Eastern Promises: Understanding the Internationalisation Process of Swedish Professional Service Firms

Abstract: In this thesis, we deal with the internationalisation of Swedish Professional Service Firms (PSFs) expanding to Asia. The reason for the chosen topic is that the knowledge industry, and PSFs, is increasing in importance for all the western economies, including the Swedish economy. Also, we have identified a theoretical gap in the internationalisation process of PSFs. Thus, the purpose has been to increase the understanding of the internationalisation process of Swedish PSFs. We have chosen a qualitative method with an abductive and positivistic approach, summarising the literature in the field, and complementing it with basic theories on internationalisation. Combining the theories with our empirical interview data from twelve case companies and five client companies, we have constructed an internationalisation process valid for all case companies. From the process, we have concluded that the client network, and committed resources, are of great importance for the success of internationalisation of PSFs.