Authors: Maria Elo
AbstractThe paradigm shift to customisation, economies of scope and focus on core competence (Talay & Cavusgil, 2008) together with rapid globalisation has created a situation in which many companies have been pushed to redesign their strategy concerning internationalisation. One often used alternative is to consider international joint venture (IJV) as a method to up-date international competitiveness. The research on IJV concentrates heavily on multinational enterprises (MNE) and very large companies. This paper contributes to the understanding of the managerial decision making when they consider the IJV as a solution for the expansion, both in small and in large companies. The study limits its focus on the strategic rationale and partner selection (cf. Beamish & Lupton, 2009). The aspects how managers plan the expansion into new markets and the respective new business networks using IJV and the configurations around these business networks and their influence on the strategic decision making form the research questions for this study.The internationalisation process is analysed from a network perspective (Johansson & Mattsson, 1988) as the firms studied are involved in complex structures. The research is based on a larger European research project. This part uses mixed methods and analyses four IJVs. Each of them has one German partner. At least one of the parent companies is a manufacturing company of some sort, i.e. they deal with physical production, manufacturing or construction activities.
Journal: n.a. (n.a. – n.a.)
Web Address: n.a.
Publish Year: 2009
Conference: Marseille, France (2009)