International market entry mode strategies of manufacturing firms and service firms

Abstract

This research has two major purposes: developing and testing a resource‐based framework for entry mode choice and ascertaining the extent to which the determinants of foreign market entry mode choice in the manufacturing sector apply to foreign market entry mode choice in the non‐separable service sector. Using mail survey data collected from top‐level managers of US firms that had been engaged in international business, the article tests a number of research hypotheses concerning foreign market entry mode choice in the manufacturing and service sectors. The managerial and research implications of the findings are delineated and directions for future research are offered.