eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

Objective of the Study:

The goal of the theoretical part is to study the challenges of emerging country companies expanding to more developed countries as well as the challenges of niche firms. The empirical objectives are to evaluate and analyze the case company's market entry strategy and to elaborate on the resources needed for entering more developed markets. This thesis contributes to the research on emerging market firms by examining the expansion strategy of a Russian niche firm wanting to further enhance their presence on the EU market. The overall objective of the thesis is to create and validate a framework depicting the internationalization strategy of an emerging country niche firm. The case company benefits from this thesis as it combines their corporate and subsidiary strategies into one and views the situation from an unbiased viewpoint.

Methodology and Theoretical Framework:

The underlying theoretical framework is based on previous literature on entry modes, international market entries and emerging country firms as well as niche firms in general. However, as previous literature has not developed an applicable framework that could be used for the purposes of this thesis, the study introduces a new framework that incorporates both emerging firm and niche firm attributes and theories. The nature of the framework is explorative. The empirical part was conducted as a single case study and consists of five interviews conducted with the case company managers. The interviews were the basis of this indepth case study and shed light on all relevant units of the case company as well as its strengths and weaknesses.

Findings and Conclusion:

The thesis concludes that when wishing to expand to or in more developed markets, niche companies from Russia should differentiate themselves from their competitors in more than one way. They should also take advantage of local networks and partnerships for increasing sales and for conducting effective R&D. Lastly, acquiring a local competitor is also suggested as a good method for increasing the resource base and networks in foreign markets. The created framework was partly validated based on the empirical findings and modified accordingly.