"Relationships are the key to avoid suprises." : A qualitative study of how a Swedish B2B SME perceive risk when internationalizing to South Africa.

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze how Swedish B2B SMEs perceive and manage risk when internationalizing to South Africa. The author intends to contribute with empirical contributions regarding risk perception and management in this matter in order to ease the establishment for other companies wanting to expand to South Africa. The literature review has been conducted regarding relevant theory such as different internationalization theories, entry mode strategies and risk theories to gain a deeper understanding of former researches within this field.   The research has been conducted as a qualitative embedded case study of a Swedish B2B SME regarding their risk perception and internationalization in South Africa with different units of analysis within this case. Further, the study has followed an abductive research approach.   The analysis can be understood as a discussion between the theoretical and the empirical findings with similarities and differences. Further the results of our study are presented by answering the three research questions in the conclusion chapter. Moreover, in this chapter are theoretical and practical recommendations as well as recommendation for future researches and a short reflection.