engleski

Digital marketing agencies' internationalization pathways: a view of an intermediary on the process and internationalization barriers

Business internationalization is usually time- consuming process that requires a significant amount of resources. Traditional theories describe internationalization as a process where companies slowly expand their operations to the “closest” markets, gradually increasing their internationalization commitment over time. With the deployment of new business models, usually backed by development and implementation of various Internet based technologies, a new type of rapid internationalization pathway emerges. Labeled as “born globals”, companies following this pathway seek internationalization opportunities since their inception. During the internationalization process, companies face various barriers. While the research studies provide certain insight into the internationalization barriers that affect larger enterprises, the context of born globals is not that much investigated. The purpose of this study is to shed some light on the internationalization barriers among born globals. As the selected research method, two in-depth interviews with industry professionals in order to investigate common internationalization barriers among digital agencies. Some of them are external and mostly related to the lack of market information. Internal barriers are usually related to the productive capacity, available funds, manager’s uncertainty and low level of risk accepting. Therefore, digital agencies follow different internationalization pathways. Although they base their business on the Internet, they are not necessarily highly internationalized and, in some cases, follow gradual approach with lower market commitment. Agencies with more resources and good ties on international markets tend to internationalize their business at higher pace. While being exploratory, this paper provides guidelines for further research of the rapid internationalization phenomenon among digital marketing agencies.

internationalization, Uppsala model, stage model, born global, internationalization barriers, digital marketing, advertising agency

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