Re-Internationalization v/s Initial Internationalization: Comparison of Modes of Operations

Abstract

Re-internationalization is defined as firms' re-entry into international operations after they have abandoned all their previous internationalization efforts. In this paper, we report findings from a survey administered among senior-level managers of re-internationalized Indian firms where we studied the differences in firms' choices in modes of operations during re-internationalization phase as compared to initial internationalization phase. The results from the survey indicated that firms tended to go for high involvement modes of operations during re-internationalization as compared to the relatively low involvement modes of operations undertaken during initial internationalization. This trend of going for higher involvement modes of operations was more visible in firms that had a presence in a relatively higher number of countries during the re-internationalization stage. This incremental nature of internationalization, i.e. going from initial low involvement modes of operations toward high involvement modes of operations as firms gained experience in both time and space from their initial through re-internationalization attempts, found support for the Uppsala model of internationalization. Being among the first studies on the topic, we expect this study to serve as a foundation for researchers to explore deeper related queries. This study also has meaningful practical and policy implications.