Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • harvard-cite-them-right
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Swedish fashion companies go abroad: a study on small and medium-size fashion companies’ internationalization processes
University of Borås, Faculty of Textiles, Engineering and Business.
2016 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

The Swedish fashion industry is one of the fastest growing export industries and in recent years the Swedish fashion companies have been praised for their international expansion. For companies with niche products in smaller markets like Sweden internationalization is important but since the industry is constantly changing the internationalization process is quite challenging. Previous studies show that internationalization can be profitable for fashion companies but there is no unified view among researchers as to which way is the right way for the companies to internationalize. Most studies come to the general conclusion that companies seem to follow different paths. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the knowledge development of internationalization for small and medium-sized Swedish fashion companies based on established theories of internationalization. A qualitative study has been conducted based on a multiple case study design with 12 participating Swedish fashion companies. The study has a deductive approach since it has its starting point is from a well-established theoretical model: The Business Network Internationalization Process Model which has also worked as a foundation for the study’s analytical model. The analysis is however partly inductive since findings in the result have been fed back into a modified theoretical model, suitable and applicable for Swedish fashion companies’ internationalization processes. In conclusion the findings indicate that there are several important knowledge-bases for the fashion companies that motivate them to start an internationalization process, mainly their design-driven vision of becoming an international brand and the management’s risk-taking business mindset, founded in their entrepreneurial skills and previous knowledge. The result also shows that relationships with different industry actors are of high importance for the companies and in many cases the only way to internationalize. In addition the results show not only that the established theoretical model on internationalization is applicable to Swedish fashion companies but that there also are tendencies that show that the Swedish companies follow a more chronological path in their processes.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2016.
Keywords [en]
Internationalization process, Small to medium-sized enterprises, fashion industry, knowledge-based motivation
National Category
Economics and Business
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-10288OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hb-10288DiVA, id: diva2:944450
Subject / course
Textile management
Available from: 2016-08-04 Created: 2016-06-29 Last updated: 2016-08-04Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(1595 kB)566 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 1595 kBChecksum SHA-512
226c7bd97eefa58dcb645d998a138e164b4a0b8c9dfb3dcd2415554b84eea3caec1e373337ae61bd46a14d5a40e756d2b2defdcd43913546e15dba7356af3e0f
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

By organisation
Faculty of Textiles, Engineering and Business
Economics and Business

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 581 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 523 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • harvard-cite-them-right
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf