Locational Factors and Foreign Market-entry Considerations for Malaysian Contractors

Abstract

Past studies on contractor internationalisation adopt a unimodelapproach. Taking up the call of a few scholars, a study isconducted, this time by integrating several extant models of fi rminternationalisation. Malaysian international contractors are usedto test this approach. Due to space limitation, this paper is focusedonly on locational factors. It begins by justifying the inclusion oflocational factors in a multi-model approach. Then it posits thatlocational disadvantage is a more intellectually appealing conceptthan locational advantages. Empirically, it shows that the surveyedcontractors evaluate a wide range of factors before making thego/no go decision to enter foreign markets. It also shows thatpsychic distance was not their major concern. Finally, the locationaldisadvantages create a market space for international contractorswith the tenacity to overcome them, which the sampled populationpossessed.