Establishing a Swedish business in Poland Studying institutional and rational aspects of internationalization in the case of Build AB, a Swedish construction company

Abstract

Internationalization is a topic that has been studied widely but often by considering the rational aspects of it only even though the institutional ones also are of importance. Here, a combination of the rational and institutional aspects is studied in order to understand organizations when they establish on a foreign market.This study is conducted in order to gain knowledge about the process of internationalization to Poland of a Swedish company, here named Build AB and how they handle the insecurity of going abroad as well as the pressure from local institutions. Also, the Polish business environment and the special economic zones and their influence on the operations of Build AB will be investigated. This will be done by conducting eight interviews with a Swedish construction company that has internationalized to Poland called Build AB. Six interviews will be done with a Swedish organization in Warsaw, called Ease, which facilitates the internationalization of Swedish companies to Poland. Another six interviews are conducted with a consultancy firm located in Poland that supports the internationalization process of Build AB. The findings show that Build AB has created a greenfield investment in the special economic zone of Pomerania for the production of building components. The second phase of the internationalization is the creation of an industrial center where Build AB will help other firms to establish their subsidiaries and thus work as consultants. This means that services will also be part of their business strategy even though they intend to operate in a production oriented economic zone.