Internationalisation in Service Companies

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Abstract
This article presents a conceptual framework for analysing the internationalisation of knowledge-intensive service companies. The framework has been developed as a result of an empirical study of ten Scandinavian companies, representing different types of service -for instance, insurance, consulting and security. The internationalisation process is divided into four stages: prospecting, introduction, consolidation and reorientation. One major implication of the study is that internationalisation should not be viewed as mainly a question of globalisation or adaptation to local business conditions, as is usually assumed in the litera- ture. Instead it is the interplay between these two major strategic orientations that determines the outcome of the inter- nationalisation process, and companies need to learn how to balance the two successfully. The empirical results and practical implications of the study are summarised in a number of theses dealing with the overall guidance of the internationalisation process.

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