Does The Uppsala Internationalization Model Explain The Internationalization Process Of Professional Business Service Firms?

The aim of this contribution is to verify if the Uppsala Model with later variations introduced by the authors is the right framework to explain internationalization process of Professional Business Service Firms (PBSFs). The focus is placed on the entry of one type of PBSFs, namely advertising agencies into the Chinese market. The example is based on a case study. This paper deliberates about identified factors in the internationalization process of advertising agencies that fit to the Uppsala model and about factors that deviate from it. Several stages are identified in the entrance of advertising agencies into the Chinese market. These are as follows: initial stage - external agent, participation stage - representative office, establishment stage - joint venture, network expansion stage – branch offices and other joint ventures. The presence of stages suggests that the Uppsala model may prove useful in explanation of foreign entry strategies in PBSFs in general. In addition to that, support is also found for market entry due to networking activities. Client following was identified as most common entry mode in the studied group of PBSFs.