Internationalization strategy

: bioco Tradition’s case

Abstract

The globalization of markets has dramatically changed, the whole business environment. The internationalization of companies is no longer exclusive to MNEs, with an exponential increase of SMEs that have adopted this strategy to grow, in recent years. Nevertheless, the reality of these companies remains very different from MNEs, in particular as regards the resources needed to implement such a bold strategy, which make SMEs face greater challenges and constraints when entering a new market. Even with the financial crisis of recent years, which has highly affected all industries, the fashion industry has managed to survive and still grow. The fashion industry has an important position in the global economy, generating $2.4 trillion in 2016. It was in this context of globalization of markets and continuous growth of the fashion industry that Bioco Tradition was created. Bioco Tradition is a Portuguese SME that produces, among other things, typical coats from Algarve and intends to explore the Spanish market after the first two years of success in Portugal. In order to develop an internationalization strategy for Bioco, a PESTEL analysis and an analysis of market trends from the Spanish fashion industry was conducted. With the support of the evidence from the research and considering the strengths and weaknesses of the company, we conclude by adopting a strategy that encompasses the complementarity between the two theories – the Uppsala model and the Born Global theory –enter the new market through export, attend trade fairs and stablish contracts with local agents.

Date of Award	18 Jul 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rute Xavier (Supervisor)