Regional Influences on Foreign Market Development by Business Service Companies: Elements of a Strategic Context Explanation

Abstract

O'FARRELL P. N., WOOD P. A. and ZHENG J. (1998) Regional influences on foreign market development by business service companies: elements of a strategic context explanation, Reg. Studies 32 , 31-48. The internationalization literature - both of manufacturing and services - has concentrated upon the issue of entry, and largely ignored post-entry behaviour and market development. A major aim of this paper, therefore, is to present evidence on foreign market development by business service firms in two UK regions, Scotland and the South East of England, and the Amsterdam urban region of the Netherlands. Following a review of the relevance of the internalization approach, the development stages paradigm, network analysis and a strategic choice framework to internationalization by business services, empirical findings are presented from the three regions on trajectories of foreign market development, modal shifts, the incidence of proactive market strategies and the characteristics of major clients. A behavioural framework is proposed for decision making by business service firms developing foreign markets, identifying the elements of a strategic context explanation. O'FARRELL P. N., WOOD P. A. et ZHENG J. (1998) L'impact regional des societes de services sur l'evolution du marche exterieur: les elements d'une explication portant sur un contexte strategique, Reg. Studies 32 , 31-48. La documentation au sujet de l'internationalisation - et de l'industrie, et des services - s'est concentree sur la question de la penetration et dans une large mesure a ignore le comportement qui s'ensuit et le developpement des marches. Aussi, cet article cherche-t-il principalement a faire des preuves a propos du developpement des marches exterieurs par des societes de service situees dans deux regions au Royaume-Uni, a savoir en Ecosse et dans le Sud-Est, et la conurbation d'Amsterdam aux Pays-Bas. Suite a une critique de l'importance de la facon d'interiorisation, du paradigme des phases de developpement, de l'analyse de reseaux et d'un cadre de choix strategiques relatif a l'internationalisation des societes de service, les preuves empiriques se voient presenter a partir de trois regions quant au developpement des marches exterieurs, aux deplacements modaux, a la frequence des strategies de marchedynamiques et aux caracteristiques des clients importants. Un cadre du comportement se voit proposer pour la prise de decision des societes de service qui developpent des marches exterieurs et identifie les elements d'une explication portant sur un contexte strategique. O'FARRELL P. N., WOOD P. A. und ZHENG J. (1998) Regionale Einflusse auf Entwicklung von Markten im Ausland durch Gesellschaften, die Geschaftsdienstleistungen anbieten: Elemente einer Erklarung strategischer Zusammenhange, Reg. Studies 32 , 31-48. Die Literatur der Internationalisierung - der Produktion wie auch der Dienstleistungen - hat sich auf die Frage des Einstiegs konzentriert, und das Verhalten und Marktenwicklung danach grossenteils vernachlassigt. Es ist deshalb ein ...

Determinants of Internationalization: Differences between Service and Manufacturing SMES

“…The first approach is based in the economic school of foreign direct investment (FDI) theory; the latter three are more behavioral approaches (Coviello and McAuley 1999;O'Farrell et al 1998). Each of the four approaches is discussed below.…”

“…However, each has its own specifics and/or drawbacks that disqualify it from being completely appropriate for this study (O'Farrell et al 1998). …”

“…The external factors, such as quality of firm location, competition situation, and collaboration and networking activity, are designed to discover the impact of a firm environment's on its foreign activity. Extant empirical studies, with their primary focus on the characteristics of host and/or home-country markets neglect explicitly modeling the effect of firm location on its internationalization (e.g., Dunning 1998;O'Farrell, Wood and Zheng 1998;Porter 2000), an oversight this paper intends to remedy.…”

Foreign Markets Entry Mode Decision for Italian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

“…Firms can internationalize through a variety of modes (O'Farrell, Wood, & Zheng, 1998;Wright, Westhead, & Ucbasaran, 2007) and each mode implies a different degree of control (Anderson & Gatignon, 1986;Driscoll & Paliwoda, 1997;Hill, et al, 1990;Root, 1998). Hill, Hwang and Kim (1990) defined control as "authority over operational and strategic decision making", since it gives the possibility to the firms to co-ordinate activities, safeguards supplies of critical inputs to the production process, guarantees the quality of end product, and influences the logistical and market activities for the product in the target market (Anderson & Gatignon, 1986;Driscoll & Paliwoda, 1997).…”

Knowledge, location, and internationalization: empirical evidence for manufacturing SMEs

“…Even though, overall, the existing theories provide many interesting and valuable insights into this multifarious and multi-dimensional phenomenon, the resulting picture is fragmented (Coviello and McAuley 1999;Daniels 1991;O'Farrell et al 1998). Indeed, each places the emphasis on fairly different aspects of the internationalization pattern.…”