Internationalization of the firm: stage approach vs global approach

Abstract

Globalization and virtual economy are external factors that drive companies to approach the global market from start up, giving birth to new studies on internationalization strategy, which represent an evolution of the classical stage models. According to the stage approach, companies start selling products in their home markets and then they sequentially look at new countries. Many firms do not follow incremental stage approach but is often reported that they start their international activities from their birth: they enter different country at once, approaching new markets for both exporting and sourcing. Debate in literature is still trying to define if the born global perspective is a new concept or a new label to indicate an old phenomenon. The study will go through a review and an analysis of the literature on market entry and sourcing strategy. The purpose of this paper is therefore to identify and categorize factors that drive companies’ choice towards the global approach instead of the stage approach.