The Chinese way or the highway? Case study of Scandinavian companies established in China

Abstract: Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate how important it is for Scandinavian firm’s internationalization process to fully adopt to the Chinese culture when trying to enter the Chinese market. In order to investigate the aim of this study two sub-questions have been formulated where Chinese culture will be analyzed and different models for internationalization process will be discussed. This study is a qualitative study since it will present information based on semi-structured interviews and theories from various areas collected from articles and literature. Interviews was held with three different companies operating in China with origins from Scandinavia. All three companies are different when it comes to their size and which sector they operate in. Interesting result are found concerning the impact Chinese culture has on the prospects of Scandinavian firms trying to establish in China. This study confirms the importance of understanding and incorporating the Chinese work-culture for Scandinavian firms which are establishing/ entering the Chinese market. If the culture differences between China and Scandinavian countries are acknowledged by the firms, firms can turn the differences to an opportunity for themselves, otherwise the culture differences will result in an obstacle in their internationalization process and will result in failure to succeed in the Chinese market.