Quinta Vale de Fornos

: ensuring competitiveness in “Distant China”

Abstract

The present thesis is a case study, on the internationalization process of a boutique Portuguese family wine-maker, into China. This case study is meant to be used in Strategic based courses, with particular emphasis to internationalization processes and cross-border business situations.
The company under analysis, is Quinta Vale de Fornos (QVF), which is used to portray the main difficulties found by such companies, when working with countries with such a large “distance” vis-á-vis the country of origin. The case study touches on a variety of different points, from analysis the potential target market and choosing from the various possible options, the process of approaching and entering the markets, partnership relationship, flexibility to adapt to different work environments, among others.
As a case study to be used in class, it is supported by suggested theoretical frameworks, which could be used to study and analyse the process of internationalization. By looking into a real-life practical situation, students are able to use theoretical frameworks which are being presented during the courses to form an opinion and critically analyse the moves chosen by the company under analysis.

Date of Award	16 Jul 2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Nuno Cardeal (Supervisor)