A Longitudinal Study of the Internationalisation Process in a Small Sample of Pharmaceutical and Scientific Instrument Companies

The results of a longitudinal study of cooperative strategies in a small sample of pharmaceutical and scientific instrument companies are brought to bear on the process of intemationalisation. Ten companies are studied over a four-year period: two are British scientific instruments companies, eight are pharmaceutical companies, five British owned, two French and one European. Five pharmaceutical companies are separated out as having their intemationalisation strategy affected by extreme turbulence in the industry, resulting in acquisition or merger. The relatively stable environment of the other five companies provides a telling contrast. Intemationalisation strategies are found to depend on the company’s overall strategy, the immediate context of the firm and its past history of intemationalisation. However, the crucial issue of the level of the analysis arises because many intemationalisation moves are shown to be initiated at division, unit, site or individual manager level, with the result that a single intemationalisation strategy cannot be described and that, for the firm as a whole, conflicting international moves are often made.