<p>Date: 26 May 2008</p><p>Program: International Business and Entrepreneurship (IB&E)</p><p>Level: Master Thesis 10 Points (15 ETCS)</p><p>Title: Internationalization process from entrepreneurial perspectives – a case study of TOA Group</p><p>Authors: Thi Thanh Thuy Le - Email: tle07001@student.mdh.se</p><p>Theerata Thornjaroensri - Email: tti07001@student.mdh.se</p><p>Supervisor: Bengt Olsson</p><p>Research Problem: How do entrepreneurs play a vital role in the internationalization process of TOA Group?</p><p>Aim of the Thesis: The purpose of our research project is to present a perspective that includes the entrepreneurs in the analysis in order to have a comprehensive understanding about the internationalization process of TOA Group, a Thai-owned paint multinational company.</p><p>Method: The nature of the research is qualitative. The deductive and a single case study approaches have been applied. Both secondary data and primary data are used to conduct the research. The semi-structure interview is used to get the primary data.</p><p>Conclusion: The establishment chain pattern of the Uppsala Model is too deterministic and mainly on learning process at organizational level. This research project adopts three entrepreneurial perspectives with three entrepreneur types. The TOA case shows that entrepreneurial perspectives directly influence the firm’s internationalization.</p><p>Key Words: Internationalization, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial perspective</p>

Date: 26 May 2008 Program: International Business and Entrepreneurship (IB&amp;E) Level: Master Thesis 10 Points (15 ETCS) Title: Internationalization process from entrepreneurial perspectives – a case study of TOA Group Authors: Thi Thanh Thuy Le - Email: tle07001@student.mdh.se Theerata Thornjaroensri - Email: tti07001@student.mdh.se Supervisor: Bengt Olsson Research Problem: How do entrepreneurs play a vital role in the internationalization process of TOA Group? Aim of the Thesis: The purpose of our research project is to present a perspective that includes the entrepreneurs in the analysis in order to have a comprehensive understanding about the internationalization process of TOA Group, a Thai-owned paint multinational company. Method: The nature of the research is qualitative. The deductive and a single case study approaches have been applied. Both secondary data and primary data are used to conduct the research. The semi-structure interview is used to get the primary data. Conclusion: The establishment chain pattern of the Uppsala Model is too deterministic and mainly on learning process at organizational level. This research project adopts three entrepreneurial perspectives with three entrepreneur types. The TOA case shows that entrepreneurial perspectives directly influence the firm’s internationalization. Key Words: Internationalization, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial perspective

<p>The internationalization of firms, especially among SMEs, represents big challenges that must be addressed. For this thesis, the internationalization process of the Swedish company Big Image Systems AB is studied. The purpose of the thesis is to generate a theoretical model to satisfactorily describe and explain the internationalization process of Big Image Systems AB. The case study methodology is our research strategy for this qualitative study. Based on theories about SMEs and internationalization, and after exhaustive analysis and selection, we developed an internationalization model for Big Image. The so called Big Image Model considers the dimensions of internationalization developed by Welch and Luostarinen (1998) and the entrepreneurial perspective by Andersson (2001) to satisfactorily describe and explain the important factors involved in the process. We observe that the entrepreneur plays a central role towards internationalization, and that theoretical guidance can make SMEs learn from their own experiences and, as a consequence, progress.</p>

The internationalization of firms, especially among SMEs, represents big challenges that must be addressed. For this thesis, the internationalization process of the Swedish company Big Image Systems AB is studied. The purpose of the thesis is to generate a theoretical model to satisfactorily describe and explain the internationalization process of Big Image Systems AB. The case study methodology is our research strategy for this qualitative study. Based on theories about SMEs and internationalization, and after exhaustive analysis and selection, we developed an internationalization model for Big Image. The so called Big Image Model considers the dimensions of internationalization developed by Welch and Luostarinen (1998) and the entrepreneurial perspective by Andersson (2001) to satisfactorily describe and explain the important factors involved in the process. We observe that the entrepreneur plays a central role towards internationalization, and that theoretical guidance can make SMEs learn from their own experiences and, as a consequence, progress.