A Triad of Uppsala Internationalization of Emerging Markets Firms and Challenges: A Systematic Review

Paul Agu Igwe,David Gamariel Rugara,Mahfuzur Rahman

doi:10.3390/admsci12010003

Paul Agu Igwe, David Gamariel Rugara + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci12010003

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Journal: Administrative Sciences	Publication Date: Dec 25, 2021
Citations: 4	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Lincoln

Abstract

The economic advancement of emerging markets such as China, Brazil, and India has been regarded as one of the benefits of a globalized world. This paper revisits and evaluates the Uppsala model to teases out the process, speed, determinants, and challenges of early internationalization approaches of firms in transition and emerging markets (TEMs). Applying Systematic Literature Review (SLR), this article collects, disintegrates, and categorizes previous studies, synthesizing the theoretical models to shed light on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) characteristics, behaviour, and motives to internationalise, as well as the approaches to internationalisation. This method identified 183 articles published between 2008–2018 from 84 international journals. A triad (a set of three related things) highlights the three main features of the Integrated Uppsala Model including the basic assumptions, influential factors, and competitive strategies of firms. The findings suggest that the institutional–legal environment constitutes key barriers that firms in TEMs must overcome to develop an early internationalization strategy. It appears that internationalization literature focusing on emerging markets is biased towards China. The review identifies a need for future studies to (i) focus on emerging markets firms in Africa and South America; and (ii), provide a cross-country analysis and evaluation of internationalization strategies of TEMs.

Highlights

The focus of this article is to analyse previous studies on Uppsala internationalization approaches of firms in transition and emerging markets (TEMs) to teases out the process, speed, determinants, and challenges
The findings reveal that the performance, speed, and ability of firms to internationalize depends on the prevailing institutional conditions, ability to innovate and international behaviour
The findings suggest that successful internationalization strategies of firms in TEMs depend on the institutional environment, exploiting international networks, adaptations in technologies, organization resource capabilities, managerial competencies, and innovativeness

Summary

Introduction

The focus of this article is to analyse previous studies on Uppsala internationalization approaches of firms in transition and emerging markets (TEMs) to teases out the process, speed, determinants, and challenges. Internationalization strategy, speed, and intensity among firms in TEMs are growing rapidly, driven largely by rapid changes in socio-economic changes and innovation (Amankwah-Amoah et al 2018; Anning-Dorson 2018; Narteh and Acheampong 2018). Knight and Cavusgil (2004) argued that “the strongly innovative natures of born globals support these businesses in developing particular types of knowledge, which drives the development of organizational capabilities that support early internationalization and superior performance in diverse international markets” Studies (Caputo et al.researched internationalization frameworks in (Caputo et al.2016; Cavusgil and Knight 2015). 1977) explains the internationalization (Osei-Bonsu 2014)

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