PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify key barriers to internationalisation in emerging markets (EMs) for professional service firms (PSFs) from developed markets and to explain how PSFs use social networks to participate within EMs of Asia and overcome these barriers. The paper aims to provide a framework of this process.Design/methodology/approachA case‐based research design is used to explore key professional service industries (legal, media consulting and financial), providing three case studies, in a developed market (Australia) that are expanding rapidly into EMs (Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam) of Asia.FindingsThe elements of orientating, positioning and timing were identified as critical in the context of foreign entry, with the network perspective providing a useful theoretical explanation of this process and underpinning the conceptual framework. Key barriers to internationalisation in EMs for PSFs from developed markets are identified: face‐to‐face communication, language, cultural, work practices and government regulations. How PSFs use social networks to participate within EMs of Asia to overcome these barriers reveal that social network elements are critical to FME specifically into EMs: orientation, positioning and time.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the conceptual framework of key barriers and how PSF overcame them is theoretically supported by the findings, the framework could be tested more appropriately through an extended number of cases prior to a survey to provide generalizability.Practical implicationsSocial networks were used by managers of PSFs to secure market knowledge and to act as a basis for strategic decision making, with foreign network actors a key influence in the foreign market entry process.Originality/valueThe paper provides a framework for identifying key barriers to internationalisation in EMs for PSFs.

Purpose -To understand better how professional services firms (PSFs) use networks to gain entry into newly emerging markets (NEMs), to analyze how such firms are assisted in this process by prior networks and to provide a framework of this process. Design/methodology/approach -The methodology utilised in this study is qualitative and exploratory. Ten interviews across three large firms (legal, finance and media consulting) were used for the data gathering. Analysis incorporated open, axial and selective coding. Findings -Prior networks provide impetus to the foreign entry aspirations of PSFs and are critical to the process. The specific functions of network actors in the entry process are to influence the firm and to provide intelligence-gathering, arising from their participatory role in the foreign market. A framework is presented, supporting network theory as a key theoretical underpinning of strategy formulation, decision-making and implementation by PSFs entering NEMs.Research limitations/implications -The framework presented in this paper could be tested most appropriately by analysing an extended number of cases, still within a qualitative approach, prior to survey-testing the extent of the phenomena. Within the scope of the current study, however, the framework is supported by these preliminary findings. Practical implications -Networks are perceived by PSFs as a medium for capturing market knowledge and as a basis for strategic decision-making in NEMs. Originality/value -Network theory is posited as a key theoretical underpinning of core strategy formulation, decision-making and implementation by professional services entering NEMs.

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