The Motives behind Internationalization for Swedish Small and Medium Enterprises Within the Cleantech Industry

Abstract

For the last decades, environmental threats have been more present than ever before. This has resulted in a worldwide discussion on how environmental degradation can be prevented. Some science believes cleantech is a possible solution to reverse the negative emission trend, combined with political legislation. But the way from development to commercialization is both a lengthy and costly process. In addition, the difficulty of selling the product and developing a market presence, based on different global motivational factors, emerges, the questions are how to choose the right strategy. The purpose of this thesis will therefore be to investigate how Swedish SMEs within the cleantech industry identify different motives which affect their internationalization. The thesis will be conducted through a qualitative case study where semi-structured interviews are used. Interviews will be based on company representatives from companies relevant to the delimitations in the research question. It can be concluded that the primary motives for the companies that participated are primarily expansion and increased profit as the driving forces. However, the most prominent finding in the thesis is that it is not the number of motives crucial in deciding a company’s internationalization. Instead, the essential factor is how well a company succeeds in overcoming, what is according to the companies, viewed as perceived difficulties. Concluded as capital shortage or lack of international experience, which was perceived as significant challenges to overcome to succeed in their internationalization.