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HEALTHY BUSINESS FOR SMALL FIRMS IN THE REBIRTH OF A TRADITIONAL INDUSTRY : An Exploratory Study of the Influential Factors on Swedish Medical Service SMEs Internationalization Process

The healthcare service sector has recently entered the global arena and many nations sectors has opened up for private initiatives, which is explained by the rapid development and structural changes within the industry. However, regardless of considerable interest in the area among academics, very little has been concluded in terms of investigating internationalization of healthcare related services. The purpose of this study is to contribute with an enriched understanding regarding how Swedish medical service SMEs internationalize and what factors influence how - and in what way - the process unfolds. A conceptual model is developed, extending the theoretical discussion by integrating established SME and entrepreneurship literature with extant IB literature relevant for political salient industries. Conducting an exploratory multiple case study, rich empirical data is collected and analyzed in the light of the conceptual model. The research findings indicate that knowledge, networks, and institutional factors influence how the internationalization process of medical service SMEs unfolds to a large extent. The research contributes by concluding that the nature of the service as well as the home market institutional context constitute pivotal influential factors on the firms’ internationalization process and are added to the refined conceptual framework.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-202632
Date January 2013
CreatorsPetersson, Malin, Runsbech, Alexander
PublisherUppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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