Graftee and Grafting in Firm Internationalization

Abstract

This study focuses on enhancing the understanding of how firm internationalization is triggered by investigating how firms cope with the lack of knowledge and networks when entering a foreign market. More specifically we are interested in answering the following research question: How do firms enter foreign markets without market-specific knowledge and market-specific network insidership? To this end, the present study implements a case study of 12 Swedish firms internationalizing into emerging markets. The study found that firms “graft” expert individuals to help firms penetrate foreign markets where they have no prior history or experience. Further, we observed the qualities of a specific type of actor we refer to as a “graftee” by describing grafting actions and showing how these graftees help firms acquire experiential knowledge and network insidership. Our empirical evidence shows that grafting impacts the form and process of internationalization, sometimes enabling an effectuation-driven market entry while, at other times, enabling a causation-driven process.