues. The problems of international expansion are dynamic and fairly complicated due to the fast-changing business environment, which means practical decision rules are valuable. The study tackles this issue by attempting to offer decision rules on three research questions. They include the influence factors on the selection of foreign market entry mode, the mechanism of capturing growth and avoid huge losses and business model innovation in foreign markets. This research discovers entry mode choice should be accompanied by considering the joint effect of influence factors. And at point of entry, adopting real option perspective leads to better performance in the foreign market because it captures growth opportunities. Furthermore, adjusting the key processes in the business model helps companies realize more efficient operations and in some case, leads to better subsequent performance after entering the foreign country.