Go East! How family businesses choose markets and entry modes when internationalising

• This paper investigates the choices of foreign markets, international market selection (IMS), and the respective entry modes, entry mode selection (EMS), for family firms internationalisation by using in-depth case studies of two family-owned newspaper companies. These decisions are studied from the Uppsala-stage model perspective. The purpose is to understand how and why family firms choose IMS and EMS when internationalising from a risk perspective. This study shows that IMS and EMS can at times be the consequence of one decision which may be the result of opportunistic behaviour. The decision reflects the risk preferences of owning families when selecting markets and entry modes. The explored family firms use contrasting approaches as they choose IMS and EMS according to different logics. Psychic distance leads to certain international market selection, but there is not a given preference for low distance. Instead, the entry mode selection reflects the dominant risk perception of the owning families. A preference for direct entry modes corresponds to the owning families risk perception and need for control. Accordingly, IMS and EMS are two steps, but the order of these is not given, i.e. after an entry mode is chosen this may be applied irrespective of the market to be entered. Business model and acquisition are highlighted as alternative entry modes, giving control to family firms. Thereby, this study expands those prior and increases the understanding of the peculiarities of family firm internationalisation.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

family business

internationalisation

acquisition

China

Czech Republic

business model

newspaper industry

Humaniora-samhällsvetenskap

Humanities and Social sciences

Strategiskt entreprenörskap (StrEnt)

Strategic Entrepreneurship

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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