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Models of Czech companies’ internationalization

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Abstract

The opening of markets has created the potential for small and medium enterprises expansion and investment. There have been several theories and conceptual frameworks that seek to explore a company’s decision to initiate the internationalization process. International business literature most frequently deals with two main types of internationalization models: the stage model and the early internationalization model. The purpose of this paper is to review selected methodological approaches concerning internationalization processes and related internationalization models, and on this background, it aims to investigate internationalization models of Czech companies. The companies included in the study are those that have already undertaken internationalization activities and are incorporated in the Czech Republic. A total of 297 enterprises participated in the study and the main primary data collection instrument was a questionnaire-interview. The findings of the analysis of the internationalization process of Czech companies show that the level and degree of companies’ internationalization is still relatively low. The research also shows that most Czech companies fall within the category of gradually globalizing companies.

Abstrakt

Die Öffnung der Märkte bildete für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen ein Expansions- und Investitionspotential. Es gibt verschiedene Theorien und Konzeptionen, die versuchen, die Entscheidung des Unternehmens, ein Internationalisierungsverfahren einzuleiten, zu erforschen. Die internationale Business-Literatur beschäftigt sich überwiegend mit zwei Haupttypen von Internationalisierungsmodellen - dem Stufenmodell und dem früheren Internationalisierungsmodell. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit besteht in einer Revision der ausgewählten methodischen Ansätze der Internationalisierungsprozesse und der damit verbundenen Internationalisierungsmodelle. Auf diesem Hintergrund werden dann die Internationalisierungsmodelle der tschechischen Unternehmen untersucht. Die in die Studie einbezogenen Unternehmen sind diejenigen, die bereits Internationalisierungsaktivitäten unternahmen und in der Tschechischen Republik inkorporiert sind. Insgesamt 297 Unternehmen nahmen an der Studie teil und das wichtigste Instrument der Datenerfassung war ein Fragebogen-Interview. Die Ergebnisse der Analyse der Internationalisierung der tschechischen Firmen bestätigen, dass das Niveau und der Internationalisierungsgrad nach wie vor relativ gering sind. Die Forschung zeigt, dass sich auch die meisten tschechischen Unternehmen innerhalb der Kategorie der schrittweise globalisierenden Unternehmen befinden.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks the JIEN editor, Hamid Etemad and three anonymous reviewers for their many constructive comments and suggestions, which have been instrumental in the development of this article. The author also thanks numerous colleagues for helpful comments.

Conflict of interest

The author declares that she has no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management and Marketing, Moravian University College Olomouc, tř. Kosmonautů 1288/1, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic

    Šárka Zapletalová

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  1. Šárka Zapletalová
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Correspondence to Šárka Zapletalová.

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Summary Highlights

Contributions: The paper makes an important contribution to the issue of internationalization of Czech companies by defining the particular internationalization models. It shows the influence of selected variables on the internationalization process of Czech companies.

Research Questions/Purpose: What are the specifics of the internationalization process of entrepreneurial activities of Czech companies? It is possible to determine any specific model of internationalization of Czech companies?

Results/Findings: Testing through cluster analysis, using data from 297 Czech companies participated in the study, has confirmed the existence of five basic internationalization models of the Czech companies. The most Czech companies perform on international markets following both basic models of internationalization: the stage model and the early internationalization model. The majority of the Czech companies oscillate between these models and neither company can be characterized as having complex qualities of the models.

Theoretical Implications and Recommendations: Although author does not develop new theory, the work builds on prior works in the field of international business toward a theory of the internationalization of company. The results of this work contribute new insights on the internationalization process of companies in the post-communist country. In the country, where were held significant changes in the economic system 25 years ago and where the majority of companies have a history shorter than 25 years.

Practical Implications and Recommendations: The work represents a certain building block toward such a future development of internationalization activities of Czech companies. The necessity of active participation of Czech entrepreneurial subjects at international markets is conditioned primarily by the character of Czech economics and its foreign political orientation. Increasing the active involvement of Czech companies at international markets can be supported by government policies creating stimuli for the internationalization of companies.

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Zapletalová, Š. Models of Czech companies’ internationalization. J Int Entrep 13, 153–168 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-015-0145-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-015-0145-9

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