Frotcom

: the strategy behind internationalization

Abstract

The thesis hereby presented in the form of a case study aims to discuss the expansion challenges that came across to both Valério Marques and Renato Ferreira as CEO and CTO of Frotcom International. Throughout the case study it is explained how a company that came from a very fragile financial position was able to expand internationally. Frotcom International is a fleet manager developer based in Lisbon, Portugal that resulted as a spinoff of a R&D company called Quadriga. After the Dotcom bubble this company had a critical downsize which forced Valério and Renato to focus on only one of their ongoing projects, from their wide portfolio they chose Frotcom (a fleet management system). Frotcom International’s main challenge was the lack of financial resources to enter new markets. However, using their website as a bridge between them and interested partners they built the company infrastructure to support the autonomy of each partner in their exclusive territory. This strategy allowed not only Frotcom to expand internationally but also enabled them to solely focus on their product – Frotcom. The internationalization strategy created by Valério and Renato is an excellent example of innovation which should be interesting to approach in strategy courses. The theory applied in this case-study is well structured in the Literature Review. Moreover, in the sense to offer an extent look of the thesis, the Teaching Notes focus on the critical issues debated throughout the case.

Date of Award	12 May 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Nuno Cardeal (Supervisor)