The internationalisation process : a relationship approach : a study of close customer relations' impact on an industrial firm's pace of internationalisation

Abstract

It is established that experience is an important driver of a firm’s internationalisation process, at least in the early stages. Recently, however, it is found that network relations may also have some influence on the process. I set out to find if close customer relations in particular may drive or facilitate the internationalisation process. The theories on which I base my study are the Internationalisation Process Theory, Network Theory, and Relationship Marketing. I observed the ongoing process in my case company, the Ulstein Group, and also retraced its internationalisation history to get a realistic view of how a firm’s internationalisation process actually proceed. From this observation I found at least two other factors, that are likely to have an impact on a firm’s pace of internationalisation namely, sudden acquisition opportunities and change of ownership.