Internationalization as Patterns of Change Over Time: A Configurational Analysis

Ana M. Moreno-Menéndez, José C. Casillas and María Agustí

Global Business Review, 2024, vol. 25, issue 1, 99-116

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to show that internationalization can be studied and described as different dynamic patterns in relation to the international evolution of firms by following a process approach. The article adopts a process approach jointly with a configuration-oriented perspective, to evaluate the strategy as a group of decisions instead of isolated and unrelated variables. Besides, a dynamic approach is incorporated in this study. For achieving the objective, we have studied the changes occurring in some of the variables involved in the internationalization process along a 4-year period (2002–2006). By means of a cluster analysis of the dynamic variables, seven different groups were identified and their external validity studied. The results obtained allow us to pose that the internationalization process cannot be generalized. A complex index and the consideration of evolution over time is a must. Besides, these patterns have been associated to different international status or profiles and to demographic variables, and show the existence of certain relationships between the internationalization status at a certain moment (static perspective) and its latter evolution (dynamic perspective). One of the key implications is the importance of understanding the internationalization process as a complex and interrelated decision. The fingerprints in such process should not be considered as isolated facts but as a part of a greater position. Despite the use of a similar methodology in other studies, this article is original in the introduction of the time (speed) approach to the configurational analysis of the internationalization process.

Keywords: Internationalization; configuration; cluster; dynamic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:globus:v:25:y:2024:i:1:p:99-116

DOI: 10.1177/0972150920957275

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