Market Selection Processes of Swedish SMEs. Encountering Key Challenges and Strategies to Manage Them

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines how Swedish SMEs select foreign markets and manage the challenges that they meet. The decision is important, yet little is known about how it is made under the current conditions, with the current context shaped by digitalisation, protectionism and geopolitical uncertainty, which shapes the cross border moves a small firm makes. Drawing on the interviews with senior managers at seven Swedish SMEs across different industries, the study finds that market entries rarely follow a planned path. They were triggered by inbound enquiries, relocating customers and chance contacts at trade fairs as often as by deliberate analysis. The network did much of the work, identifying opportunities, opening markets and substituting for resources the firm could not build on their own. Partner quality, cultural and institutional proximity, limited financial capacity and payment risk together affect what was realistically possible. The case companies approached market selection pragmatically, combining learning by doing, effectual reasoning and networks. The study contributes to international business research by showing how the Uppsala Model, effectuation and network theory operate together for resource constrained SMEs navigating today's global environment.