Go East! How family businesses choose markets and entry modes when internationalising

This paper investigates the choices of foreign markets, international market selection (IMS) and the respective entry modes, entry mode selection (EMS), for family firms' internationalisation using in-depth case studies of two family-owned newspaper companies. These decisions are made from the Uppsala-stage model perspective. The purpose is to understand how and why family firms choose IMS and EMS when internationalising from a risk perspective. This study shows that IMS and EMS can at times be the consequence of one decision which may be the result of opportunistic behaviour. The decision reflects the risk preferences of owning families when selecting markets and entry modes. The explored family firms use contrasting approaches as they choose IMS and EMS according to different logics. Psychic distance leads to certain IMS, but there is not a given preference for low distance. Instead, the EMS reflects the dominant risk perception of the owning families. A preference for direct entry modes corresponds to the owning families' risk perception and need for control. Accordingly, IMS and EMS are two steps, but the order of these is not given, that is, after an entry mode is chosen this may be applied irrespective of the market to be entered. 'Business model' and 'acquisition' are highlighted as alternative entry modes, giving control to family firms. Thereby, this study expands those prior and increases the understanding of the peculiarities of family firm internationalisation.