The process of internationalization in the operating firm

Two factors have been emphasised as influencing the choice of, and subsequent shifts between, modes of foreign market servicing: (1) market-specific knowledge; and (2) the generalised knowledge from operating internationally. The process-oriented literature on internalisation has tended to emphasise...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: CLARK, Timothy Adrian Robert, PUGH, Derek S., MALLORY, Geoff
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 1997
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6288
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7287/viewcontent/Process_Internat_Firm_1997_av.pdf
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Institution: Singapore Management University
Language: English
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Summary:Two factors have been emphasised as influencing the choice of, and subsequent shifts between, modes of foreign market servicing: (1) market-specific knowledge; and (2) the generalised knowledge from operating internationally. The process-oriented literature on internalisation has tended to emphasise the former over the latter. This article maintains that market-specific knowledge is not the only source of information available to a firm. As firms operate in foreign markets they develop, in addition to networks of institutional arrangements, a knowledge of the process of internationalization. Account therefore has to be taken of the general knowledge from operating internationally in understanding the development of institutional arrangements in foreign markets. Consequently, the appropriate unit of analysis is not the individual market but the operating firm as a whole. This argument is illustrated with reference to an empirical study of the internationalization of 25 UK-based organizations.