Internationalization of Family-Owned Businesses in The Czech Republic
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2008 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Internalisation of Companies and Intercultural Management |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Economy |
| Keywords | research family-owned firm CR factors internationalization |
| Description | This research used a case-study method, through personal interviews with owners of seven family-owned firms in the Czech Republic in order to determine factors affecting their internationalization. It examined four research questions on factors which have been identified by previous research to influence internationalization of familyowned firms. While owners’ background, such as age, education, and knowledge of foreign languages did not contribute to the internalization of their firms, owners’ motives have an affect on their decision to enter foreign markets or not. We also found that firm characteristics, such as size but not product characteristics, are contributing factors in family-owned businesses decision to enter foreign markets. Furthermore, we examined owners’ knowledge of their top international markets. Our results concluded that knowledge of foreign markets is not a necessary condition for internationalization of family-owned firms. Finally, our results appear to show that the pattern of perceptions about export costs and barriers depends upon the kinds of barriers being investigated. |