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Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) pp 567–590Cite as

Effectuation, Causation and the Revised Uppsala Model: A Behavioral Analysis of Iranian SMEs’ Internationalization

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Part of the Contributions to Management Science book series (MANAGEMENT SC.)

Abstract

This study examines the boundary conditions of the emerging international entrepreneurship theories in explaining the internationalization of firms in the novel context of Iran. For this purpose, the alternate template strategy is employed to assess the extent to which the behaviors undertaken by the Iranian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to enter international markets are consistent with the emerging theories of international entrepreneurship, namely causation, effectuation and the revised Uppsala model. Our multiple case study approach indicates that behaviours suggested by the similar theories of effectuation and revised Uppsala model are dominant among the cases; yet when firms perceive lower level of uncertainty in a market or are not faced with the lack of resource availability, they show causal behaviour. These results provide a better understanding of the process of SMEs’ internationalization in developing countries.

Keywords

  • Internationalization
  • Effectuation
  • Causation
  • The revised Uppsala model
  • Developing country
  • Iran

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Kamal Sakhdari & Shima Saniei

Authors
  1. Kamal Sakhdari
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  2. Shima Saniei
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kamal Sakhdari .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chairholder, UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, Paris, France

    Prof. Dr. Nezameddin Faghih

  2. Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Dr. Mohammad Reza Zali

Appendix

Appendix

1.1 Questions Used to Develop Case Studies

1.1.1 Warm Up Questions

  • What is firm’s age?

  • Describe firm’s history.

  • How many employees are working in the firm?

  • What products and services do you offer in local markets?

  • What is a firm’s competitive advantage in local markets?

  • General questions about international activities

  • In what year did you start internationalization activities?

  • What countries have you entered?

  • What products or services do you offer in foreign markets?

  • What are your competitive advantages in foreign markets?

1.1.2 Main Questions

  • Describe your internationalization process.

  • Why did you select this foreign market?

  • How did you know this market?

  • Did you have a written business plan, marketing plan, competition analysis?

  • How are they detailed?

  • Do they have financial analysis? Do you decide based on this financial analysis?

  • How are these plans developed?

  • To what extent did you meet your goals?

  • How predictable is the market?

  • Did you have any contacts in this market?

  • How did you make this contact?

  • Did you need to change in order to enter the foreign market? What changes?

  • Did you need any other resources to enter the foreign market?

  • Who are your customers?

  • How did you access and sell to them?

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Sakhdari, K., Saniei, S. (2018). Effectuation, Causation and the Revised Uppsala Model: A Behavioral Analysis of Iranian SMEs’ Internationalization. In: Faghih, N., Zali, M. (eds) Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Contributions to Management Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75913-5_21

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