Foreign market entry : The strategic decision of foreign market entry by service firms

Abstract: This report is investigating the subject of foreign market entry for service companies. Service firms differ from manufacturing firms since they have a low degree of tangible assets and resources and therefore service firms have to manage and develop their intangible assets to be competitive. Foreign market entry for service firms are a quite unexplored area, and forces that is connected to the subject has to be explored. The purpose of this paper is to identify motives for foreign market entry decision, and central issues a service company should consider before entering a foreign market.   The theoretical framework in the research reports is provided in the literature review chapter. The literature review contains different authors’ opinions about the subject. The theoretical framework is divided into four different sub-headings that are connected with foreign market entry. The authors did a qualitative single case study with an IT-service firm competing on the Swedish market. The empirical data was collected from five respondents at the chosen company. The primary data from the respondents was gained from in-depth interviews and the secondary data was collected from annual reports and internal documents. One conclusion in the study is that there can be a lot of different motives for an entry on a foreign market. The different motives that is stated in the study has a common denominator which is that they can all lead to increased profit in the long run. Other findings are that a service firm has to consider certain external and internal forces in the foreign market entry decision process. The external and internal forces are also linked to the choice of entry mode. The authors provide a model in the conclusion chapter which explains the foreign market entry process and the connection between the different forces.