the Uppsala (U-) model (Johanson & Vahlne 1977JOHANSON, J., VAHLNE J.-E. The internationalization process of the firm: a model of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitments. Journal of International Business Studies, v. 8, n. 1, p. 23-32, 1977., 1990JOHANSON, J., VAHLNE J.-E. The mechanism of internationalization. International Marketing Review, v. 7, n. 4, p. 11-24, 1990., Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul 1975JOHANSON, J., WIEDERSHEIM-PAUL, F. The internationalization of the firm: four Swedish cases. Journal of Management Studies, v. 12, n. 3, p. 305-322, 1975.), innovation-related internationalization (I-) models (Bilkey 1978BILKEY, W.J. An attempted integration of the literature on the export behavior of firms. Journal of International Business Studies, v. 9, n. 1, p. 33-46, 1978.; Morgan & Katsikeas 1997MORGAN, R.E., KATSIKEAS, C.S. Theories of international trade, foreign direct investment and firm internationalization: a critique. Management Decision, v. 35, n. 1/2, p. 68-78, 1997.), the Finnish model (Welch & Luostarinen 1988WELCH, L.S., LUOSTARINEN, R. Internationalization: evolution of a concept. Journal of General Management, v. 14, n. 2, p. 34-57, 1988.) |
slow and incremental: closest and/or similar countries are entered first usually by exporting;later, after learning from these activities, other countries will be entered and other modes used |
experiential knowledge is necessary for internationalization, but firms acquire it predominantly through their foreign operations (especially according to the U-model), thus, learning takes time |
the literature on fast internationalizers: born globals and international new ventures (Knight & Cavusgil 1996KNIGHT, G.A., CAVUSGIL, S.T. The born global firm: A challenge to traditional internationalization theory. In: CAVUSGIL, S.T., MADSEN, T. (EDS.). Advances in International Marketing, 8. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1996. p. 11-26.; Kuivalainen et al. 2007KUIVALAINEN, O., SUNDQVIST, S., SERVAIS, P. Firms' degree of born-globalness, international entrepreneurial orientation and export performance. Journal of World Business, v. 42, n. 3, p. 253-267, 2007.; Madsen & Servais 1997MADSEN, T.K., SERVAIS, P. The internationalization of born globals: An evolutionary process. International Business Review, v. 6, n. 6, p. 561-583, 1997.; Oviatt & McDougall 1994OVIATT, B.M., MCDOUGALL, P.P. Toward a theory of international new ventures. Journal of International Business Studies, v. 25, n. 1, p. 45-64, 1994.; Weerawardena et al. 2007WEERAWARDENA, J., SULLIVAN MORT, G., LIESCH, P.W., KNIGHT, G. Conceptualizing accelerated internationalization in the born global firm: a dynamic capabilities perspective. Journal of World Business, v. 42, n. 3, p. 294-306, 2007.; Wolff & Pett 2000WOLFF, J.A., PETT, T.L. Internationalization of small firms: an examination of export competitive patterns, firm size, and export performance. Journal of Small Business Management. v. 38, n. 2, p. 34-47, 2000.; Zander et al. 2015ZANDER, I., MCDOUGALL-COVIN, P., ROSE, E.L. Born globals and international business: evolution of a field of research. Journal of International Business Studies, v. 46, n. 1, p. 27-35, 2015.) |
very fast: during the first three years since establishment, firms enter culturally and geographically distant foreign markets and achieve a high (usually, 25 percent or higher) export share;in some cases, they even skip the exporting stage |
firms can learn from their founders, owners and/or other network partners, not only from their own foreign activities;some have unique resources and/or or narrow but important skills |
the literature on nonlinear internationalization (Benito and Welch 1997BENITO, G.R.G., WELCH, L.S. De-internationalization. Management International Review, v. 37, n. 2, p. 7-25, 1997.; Cuervo-Cazurra et al. 2007CUERVO-CAZURRA, A., MALONEY, M.M., MANRAKHAN, S. Causes of the difficulties in internationalization. Journal of International Business Studies, v. 38, n. 5, p. 709-725, 2007.; Javalgi et al. 2011JAVALGI, R.G., DELIGONUL, S., DIXIT, A., CAVUSGIL, S.T. International market reentry: A review and research framework. International Business Review, v. 20, n. 4, p. 377-393, 2011; Matthyssens & Pauwels 2004MATTHYSSENS, P., PAUWELS, P. Strategic flexibility in export expansion: growing through withdrawal. International Marketing Review, v. 21, n. 4/5, p. 496-51, 2004.; Turner 2012TURNER, C. Deinternationalisation: towards a coevolutionary framework. European Business Review, v. 24, n. 2, p. 92-105, 2012.; Vissak 2014VISSAK, T. Nonlinear internationalization in the context of nonlinear economic development: the case of Krenholm Group. Transformations in Business and Economics, v. 13, n. 2A, p. 431-447, 2014.; Vissak & Francioni 2013VISSAK, T., FRANCIONI, B. Serial nonlinear internationalization in practice: A case study. International Business Review, v. 22, n. 6, p. 951-962, 2013.; Vissak & Masso 2015VISSAK, T., MASSO, J. Export patterns: typology development and application to Estonian data. International Business Review, v. 24, n. 4, p. 652-664, 2015.; Welch & Welch 2009WELCH, C.L., WELCH, L.S. Re-internationalisation: exploration and conceptualization. International Business Review, v. 18, n. 6, p. 567-577, 2009.) |
fluctuating: firms experience fluctuations in international involvement: they exit some markets permanently or temporarily or decrease their involvement there (de-internationalize), later some re-enter some markets (re-internationalize) or enter others; such fluctuations can occur several times |
external and internal factors: including changed external environment (exchange rates, costs, competition, demand, export quotas), changes in business partners' situation, unstable foreign orders, lost or gained access to resources, managers' changes in the firm's strategy |