Get Taiwanized! : Swedish Firms' Change of Entry Mode

Expanding to foreign markets is increasingly popular for companies. The company has to decide which organisational structure, entry mode, to use in the new market. Factors affecting the change from one entry mode to another have obtained little attention. This thesis concerns Swedish companies’ changes of entry mode in Taiwan. The purpose is to investigate which factors that serve as triggers respectively barriers for the change of entry modes, to be able to examine which theories that can be used to explain and support mode changes. Different theories concerning choice and change of entry mode have been investigated. Based on the theories, a model including factors influencing entry mode changes was established. The model has contributed a foundation for the empirical findings as well as the analysis of the companies. As a method, a qualitative approach was conducted through interviews with five Swedish companies having a subsidiary in Taiwan. The criterion for the companies was that they should have a subsidiary in Taiwan, but entered the market with another entry mode. Considering the small number of companies and to obtain an understanding about the entry mode changes, a qualitative investigation was the most suitable. Conclusions that could be drawn were that the competitive Taiwanese market had triggered some of the companies to change their entry mode to a subsidiary in order to be present in the market. Increased sales volume did also have evident affect on why the companies changed their entry mode. The investigation also gives indications that barriers tend to be of internal and firm specific character. Concerning the theories explaining entry mode changes, no complete theory could explain the changes, but parts from different theoretical fields could be applied