Internationalization speed in the context of diversified MNEs : a literature review on internationalization speed and an empirical study on the internationalization of new business units : dissertation for obtaining the doctor degree of economic science (

Long description: To date, surprisingly little research has been devoted to internationalization speed, which is arguably one of the most important time-based dimensions of a firm's internationalization process. There has been some research devoted to speed in the context of international entrepreneurship and the internationalization of newly founded firms, but internationalization speed in the context of established firms has by and large been overlooked. An underexplored question therefore is: What explains differences in internationalization speed in the context of established firms? This work aims to make the following contributions: First, an overview on the study of internationalization speed and the drivers and outcomes of speed that have been discussed in the literature so far is provided to motivate the readers to develop their own research ideas in this area. Second, an empirical investigation on the speed of internationalization in the context of established firms is presented. This empirical study focuses on knowledge as one of the core drivers of the internationalization speed of newly established business units (NBUs) of established multinational enterprises (MNEs). The book provides exciting insights for international business researchers seeking a comprehensive overview of the topic of internationalization speed, as well as for business practitioners and managers that develop strategies how and how fast to internationalize their companies. Martin Hammes studied business administration in Bamberg, Aarhus and Vallendar. He earned his doctorate degree at the WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management with this dissertation Summary of contents 7 Table of contents 7 List of figures 10 List of tables 11 List of abbreviations 12 1. Introduction 15 1.1 Motivation and positioning 15 1.2 The research subject: Internationalization of newly founded business units 17 1.3 Theoretical perspective: Organizational learning 18 1.4 Structure of the doctoral thesis 20 2 Theoretical background 23 2.1 The internationalization process 23 2.1.1 Characteristics of the internationalization process 23 2.1.1.1 Reasons for internationalization – Why? 24 2.1.1.2 Modes of internationalization – How? 26 2.1.1.3 Directions of internationalization – Where? 29 2.1.1.4 Timing of internationalization – When? 31 2.1.2 Internationalization process theories 32 2.1.2.1 Raymond Vernon’s (1966) product cycle theory 33 2.1.2.2 Jair Aharoni’s (1966) Foreign direct investment decision process model 35 2.1.2.3 Johanson and Vahlne’s (1977) Uppsala model of the internationalization process 37 2.1.3 The role of speed in classical internationalization process theories 42 2.2 Speed in contemporary International Business research: A review of the literature 43 2.2.1 Method of the literature review 43 2.2.2 Descriptive overview of journal articles 46 2.2.3 The concept of speed 50 2.2.4 Perspectives of speed in the international business literature 53 2.2.4.1 The single activity perspectives 55 2.2.4.2 The multi activity perspectives 67 2.2.4.3 The hybrid perspectives (single and multi activity) 72 2.2.5 Learnings from the study of internationalization speed perspectives 79 2.2.6 The study of speed in international business: Overview and Classification 82 2.2.7 Drivers of Speed 85 2.2.7.1 The influence of the general business environment on speed 85 i. Product Characteristics 85 ii. Industry Characteristics 87 iii. Technological development 93 2.2.7.2 The influence of location-factors on speed 95 iv. Home market environment 95 v. Foreign market environment 97 2.2.7.3 The influence of firm-specific characteristics on speed 100 vi. General firm characteristics 100 vii. Firm resources 105 viii. Firm knowledge 109 ix. Firm management 117 x. Firm network 122 xi. Entry modes of the firm 126 2.2.8 Outcomes of Speed 129 a. Survival 129 b. (Financial) performance 131 c. Growth 135 2.2.9 Summarizing the findings from the literature review 138 2.3 Knowledge and learning during the internationalization process 152 2.3.1 Characteristics of knowledge 152 2.3.2 Types of knowledge in the international context 153 2.3.3 Organizational learning modes 155 2.3.4 Knowledge transfer in diversified MNES 156 2.3.5 Knowledge accumulation and the start of an NBU’s internationalization process 158 3. Empirical study: The speed of new business unit internationalization 159 3.1 Development of Hypotheses: 159 3.2 Methodology 168 3.2.1 Sample 168 3.2.2 Statistical approach 170 3.2.3 Variables 172 3.2.3.1 Dependent variable 172 3.2.3.2 Independent variables 173 3.2.3.3 Control variables 175 3.3 Results 178 3.4 Robustness checks 183 3.5 Discussion of the empirical study 184 3.6. Limitations and suggestions for further research 189 4. Conclusion 193 Bibliography 195 Internationalization Speed,Multinational Enterprises,Newly founded business units,Speed drivers,Internationalization knowledge To date, surprisingly little research has been devoted to internationalization speed, which is arguably one of the most important time-based dimensions of a firm's internationalization process. There has been some research devoted to speed in the context of international entrepreneurship and the internationalization of newly founded firms, but internationalization speed in the context of established firms has by and large been overlooked. An underexplored question therefore is: What explains differences in internationalization speed in the context of established firms?