Speed and synchronization in foreign market network entry: A note on the revisited Uppsala model

Abstract

A well-established interpretation of the Uppsala model is that it predicts a slow internationalization. Research has shown that it is not inevitable. It shows that rapid internationalization can happen in some cases, suggesting that the model needs to be reassessed. In an attempt to respond to this challenge, we return to the model as it was proposed in 2009, and look to improve its temporal aspects by reexamining the process of gaining an insidership position and the impact that has on both the network and the ways firms cope with dynamics. The study advances two temporal concepts—synchronization and network entry speed—and incorporates them into the model. Because business networks are unstable, entering a foreign market’s network is not a question of establishing a position in a stable environment but rather of synchronizing a firm’s organization to the dynamics of a changing network. Combining resources across firm boundaries and developing relationships in the business network is a process that is shaped by both time and context. Thus, we use a network setting to define synchronization and speed, and make a distinction between sequential and simultaneous synchronization and integrated and separated synchronization. With these ideas in mind, we present eight new propositions for the internationalization.