Foreign Market Entry Strategies in the North-Adriatic Area

Author(s):  
Rubens Pauluzzo

The consolidation of economic and political relations in the North-Adriatic area and their formalization encouraged by the new institutional structures of Euro-regions are phenomena of central relevance to the actual European economic environment. These conditions have a significant influence on the strategic choices of local firms. In spite of the geographical proximity between Italy, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia, cultural differences still act as important determinants in leading foreign investment strategies. The current study aims at analyzing the role played by cultural distance between the examined countries in affecting entry mode strategies followed by companies of the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In particular, the analysis suggests that a larger cultural distance, together with specific market characteristics, may force companies to choose entry forms with a lower degree of control, while specific firm characteristics may have an opposite impact on the internationalization strategies.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barney G. Pacheco ◽  
Syed Akhter

Purpose Current research on small to medium enterprise (SME) internationalization has generated valuable insight but continues to overlook the activities of business-to-business (B2B) SMEs located in small emerging economies. This study aims to fill this gap by testing the applicability of the ownership, location and internalization (OLI) framework to understand the internationalization strategies of small B2B firms in Trinidad and Tobago, a small emerging Caribbean economy. Design/methodology/approach The study used a qualitative research design, which involved in-depth interviews with senior executives of three firms in the B2B sector who were knowledgeable about their firm’s internationalization process. Thematic analysis was then used to understand the motivations and strategies underpinning the internationalization approach adopted by each firm. Findings Contrary to the stereotype of SMEs in emerging markets as fragile enterprises, there is evidence that firms exploited the development of innovative products and processes to facilitate foreign market entry and expansion. Additionally, firms overcame resource limitations by relying on governmental ties and leveraging networking opportunities. The findings also call attention to the impact of organizational learning and the role of knowledge as a dynamic capability. Originality/value Both the context of the study and the application of the OLI framework contributes to the extant literature by yielding substantive insights into the internationalization strategies of B2B firms in a small emerging economy. The findings further highlight how the OLI framework can be supplemented by other theoretical perspectives to better understand internationalization by emerging market SMEs.


1995 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 683-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
P N O'Farrell ◽  
L Moffat ◽  
P A Wood

In this paper the work of geographers, economists, and management scientists in studying interregional and international expansion by service companies is reviewed. A critique is presented of some of the fundamental methodological problems inherent in analysing foreign-market entry-mode choice. These are particularly apparent when studying the process of business service-sector internationalisation. Issues discussed include inconsistencies in the definition of which entry decision to analyse; the level of aggregation to adopt when modelling mode choice; mode choice and cooperative organisational networks; different approaches to measuring cultural distance and country risk; and the methodologies used to develop scales to represent the constructs relevant to internationalisation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Yang

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to adopt a multi-level approach to investigate what factors shape the content of emerging market firms’ foreign market entry decisions, particularly the ownership participation in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As). In addition, the author would like to know if companies from emerging markets that possess higher (or lower) ownership in cross-border M&As receive higher valuation in the market. Design/methodology/approach – Using panel data of cross-border M&As by emerging market firms from 2000 to 2012, the author tests the hypothesized effects of the independent variables on the level of ownership participation; and uses a standard event study methodology to assess the market reaction of a particular cross-border M&A deal. Findings – The author finds that a country-level factor (institutional distance), an industry-level factor (industry unrelatedness) and a firm-level factor (board concentration) have significant impact on ownership participation in cross-border M&As. The author also finds that investors do give high valuation to those emerging market firms that chose high ownership participation in cross-border M&As. However, the author did not finds the support for the relationship between ownership participation and cultural distance. Neither did the author finds the support for the relationship between ownership participation and board independence. Originality/value – This study enhances the understanding of conditions under which the level of ownership participation in cross-border M&As would increase (decrease) and how the market reacts to high (low) ownership participation of cross-border M&As by emerging market firms.


Author(s):  
G. G. Nalbandyan

The article is devoted to the generalization and descriptive analysis of foreign market entry strategies used by Russian non-energy companies. According to the research results, in most cases, the companies use either the replication strategy of offering a standardized product in all countries, or a strategy of limited adaptation products by local business units to local conditions. In addition, the author assesses the impact of the liability of foreignness effect on internationalization process of Russian non-energy companies.


Author(s):  
Christine Ooko ◽  
Martin Ogutu ◽  
Mercy Munjuri ◽  
Jeremiah Kagwe

The main objective of this study was to establish the influence of firm characteristics on the relationship between foreign market entry strategies and the financial performance of multinational firms in Kenya. The study was hinged on Resource-Based View as a theoretical foundation. The literature revealed that numerous studies had been conducted on the influencing factors of firm characteristics such as Size and Age on the financial performance of multinational firms. However, these studies did not put into consideration of other possible factors such as firm characteristics and indicators such as liquidity and leverage. More so, the studies did not consider firm characteristics as a possible influencer of the direct relationship between choice of entry strategies and financial performance of multinational firms. The study utilized a cross-sectional study design which adopted both analytical and descriptive type of studies. Secondary data was used to obtain the desired information from the multinational firms’ annual reports for the financial years 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014. The study focused on only the publicly listed multinational firms in the Nairobi Security Exchange. Data were obtained from all the 62 listed firms. The study used Sales Growth, ROA, ROE, and ROCE to measure financial performance. Age, Liquidity, and Leverage were used as indicators of firm characteristics with leverage and liquidity further measured as Debt-Equity ratio and Current Assets Ratio respectively. Foreign market entry strategies were measured using Franchising, wholly-owned subsidiaries, Acquisition, and Joint Ventures. The results of the study showed that an interaction between firm characteristics and foreign market entry strategy significantly affected the direct relationship between foreign market entry strategies and the financial performance of multinational firms. The study concludes that firm characteristics have a positive effect on the financial performance of multinational firms through the influence of their choice of entry into foreign markets. It is recommended that multinational firms with desires to expand globally should use their global footprint to maximize on their international operations through leverage activities. In addition, policies governing the liquidity of companies to be revised in order to increase financial performance if previously they affected it. For the study was only limited to the publicly listed multinational institutions, future researchers should consider studying all the multinational firms operating in Kenya. The study provided a contextual understanding of the Resource-Based View. This theory tried to bring in views on choosing the right entry strategy into foreign markets based on the familiarity or unfamiliarity of a foreign market setting given the resources available to a firm. Findings also provided key ingredients for policymakers to embark on an integrated policy formulation in the full understanding of the interplay of a firm’s unique characteristics as far as multinational firms are concerned. And in practice, global business management should be in a better position to identify the right entry strategies into new markets that would yield them great financial profits.


2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 621-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Pla-Barber ◽  
Cristina Villar ◽  
Fidel León-Darder

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address foreign market entry mode as a way to enhance firm’s knowledge base, providing new insights into traditional explanations of entry mode choice for soft services. The authors offer an alternative knowledge-based approach to assess foreign investment decisions by considering the role of resource-augmenting (direct investment) and resource-exploiting strategies (licenses). In addition, the authors untie the type of experiential knowledge, i.e., host country and mode experience, to analyze its interactions with environmental uncertainties such as cultural distance. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a customized database of the Spanish Global Hotel industry covering practically all foreign entries until 2012, the authors use regression analysis to test the proposal. Findings – The authors demonstrate how in hotel chains (a) cultural distance influences the use of high resource-augmenting modes, due to both the difficulties in transferring the knowledge to third parties but also the imperative need of learning from local markets and (b) how strong brands tend to use resource-augmenting modes in their first steps abroad as a strategy to achieve a minimum level of resource basis to exploit it in a later stage. Originality/value – The findings question the appropriateness of prior assumptions from traditional internationalization process theories for soft services MNE and provide an alternative approach to assess entry mode choice in this context.


2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-54
Author(s):  
Manuel Aníbal Silva Portugal Vasconcelos Ferreira ◽  
Fernando Ribeiro Serra ◽  
Nuno Rosa Reis

The motivations for the internationalization of firms influence the selection of foreign entry modes. In this article we use John Dunning’s (1993) classification, which distinguishes four primary motives to invest overseas – market seeking, resource seeking, strategic asset seeking and efficiency seeking –, conceptually discussing the impact of the selected foreign entry modes. The methods and strategies of multinational corporations (MNCs) are chosen in a broader framework, where internationalization motivations converge with the exploitation, or exploration, of firm-specific advantages. Our analysis is supported by a set of theoretical propositions. The results demonstrate that MNCs must develop the best possible combination of strategy-structure for their international operations, and yet conceive a casuistic analysis of each individual operation. We have therefore contributed to a better understanding of the selection of foreign market entry modes as a reflection of strategic choices or motivations.


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