Interview Form (Guide)
Internationalizing the Small and Medium Sized Firm – four cases
The (parent) company
Briefly describe the company’s history? What are the main firm characteristics (industry, size, technology, ownership, legal status, management, organizational structure, culture etc)?
International expansion strategy
Why did the company choose international expansion? Which markets were targeted? Why were these markets chosen? How did the company acquire knowledge of the local market? How did the company perform market research prior to the expansion? What form was chosen for the expansion? Why was this form chosen? Where there any major co-operations involved in the international expansion? To what extent was the expansion dependent on external suppliers? How important was timing for the expansion?
International expansion organization/management
How was the expansion organized? How were the managers for the international expansion chosen? Who lead the expansion (entrepreneurs/existing staff or hired professionals/consultants)? What was the background of the managers (education, relevant work experience, cultural background, nationality and age)? To what extent was native/local management used? To what extent was native/local staff used? To what extent was consultants used in the process? How was the subsidiary controlled by the parent company? To what extent was the management of the parent company/founders active in the internationalization process? How was the leadership style and which values were prevailing?
Industry/market environment
Describe the competitive/market conditions (if there are differences between the competitive conditions on the foreign and home market, then describe the foreign situation)? Where there any (significant) changes in the competitive/market conditions during the expansion phase? Describe the important market factors (capital markets, labor market, raw material, tax and legislation etc)? Where there any (significant) changes in the market factors during the expansion phase? Where there any significant cultural differences?
Failure or success??
What are the specific results of the expansion process (sales figures, number of employees, market share etc)? Was the expansion a failure or success (the company’s view)? What would you do differently if you were to do it again? What were the five main reasons for your success? What were the five main reasons for your failure?
