Internationalization has long time ago been very much been undergone and sustained inseveral companies all over the world, ranging from small to large sized firms. This is sobecause there has been increased demand for companies to meet in not just their domesticmarkets but also international markets. Therefore, internationalization is an inevitablephenomenon in the business sphere. Sadly, literature covering the African perspective ofinternationalization is scarce. Emerging country markets like Nigeria proves to provide acomprehensive and detailed outlook. Moreover, Covid-19 literature is still in its developingstage due to its recency. Africa in particular has experienced Covid-19 in a peculiar mannerwhich is different from other parts of the world.Which is why this study seeks to provide additional knowledge by taking a look at theinternationalisation of firms since the pandemic, particularly in the Nigerian cement industry.The purpose of this study is to understand how Covid-19 affected the internationalisationprocess of Nigerian cement firms as well as their progress of recovery since the hit. Includedin this study are 3 major Nigerian cement firms which form a representation of the industry.All 3 have internationalised within Africa. Semi-structured interviews were carried out withcompany representatives who are knowledgeable and involved in the internationalisationprocesses of their respective firms.Empirical findings inform us that the process of internationalisation is a daunting process tosay the least due to many factors ranging from social, environmental and geographic.Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic emerged viciously and disrupted business operations.Which affected transactions, sales and regulations regarding trade. On a good note, companiesleveraged on technology and network relationships to sustain their businesses despite harsheconomic conditions.

Though more recognition has been placed on the cruciality of university staff in their roles supporting the internationalization of higher education (HE), research-based understandings of micro level engagement have been largely neglected. This critical realist scoping study explores the extent of peer-reviewed articles published between 2017 and 2022 regarding university staff experiences and perceptions of internationalization in Australian and South Korean HE. A total of 34 relevant articles were found using a systematic approach to data collection. The findings confirm previous studies which demonstrate that internationalization research largely focuses on the perspectives and experiences of academic staff while non-academic staff and HE leadership and management are under-researched. Six dimensions of internationalization were represented, with ‘Teaching, Supervising, and Supporting Students’ being the most-researched across the body of literature overall and the ‘Internationalization of the Curriculum’ and ‘English-Medium Instruction Practice and Policy’ the most-researched in Australia and Korea respectively. The review also brought up several conceptual issues. While all university staff research participants in the Korean HE context were explicitly defined based on their nationality, ethnicity, and/or cultural background, university staff participants in the Australian HE context were often not described beyond their occupation. However, the majority of articles researching staff interactions with international students in the Australian HE context did include descriptions of national, ethnic, and/or cultural background. Additionally, the authors of the selected articles in both contexts rarely disclosed their own subjectivity and connection to the topic being researched. This study has illuminated the need for future research on the perspectives and experiences of all university staff in relation to internationalization and argues for future research that acknowledges the positionality of the researcher and the complexity of the identity of its participants.

Background: Digital platforms include various business models and represent a large and growing part of the economy empowered by digitalization. The added value of platforms depends crucially on their user interactions, which is why adopting new users is crucial. In the internationalization process, digital platforms differ from traditional companies because it is not their own presence that matters, but the users’ location.   Problem: To join a digital platform, the size of the existing user base has been discussed as a decisive feature by the literature. This assumption is based on the concept of network effects. However, these can lose their effect when national borders are crossed and/or digital platforms are location-bound. In the overall discussion about digital platforms, the relevant sub-category of digital marketplaces, especially in the B2B area, has not yet been taken into account and no alternatives for the size of the existing user base have been discussed.   Purpose: This study aims to investigate the attractiveness of digital platform attributes for potential international users of digital B2B marketplaces when the latter enter a foreign market.   Research Question: Which attributes and which of their levels do potential users prefer in a cross-border digital B2B marketplace?   Method: The study is a quantitative, inductive research with an exploratory purpose. An internal realist ontology and a positivist epistemology are applied. Data are collected and analyzed by using the traditional rating-based conjoint analysis. Four attributes with two times two and two times three levels are queried in nine company profiles using an Internet survey questionnaire with n = 159.    Conclusion: This study extends the existing literature on digital platforms by capturing identifying characteristics of digital B2B marketplaces and exploring potential users' preferences for such platforms. We conclude a high importance of distance to users who are already active on the platform, as well as the language of the platform. This is followed by the location of active users and rounded off with a lower importance of user verification.

ABSTRACT This master thesis examined the impact of digitalization on the speed of internationalization and explores the various foreign market entry options for a company that would like to expand from a developed market to an emerging market as part of its internationalization.  The case study analyzed in this paper is Arctic Space Technologies, a unique satellite operator company offering an all-in-one solution for sustainable satellite data handling and processing. The firm’s founders have a niche market (satellite operators) and have established business in Sweden and would like to enter an emerging market (South Africa). The firm can be classified under the high-tech industry and the study obtained valuable information that could be useful to other similar firms. The nature of technology for adoption is easily transferable for such firms regardless of geographical location. Digitalization is instrumental in facilitating earlier and faster internationalization through digitalized knowledge, network creation and decision-making processes (Coviello et al., 2017). The digitalization of new foreign market development helps such firms to efficiently identify new market opportunities in global markets and with this approach, they save resources while developing the most attractive markets (Neubert, 2018a). Qualitative research was applied through a company case study, where primary interviews and a survey were used to collect data. A case study was employed to further understand and practically apply adaptations a firm can make to increase its chances of success in a foreign market environment. The researcher also obtained information from desktop and literature review. The study findings suggested that business networking, business models, culture and geographical distance, market size are key factors that influence the choice of foreign market entry mode for a high-tech firm internationalization process from a developed market to an emerging market. In addition, the main challenges faced by born-global firm in entering an emerging market includes, lack of financial resources, management transitions and lack of proper market information for the internationalization process. The firm may need to identify information related to the market size, competitors, financial costs and entry barriers of the emerging market.  The study insight was that despite the born global firms’ nature of technology enabling faster adoption in terms of digitalization being instrumental in facilitating their internationalization process through the digitalized knowledge, network creation and decision-making processes, they still face the challenges of entry into unfamiliar emerging markets. The researcher identified the institutional voids faced, liability of foreignness and noted that it would be crucial for the firm to conduct a proper environmental analysis. This may include political and legal forces, economic forces, social-cultural forces and technological forces.  Arctic Space Technologies may need to create relevant business networks and the study identified that the ideal foreign market entry mode would be Joint venture/Partnership.  Since the South African government is keen on foreign investors/entrepreneurs entering into their market through partnership with a local business entity. The firm could establish a good network with South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and other space firms in the country. SANSA is keen on fostering international partnerships to enable unlock opportunities for the national space sector.   Further studies could investigate the time frames for high-tech firms internationalization processes. Further research is needed to analyze connections between software firms’ business models and selected entry modes by using a quantitative research method. The study could also be extended to other emerging countries in Africa and new business opportunities in the global markets for high-tech firms especially with the changing dynamics of international business in the wake of the current pandemic.

The constant change in today's business environment has brought about the need for S.M.E.s to contend with more dynamic, complicated, and global business environments, making it hard to maintain competitiveness. It is broadly acknowledged that SMEs face comparable constraints, such as limited human, financial, and informational resources. With the rising global freedom of industrial and commercial operations, the Internationalization of business affects both big and small companies as firms' performance depends on the participation of other role players and internal and external considerations. The importance of the parent-subsidiary company relationship that was so prevalent in the past has dissipated, giving way to more flexible contractual arrangements formulae that enable more effective utilization of competitive advantages in changing circumstances. In this context, the term "business ecosystem" is commonly employed. Therefore, this study examines if the business ecosystem adoption is a feasible strategy for S.M.E.s growth and internationalization. Also, the study examined the business ecosystem from the viewpoint of co-opetition and network theories. The research made use of a qualitative case study of S.M.E.s in Nigeria's Lagos state with the aid of thematic analysis for data interpretation and analysis. The data was collected from six executives of thriving businesses involved in collaborative business activities and international presence by conducting semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that the business ecosystem approach is feasible for the internationalization and growth of S.M.E.s and necessitate collaborations with other firms (complementors and competitors). The link to internationalization is created via networks and co-opetition, which emphasize relationship building in a disruptive corporate environment. It further emphasizes the importance of networking for information gathering, relationship building, and value co-creation in the business ecosystem context. The study contributes to theory by explaining how the theories of business ecosystem and internationalization are inextricably linked. Also, the implementation of the business ecosystem will grant SMEs the access to resources needed to grow and improve business activities for sustainability and market information (local & international) through networking and collaboration.

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