An exploratory study of UK based, family-owned, Asian firms' motives for internationalising

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate UK based, family-owned, Asian firms' motives for internationalising. Design/methodology/approach: This paper reports on eight interviews with the key decision-makers in UK based, Asian, family-owned firms. Findings: Differences were found between two groups of firms: first, "internationally oriented Asian entrepreneurs" were those whose manufacturing operations were based in the UK but whose businesses were involved in overseas sales; second, "transnational entrepreneurs" were those who operated in two socially embedded environments and leveraged their family's resources in their country of origin in order to serve overseas markets. Originality/value: The contribution of this paper is that it offers socio-cultural insights into issues that motivated these firms to internationalise and especially those that outsourced operations to the Indian sub-continent. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited