An increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) expand their businesses into foreign markets. Some SMEs begin to operate abroad soon after their establishment. These so-called born globals demonstrate a more rapid internationalisation compared with other SMEs. This thesis develops a deeper understanding of the internationalisation process of SMEs, by studying how born globals and other SMEs develop foreign market knowledge during the international expansion. The internationalisation process is divided into three phases; the pre-firm internationalisation phase, the initial internationalisation phase and the continued internationalisation phase. Based on a qualitative study of 14 biotech SMEs and a questionnaire survey of 188 SMEs from various industries, new insights on the internationalisation process of SMEs and born globals are presented. By extending the analysis of SMEs’ internationalisation to a phase prior to their establishment and by continuing to follow these firms during their operations in foreign markets, the findings of this thesis show how the knowledge and personal networks of key individuals relate to the firm’s development of foreign market knowledge. The thesis also advances the understanding of how an SME develops foreign market knowledge from its business network relationships. In summary, the result of this thesis shows that a rapid expansion in several foreign markets can hold back an SME’s development of foreign market knowledge and lead to difficulties in developing the firm’s operations in the continued internationalisation phase. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2009. Sammanfattning jämte 6 uppsatser

In the context of globalisation and liberalising economies, an increasing number of local firms based in developing countries and emerging markets are encouraged to internationalise their business activities and thus participate in foreign trade. Their sustained success is founded on two key factors; their ability to access potential foreign markets, and their ability to upgrade their capabilities and thus improve their positioning in global markets. This thesis investigates the internationalisation process and upgrading prospects of Indian Garment Manufacturers (IGMs). It begins by examining how IGMs gain access to foreign markets and discusses the factors that help or hinder their progress. The thesis subsequently explores the ways in which IGMs upgrade their activities to higher value-added activities and investigates the contributory factors that drive and shape their upgrading prospects. Existing studies employ the concept of ‘Diaspora networks’ or ethnic ties to explain how local firms from emerging markets are able to internationalise their business activities. These studies highlight the integral role played by Diaspora networks in enabling this internationalisation. Diaspora networks help connect local firms with foreign, world class buyers (or ‘lead firms’) using the Diaspora’s own pre-established ties and links with such lead firms. Similarly, Global Value Chain (GVC) proponents assume the upgrading prospects of these local firms can be enhanced as a result of linking up with ‘lead firms’ because of the benefits that can be derived from knowledge and technology transfer imparted through working with world class buyers. The extant literature however is vague on the internationalisation processes of IGMs. Furthermore, it does not adequately address the extent to which IGMs utilise Indian Diaspora networks to access foreign markets and to internationalise their business activities. It is also unclear what mechanisms are employed to impart knowledge from lead buyers to suppliers and to what extent the knowledge and technology transferred plays a key role in progressing IGMs upgrading activities; especially in the higher value added functions of design. This thesis contributes by addressing and shedding further light on these unresolved issues. It examines the issues using a combined approach, where theories and concepts from international business (IB) and GVC are employed in analysing the subject matter and thus allows for a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the issues under investigation. To explore the above themes a case study based approach was employed. Interviews were conducted with key decision makers/owners of 23 case companies. Further interviews with key industry, academic and government heads were conducted as a means of triangulation. Interviews were, in turn, supplemented with documentary evidence and published material from company websites, industry and academic journals, and newspaper articles, so as to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of the issues in question. Findings from this study suggest that IGMs rarely use Diaspora networks to access foreign markets. Instead, the majority of IGMs have achieved internationalisation as a result of well-developed networks of formal intermediaries based in India who have facilitated connections with prospective buyers. Furthermore, their manner of internationalisation reveals IGMs tend to access foreign markets initially at a very young age and at a rapid pace. Thus process-based theories of internationalisation seem inappropriate in explaining this rapid pace of internationalisation; insights from the literature on Born Globals and International New Ventures (INVs) seem, at first, to offer better explanations. However, employing concepts such as the ‘mature’ born global and the ‘failed’ born global leads one to re-examine and reconsider these initial findings. Re-examined findings indicate that in fact maturing IGMs are realigning their internationalisation trajectories to be better positioned to take advantage of favourable domestic market conditions. These findings are better explained using a more inclusive definition of internationalisation; particularly, concepts of de-internationalisation and extra-regional expansion from the field of IB. Additional findings, related to the issue of upgrading, indicate that contextual factors, usually related to the domestic economy and the firm’s internal circumstances, play a significant role in affecting the upgrading prospects of IGMs. These findings are contrary to GVC-based explanations of what drives and shapes IGMs’ upgrading activities, which place excessive emphasis on the role of the ‘lead firm’. In particular, GVC-based assumptions regarding the knowledge and technology transfer benefits available to local manufacturers by linking with larger world class buyers or lead firms seem of limited applicability to IGMs; here, firm-specific factors seem more important in determining firm choices concerning upgrading trajectories.

Our thesis is based on the constantly changing internal and external environment causing firms to increase or decrease their internationalisation efforts. The focus of this thesis is going to be on describing the process of re-internationalisation, including the different stages of de-internationalisation, time-out, and re-entry as well as identifying the influences of the internal and external environment on the process of re-internationalisation.   The influences of the internal and external environmental on the process of re-internationalisation are analysed and accompanied by secondary data about the German biogas market, which the case company is considering to re-entry. The aim of the thesis is to contribute to existing literature by exploring the process of re-internationalisation and its stages of de-internationalisation, time-out and re-entry, to enhance the understanding of SME internationalisation patterns, and the influence of the internal and external environment   The process of de-internationalisation for the case company was characterised by a lower degree of market commitment in contrast to a complete exit. The degree of commitment was maintained during time-out stage, but due to changes in the internal and external environment a move towards re-entering the market was considered. The main influences, found in this single case study, can be separated along the stages of de-internationalisation, time-out and re-entry. The de-internationalisation was mainly driven by poor economic results and a lack of resources. During the time-out, the company’s acquisition led to a change in firm objectives. The re-entry was mainly influenced by changes in institutional policies and the previously altered company objectives caused a consequential increase in resources. The change in institutional policies was perceived as a business opportunity. However, the analysis of the case company’s market showed a deviation between perceived and actual business opportunity, highlighting the importance of acquiring up-to-date market knowledge.

Background: Professional services firms (PSFs) face unique challenges when internationalisingdue to their intangible services and the need to adapt to local markets. Digital technologies havemade internationalisation more efficient since firms utilise digital communication tools (DCTs).However, PSFs still struggle to internationalise due to the need to establish a local presence tocreate competitive advantages where language plays an important role integrated fully into thetargeted countries. Problem: The internationalisation of PSFs is a complex process that involves interrelated researchstreams, such as the utility of digitised tools and the importance of language strategy. However,the research is fragmented and lacks a multidimensional discipline that incorporates all factorsapplied when PSFs internationalise. Therefore, there is a need for more efforts to broaden theconceptualisation of the PSF internationalisation process. Purpose: Provide a multidimensional perspective on the practical and theoretical knowledge PSFsrequire when expanding internationally. The aim is to explore the phenomenon’s complexity tointernationalise as PSFs and the interrelationships with factors such as DCTs and language. Method: The research is a qualitative multiple-case study using semi-structured interviews toretrieve primary data. Triangulation is applied to guarantee an in-depth inquiry, combining primarydata and secondary data consisting of scanning social media platforms of the case companies andnon-responsive textual data in the form of company reports, websites, etc. The data was analysedusing thematic and cross-cage analysis. Conclusion: The results show the importance of relationships when PSFs internationalise and aneed to adapt locally. PSFs perceive the utility of DCTs as an enabler of internationalisation butdiscovered a limitation of DCTs where the importance of relationships and physical meetingscreate a gap when establishing relationships. In addition, language is strategically selected to meetthe market’s needs and increase local adaptiveness by using the local language. We can furtherconclude that the “fluffier stuff decides the game” when PSFs internationalise due to underlyingfactors such as language, cultural context and relationships, guiding how PSFs expand into foreignmarkets.

This thesis discusses internationalisation strategies of companies in a globalising service industry, the telecommunications industry. Differences in the internationalisation processes between manufacturing and service companies, and companies in network industries in particular, are analysed. The telecommunication industry’s special characteristics are discussed. Special challenges faced by companies in small and open economies (SMOPECs) in their internationalisation are also covered. Broad research questions, and a conceptual framework and specific research propositions are presented. The methodology, a multi-case study, and research procedure are introduced, and the research findings are reported, analysed and discussed. During the last decade there has been continuous debate on how well the traditional internationalisation (process) theories are able to explain the internationalisation of service companies. In addition, several researchers have argued that the facts that service sectors are heterogeneous and have different characteristics causes remarkable variations in the internationalisation processes of different service sectors. The conceptual framework developed in this study to analyse the internationalisation strategies of the case companies, national telecommunication companies (telcos) from SMOPECs, is based on the earlier research in the areas of international business and strategic management. The framework consists of two main parts, internationalisation strategies and factors influencing these strategies. The four internationalisation strategies included in the framework are product strategy, operation strategy, market strategy and organisation strategy. The factors influencing internationalisation strategies have been divided into five main groups: global factors, industry specific factors, home country specific factors, company specific factors and host country specific factors. This cross-border multi-case study includes four case companies: Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) from Singapore, Sonera Oyj (Sonera) from Finland, Telia AB (publ) (Telia) from Sweden, and Telstra Corporation Limited (Telstra) from Australia. The key findings of the study demonstrate that although in some areas the case study companies followed processes suggested by traditional internationalisation (process) theories there were also significant deviations. These deviations are most obvious when analysing market strategies. The findings present several factors behind these deviations. The findings mostly support earlier research on service industries, although there are distinctive characteristics which apply only to the telecommunications industry, or more generally, to network industries. The findings also demonstrate that the special challenges that companies from SMOPECs face in their internationalisation, influence their internationalisation strategies. Interestingly, in addition to these special challenges, the findings suggest that there are areas where these types of companies may have a competitive advantage in relation to their internationalisation. The conceptual framework developed in this study helps to understand the internationalisation process in the telco industry. The framework integrates findings from both international business and strategic management research, recognising the benefits of more generalisable internationalisation models originating from economic and marketing theories, but taking into account environmental circumstances and the influence of managerial actions, emphasised more in strategic management theories. That is, more contingency approach is taken than in some traditional internationalisation models. The conceptual framework and the findings contribute to the existing research on the internationalisation of services particularly, and to international business and strategic management research more generally. / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Business School, 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate internationalisation of Ethiopian SMEs by examining internal and external factors that motivate or restrict internationalization process and the impact of internal and external barriers on SMEs export performance. The small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) sector in Ethiopia is a significant group within the economy in terms of firm numbers and total employment. However, the SMEs sector’s share of exports is disproportionately small, which raised considerable research concerns. Firm export propensity and export performance were the dependent variables and export stimuli and barrier factors were used as explanatory variables. The study was conducted through mixed research design. A questionnaire was administered to 90(36 exporting and 54 nonexporting) SMEs in Leather and Leather Products Industry in Addis Ababa selected through stratified random sampling. In order to complement survey results nine (4 exporting and 5 non-exporting) SMEs were selected through critical case purposive sampling and an in-depth interviews were conducted. Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS 20) was used to analyse the quantitative data whereas, qualitative data were analysed manually. Analytical techniques used were, Chisquare test of independence, Spearman rank order correlation, factor analysis, binary logistic regression analysis and multiple regression analysis. The statistical results of binary logistic regression analysis and chi-square tests indicated that managerial factors, internal marketing factors and foreign government related factors, firm ownership and size are the most significant motivators of SMEs internationalisation in Ethiopia. On the contrary the result showed that, logistics problem, insufficient finance, functional barriers, lack of export knowledge and information, procedural barriers and international trade barriers are the factors hindering it. Further analysis was conducted to examine the impact of export barriers on performance of firms. The result of multiple regression analysis indicated that, export barriers significantly and negatively affect export performance. The overall results revealed that explanatory variables used in the analysis significantly predict the dependent variable at 95% confidence level. Considering these results numerous implications for theory, practice, and future research were recommended. Finally, the study concluded that internationalisation of SMEs has to be encouraged by mitigating both internal and external barriers identified in this study. / Business Management / D. Admin. (Business Management)

Since the opening of formerly closed markets in Eastern Europe and China in the early 1990s, numerous firms have sought to capture the growth opportunities prevailing in the virgin but institutionally distant business networks in these countries. I claim that the entry process into an institutionally distant business network has been realised when the entering firm has reached an insidership position in the network. To advance this idea, the thesis introduces the overlooked medium-sized multinational exporter (MME) and answers the following overarching research questions: (I) how do MMEs establish insidership positions in institutionally distant business networks, and (II) what critical abilities are developed by MMEs in the process of entering an institutionally distant business network? To answer these questions, qualitative and quantitative methods have sequentially been mixed to first give an in-depth understanding of the empirical field, and second to verify and generalise some of the most central tentative findings. Empirically, the study reports from a case study of eight firms in the Baltic Sea Region and from an on-site survey of 203 Swedish firms with experience of entries in Eastern Europe and/or China. Five individual essays are presented—all designed to reflect different aspects of the institutionally distant network entry process. The findings are condensed in the cover of the thesis, where it is claimed that an insidership position is reached through three main phases: the Scouting phase, the Qualifying phase and the Shielding phase. Furthermore, it is found that that the most critical abilities developed through the institutionally distant network entry process is local experience-based knowledge of high specificity. It is shown that previous experiences, generated in different business networks in mature markets, are not useful in the network entry process in immature markets. As a consequence, there is reason to believe that the entering firm needs to develop unlearning abilities to replace obsolete or misleading experience.

The purpose of this study was to investigate internationalisation of Ethiopian SMEs by examining internal and external factors that motivate or restrict internationalization process and the impact of internal and external barriers on SMEs export performance. The small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) sector in Ethiopia is a significant group within the economy in terms of firm numbers and total employment. However, the SMEs sector’s share of exports is disproportionately small, which raised considerable research concerns. Firm export propensity and export performance were the dependent variables and export stimuli and barrier factors were used as explanatory variables. The study was conducted through mixed research design. A questionnaire was administered to 90(36 exporting and 54 nonexporting) SMEs in Leather and Leather Products Industry in Addis Ababa selected through stratified random sampling. In order to complement survey results nine (4 exporting and 5 non-exporting) SMEs were selected through critical case purposive sampling and an in-depth interviews were conducted. Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS 20) was used to analyse the quantitative data whereas, qualitative data were analysed manually. Analytical techniques used were, Chisquare test of independence, Spearman rank order correlation, factor analysis, binary logistic regression analysis and multiple regression analysis. The statistical results of binary logistic regression analysis and chi-square tests indicated that managerial factors, internal marketing factors and foreign government related factors, firm ownership and size are the most significant motivators of SMEs internationalisation in Ethiopia. On the contrary the result showed that, logistics problem, insufficient finance, functional barriers, lack of export knowledge and information, procedural barriers and international trade barriers are the factors hindering it. Further analysis was conducted to examine the impact of export barriers on performance of firms. The result of multiple regression analysis indicated that, export barriers significantly and negatively affect export performance. The overall results revealed that explanatory variables used in the analysis significantly predict the dependent variable at 95% confidence level. Considering these results numerous implications for theory, practice, and future research were recommended. Finally, the study concluded that internationalisation of SMEs has to be encouraged by mitigating both internal and external barriers identified in this study. / Business Management / D. Admin. (Business Management)