Internationalizing the Small and Medium Sized Firm – four cases
Uppsatsen som PDF
- Avanza
- Glocalnet
- Edgecom
- Projectplace
Executive Summary
The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and discuss perceived factors of success and failure for small and medium sized companies (below referred to as SME’s) when entering new markets. Today, as the world is getting more and more global, the approach to internationalization is somewhat changing. Both large companies and SME’s see the international markets as natural expansion possibilities.
The shift into the information society is one of the major factors behind this changed behavior. This has lead to that firms are better informed about foreign markets and that the difficulties with working on geographically distant markets have radically diminished. Furthermore, many Swedish companies produce technically complex products today. This normally means high R&D costs and a short lifecycle. This forces companies to internationalize at an early point, before the technology/product becomes obsolete or imitated by others. This is especially important for Swedish companies, due to their limited home market.
The traditional approach to international expansion has been that companies take a cautious step-by-step approach. This cautious approach has been especially true for SME’s since they normally work with limited financial and managerial resources. The development in today’s economy seems to force companies to enter foreign markets in a faster mode than ever before. The recent boom accelerated this trend.
In this thesis, the internationalization process of Avanza, Edgecom, Glocalnet and Projectplace (all Swedish SME’s) is presented. These companies all started their international expansion during the recent boom. The lessons made from these cases are discussed and analyzed in the thesis. All of the companies used a more aggressive approach than the traditional step-by-step model but with different outcome. It is evident that the venture capitalists played an important role in the choice of this strategy. They have been one of the main driving forces behind the fast and aggressive expansion. Factors such as having international networks and/or strategic partnerships are considered as key points to handle a more aggressive approach. Furthermore, balancing the companies’ internal and external resources and the importance of obtaining relevant market information prior to expansion are also factors that are regarded as crucial.
Sidor
Appendixes
Författare
- Michael Wahlgren - Aktier och Fonder
- Hans Olofsson - Swedish Putting
Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Creation
