Assessment and analysis of factors depicting the international expansion process of mobile network operators: case of Zain Telecom

Abstract

The internationalisation of a small mobile operator into the surrounding emerging markets is an entrepreneurial and risky process due to the target markets' nature. This paper deals with market and timing factors potentially influencing the transaction costs of a company in its international ventures based on Gerpott and Jakopin's paper 'Determinants of mobile network operators' choice of cross-border entry modes'. This model did not seem to explain all factors influencing the entry mode choices of Zain Telecom. Hence, in order to understand the managerial drivers in Zain Telecom's decision-making, a holistic framework market and market entry mode selection (MEMS) model was used. This framework shed the light on many of the managerial facets of Zain's strategical decision-making and answered the following question: How did the target country, market, and timing factors contribute in shaping Zain Telecom's cross-border entry mode choices?