International Business Marketing
Mark Omari
214032345
Internationalisation is the process of planning and implementing products and services so that they can easily be adapted to specific local languages and cultures. The internationalisation process, which is when firms decide to engage in export and Foreign direct investment was carried out by Portugal. Since firms face uncertainty because they are normally unaware of local regulations and legal requirements and also be unaware about the size of foreign demand and the adequacy of their products to local taste. Portugal tried to test their internationalisation by moving into the closest countries first. They followed the main dimensions of internationalisation process which are Uniformity, Direction and Rhythm. These three are somewhat interdependent when it comes to internationalisation.
Uniformity in internationalisation refers to the degree of regularity of internationalisation process over time. As we saw from the case study, the Portuguese steadily acquired businesses in the Spanish market by starting with Corporacion Noroeste. This was followed by other firms such as Petrogal, Caxia Geral among others. The survey that was conducted also showed that Spain was prioritised by the Portuguese when it came to internationalisation.
Direction in the internationalisation refers to the paths taken by a particular internationalisation process. The more an internationalisation process changes direction, the more it takes paths that are different from the original path in terms of degree of localisation, externalisation etc. After spring boarding Spain, they further went on to enter new territories like North Africa and the countries formally known as PALOPs. Clearly the Portuguese were following the direction of entering territories that they were both familiar with.
Rhythm, a dimension of internationalisation process which was developed by Vermeulen and Barkema refers to the intervals between...