Case B: Global Organizing: A Case from Belarus

We aim to identify the factors that led to a Belarusian firm’s initial fast internationalization and the reasons for slowing the process down thereafter.

The chapter is based on a single case study. We collected the data via 9.5 hours of interviews and also used the firm’s annual reports.

The case firm’s internationalization was “pushed” by the Belarusian economic environment – especially, the fear of governmental takeover. The founders felt that internationalizing would be less risky than fully focusing on their domestic market. It was also “pulled” by growth opportunities on foreign markets and also a founder’s personal contacts. The slowdown of the firm’s internationalization was caused by the lack of foreign market knowledge and other resources.

Despite of slowing the internationalization down and experiencing several fluctuations in foreign activities, the founders are satisfied with the firm’s internationalization. Thus, managers should not automatically regard such internationalization a failure: adjustments in the firm’s internationalization pace can be justified as it has to react to the changing economic and business environment.

The chapter shows that a born global’s internationalization can slow down, it can use its subsidiaries as bases for further gradual internationalization, and it can also experience fluctuations in internationalization.