Internationalization strategies of frontier Lusophone-African multinational enterprises: Comparative case studies of Angola and Mozambique

Abstract

Internationalization theories suggest that enterprises from emerging and frontier markets will adopt different entry modes than those in advanced economies. There are very few studies to date, however, examining the process of how multinational enterprises (MNEs) from frontier markets internationalize or evaluating which factors influence their mode of entry into global markets. This research investigates the internationalization strategies of Lusophone Africa MNEs from Angola and Mozambique, more specifically their entry mode, to expand the framework for entry mode strategies to include the motivations and issues of MNEs from emerging and frontier economies. Surveys, as well as in-depth, in-country, qualitative interviews reveal that these frontier and emerging market MNEs opted for equity-based investment strategies as their preferred mode of entry. A significant group second group opted for e-commerce/e-business strategies, and direct and indirect exports. Finally, a smaller portion of the interviewees chose Greenfield investment as a mode of entry. Many of these MNEs could be classified as born global/INV.

Social media as a data gathering tool for international business qualitative research: opportunities and challenges

“…The emergence of social media provides IB qualitative researchers, particularly those investigating economies challenged by extreme poverty and underdevelopment, as in the case of Lusophone African countries, a new avenue for connecting with individuals, organizations, and enterprises in those regions. In our recent qualitative study on internationalization modes of MNEs in Angola and Mozambique (Goncalves and Cornelius Smith, 2017), we faced significant challenges in being able to identify and connect with local in-country MNEs. As scholars with experience utilizing a variety of social media platforms, we contemplated the possibility that quantitative researchers in international business, especially those researching frontier economies where extreme poverty and lack of infrastructure development is pervasive, could make good use of social media as both data.…”

“…There is value in gaining insights into the various processes of such research, from the identification and selection of the population target to data collection and analysis. Studies outside the field of IB, including those by Snelson (2011Snelson ( , 2016, prompted us (see Goncalves and Cornelius Smith, 2017) to construct similar research design. We used LinkedIn's emerging and frontier market groups to conduct a qualitative analysis aimed at uncovering patterns of internationalization process regarding MNEs from Lusophone African countries, specifically in Angola and Mozambique.…”

“…A second study by Vyas, Landry, Schnider, Rojas, and Wood (2012), combined a survey with follow-up interviews to examine short message services and social media use among Latinos. This study prompted us (see Goncalves and Cornelius Smith, 2017) to utilize Twitter and Constant Contact to conduct a short quasi-quantitative survey and another more extensive qualitative one, to qualify respondents and set up in-country interviews. Greene, Choudhry, Kilabuk, and Shrank (2011) conducted qualitative research evaluating Facebook communities posts dedicated to diabetes to reveal how patients, family members, and friends share information and receive emotional support.…”

“…The same issue can apply to social media. For instance, when collecting data on LinkedIn, basic access to the platform, which limited the number of companies and professionals eligible for contact, does not provide much of the relevant information being sought in the previous study (Goncalves and Cornelius Smith 2017). It was necessary to upgrade to a fee-based membership (premium) to be able to access additional information and large numbers of users.…”

“…There are very few studies to date, however, examining the process of how multinational enterprises (MNEs) from frontier markets internationalize or evaluating which factors influence their mode of entry into global markets. Our previous research (Goncalves and Smith, 2017) investigated the internationalization strategies of Lusophone Africa MNEs from Angola and Mozambique, more specifically their entry mode, to expand the framework for entry mode strategies to include the motivations and issues of MNEs from emerging and frontier economies.…”