Development of the Uppsala model of internationalization process: From internationalization to evolution

Jan‐Erik Vahlne

90 citations0/0 files storedGlobal Strategy Journal

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

International Business and FDI Innovation and Knowledge Management International Student and Expatriate Challenges

Abstract

Abstract Research Summary I explain how the Uppsala model of the internationalization process progressed from explaining internationalization to explaining evolution. Initially, empirical findings led to the formulation of a model, later named the Uppsala model, driven by the interplay between experiential learning and commitments to expand the business into new foreign markets and deepen engagements in existing markets. Later, conceptions led to networks becoming a key ingredient in the model. As a result, globalization, geographical extensions and reconfigurations, and coordination changes were shown to follow the same pattern of learning and commitments as internationalization did. More recently, other dimensions in firms' evolution, such as R&D, and organizational and strategic change processes appear to follow similar processes of learning and commitments. Managerial Summary I explain how the Uppsala model of the internationalization process changed from explaining internationalization to explaining evolution. Superior profitability depends on not waiting until everything is known but rather managing under uncertainty, preferably acting before competitors do, which is risky, and this risk must be kept at an acceptable level. This is possible not only by learning from experience, as was proposed in the initial version of the model, but also from engaging with a network of partners and actors in the relevant field of knowledge, as a subsequent revision of the model acknowledged. The latest version of the model highlights the importance of evolution in the access and development of knowledge, with performance depending on both environmental change and managerial action.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 90 citations exist upstream.

References

1997Dynamic capabilities and strategic management 1994The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing 2007Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance 1977The Internationalization Process of the Firm—A Model of Knowledge Development and Increasing Foreign Market Commitments 1986The Economic Institutions of Capitalism 1983An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change 1998Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage 2003Maps of Bounded Rationality: Psychology for Behavioral Economics

Cited by

2022Managing digital transformation during re-internationalization: Trajectories and implications for performance 2021Enriching internationalization process theory: insights from the study of emerging market multinationals 2020Learning in SME Internationalization: A New Perspective on Learning From Success versus Failure 2023Internationalising high–tech SMEs: Advancing a new perspective of open innovation 2022The impact of industry 4.0 on the 2017 version of the Uppsala model

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.