Internationalization of Malaysian quantity surveying firms: exploring the best fit models

Abstract

The internationalization of services has been largely under-researched, more so in respect of developing countries. In light of this, the various models on firm internationalization were tested to determine which of them best fits the internationalization of Malaysian quantity surveying (QS) firms. The models were a combination of the old and more recent. In doing so, the 'what', 'where', 'how', 'which' and 'why' of the subject matter were addressed. Data were collected using the mixed method, combining a postal questionnaire survey, follow-up interviews and secondary data. The findings point to certain models (i.e. liability of foreignness concept, network theory, internalization theory and international entrepreneurship) having a good fit with the subject matter in comparison to others (i.e. resource-based theory, eclectic paradigm, stage growth theory and 'born global'). Based on the findings and in view of Malaysia's impending liberalization of services by 2012, certain recommendations are made for those firms that are still insular in orientation, notably the necessity for top management to have the internationalization drive and business networks they should leverage on. Malaysia's export promotion agencies must also have targeted efforts to increase the export of QS services.International business, models, quantity surveying, Malaysia,

Development of OLI+S Entry Decision Model for Construction Firms in International Markets

“…Hence, validity and reliability issues counterbalanced each other to triangulate on the "true" results. This approach has being widely accepted by many researchers in studies related to internationalization and market entry strategies (Abdul Aziz and Awil, 2010;Abdul Aziz et al, 2011;Abdul Aziz, Azmi, Law, and Ngau, 2013;Maqsoom, Charoenngam, Masood, and Awais, 2014). In this study, the quantitative method outweighed the qualitative method.…”

“…(Abdul- Aziz, 1995;Abdul Aziz and Wong, 2010;Cantwell, 2014;Jin and Deng, 2012;Li, 2010;Jiang, 2004, 2006;Tallman, 1993;Wong and Abdul Aziz, 2009;Wymbs, 2001;Yang and Lu, 2013). For example, Cantwell (2014) applied the OLI eclectic paradigm in relation to building new capabilities which were derived from an interaction between the ownership and locational capabilities due to firm and its home country institutions and also due to other actors in host country at other locations There were also other significant empirical studies relating to the application of the OLI eclectic paradigm in international construction (Seymour, 1987;Abdul Aziz and Awil, 2010;Abdul Aziz et al, 2011;Rahman, 2014;Cuervo and Low, 2003;Low and Jiang, 2006;. These studies examined firms in construction industry in a country or region by identifying their respective OLI advantages.An important study was carried out by Low and Jiang (2006), in which a comparison between Chinese international and local contractors was made.…”

“…(He and Wei, 2011), anticipated economic risks such as currency fluctuation, interest rate, etc. (Zaradiah, 2008), other foreign competitors in the host country (Ramayah, Mohamad, Jaafar, Abdul Aziz, and Wong, 2010), promotion of export efforts of home government (Abdul Aziz et al, 2011), financial support from home country banks (Mat Isa, Mohd Saman, and Preece, 2014), trade relationship between two countries (Braunerhjelm, Oxelheim, and Thulin, 2005), diplomatic relationship between two countries (Chen, 2005), host government control on licensing, restrictions and other FDI requirements (Ozorhon et al, 2010).…”

“…Thus, assessing these three decisions is a continuous process and has important implications on the long-term and short-term financial positions of the firms. Even though many international construction researchers have incorporated the OLI eclectic paradigm which include Seymour (1987), Cuervo and Pheng (2003), Low, Jiang and Leong (2004), Rahman (2014), Wong and Abdul-Aziz (2009), Abdul- Aziz and Awil (2010), Abdul Aziz et al (2011) and Gabriel (2014), they did not consider the specialty advantages in their studies as introduced by .…”

A Descentralização das Políticas Públicas para a Promoção da Internacionalização das PME. Uma Explicação Teórica

“…Thus, government and public organizations should be aware to the different needs of the various potential users and should develop or change their activities accordingly (Seringhaus and Botschen, 1991;Martincus et al, 2010;Abdul-Aziz et al, 2011). Based on this argumentation, export promotion policies should be differentiated according to the groups of enterprises that share common features, regardless of whether they belong to the same sector (Calderón et al, 2005).…”