Internationalisation of family businesses – evidences from joint venture formations at Danfoss

Britta Boyd, Toshio Goto and Svend Hollensen ()

International Journal of Management Practice, 2010, vol. 4, issue 3, 253-272

Abstract: This paper focuses on the international joint venture formation process of family businesses. The reason behind Danfoss' decision to cooperate with two competing family businesses in Japan and China as well as two non-family businesses in Canada and Great Britain will be analysed. In-depth qualitative interviews reveal the driving forces on both sides and show how the psychic distance can be reduced between the different parent firms including the Joint Venture (JV) child. The purpose of this study is to compare equal split or equity joint ventures of non-family and family firms regarding the formation process, including competences and cultures. The study indicates which core competences of a family business matter when cooperating in equal split joint ventures. Implications for family business owners and ideas for future research are discussed.

Keywords: core competences; joint venture formations; internationalisation strategies; psychic distances; competence-based views; five-phase relationship model; Danfoss; Denmark; globalisation; Japan; China; Canada; UK; United Kingdom; parent companies; subsidiaries; non-family firms; organisational cultures; equal split joint ventures; equity joint ventures; cooperation; business owners; ownership; refrigeration; air conditioning; Saginomiya; Sanhua Group; Danfoss Turbocor Compressors; USA; United States; Senstronics; Danaher Corporation; management practice; family businesses. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijmpra:v:4:y:2010:i:3:p:253-272

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