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Domestic Activity and Knowledge Development in the Internationalization Process of Firms

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Abstract

This paper is based on behavioral theory on internationalization, examining the effect of firms operations in the domestic market on experiential knowledge development in the internationalization of the firm. Five hypotheses are developed on the effects of business operations in the domestic market on: internationalization knowledge, business knowledge and institutional knowledge. The LISREL analysis of 206 firms shows that domestic operations effect the accumulation of experiential knowledge in internationalizing firms. We found that it is harder for a firm with long domestic experience to change their mental models and processes in the internationalization process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sweden

    Anders Blomstermo

  2. Centre for Banking and Finance, Department of Infrastructure, The Royal Institute of Technology—KTH, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

    Kent Eriksson

  3. Department of Marketing, Stockholm School of Economics, Box 6501, 113 83, Stockholm, Sweden

    D. Deo Sharma

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  1. Anders Blomstermo
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  2. Kent Eriksson
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Blomstermo, A., Eriksson, K. & Sharma, D.D. Domestic Activity and Knowledge Development in the Internationalization Process of Firms. Journal of International Entrepreneurship 2, 239–258 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JIEN.0000032775.53005.59

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