The Helsinki Internationalization Process Model

Edited by Rebecca Piekkari, Marcus Wallenberg Chair of International Business, Department of Management Studies, Aalto University, School of Business, Finland and Catherine Welch, Chair of Strategic Management, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Contents
Foreword ix
Introducing the Helsinki Model of the internationalization processes of the firm 1
Rebecca Piekkari and Catherine Welch
PART I REIJO LUOSTARINEN: INTERNATIONALIZATION OF
THE FIRM (1979)
Preface 22
1 Introduction 25
2 Development of the theoretical framework for the study 37
3 Lateral rigidity and international involvement of the firm 53
4 Smallness and openness of domestic markets as pressure determinants
for internationalization 61
5 Determining the internationalization strategy of the firm 78
6 Dynamics of internationalization of the firm 125
7 Summary, conclusions and recommendations 139
Bibliography 149
Appendices 158
PART II COMMENTARIES
8 Organizational capacity and inertia: their importance in the
internationalization process of firms 171
Lawrence Welch
9 The Helsinki internationalization process model: a perspective from Uppsala 176
Mats Forsgren
10 Big ideas with little hullabaloo: Luostarinen’s little trodden path 183
Peter Liesch
11 Systems selling and package deals: an under-researched area in
international business 192
Pervez Ghauri
12 Reijo Luostarinen’s approach to value chain activity in firm
internationalization: a key contribution to entry mode research 200
Gabriel R. G. Benito and Bent Petersen
13 Time and dynamism in the Helsinki internationalization process model 208
Eriikka Paavilainen-Mäntymäki and Leila Hurmerinta
14 The Helsinki internationalization process model and POM posture:
deviations, explanations, and future research 220
Mika Gabrielsson
15 The role of foreign-born employees in inward–outward
internationalization of SMEs: an organizational capacity perspective 235
Johanna Niskavaara
16 Lateral rigidity and microfoundational perspectives in firm
internationalization: revisiting Reijo Luostarinen’s insights 249
Aleksi Niittymies
17 Seeing the forest for the trees: building a managerially relevant theory
of firm internationalization 261
Ciara O’Higgins
18 Longitudinal research projects with societal interaction: what can we
learn from studying the dynamics of IB phenomena? 272
Perttu Kähäri
19 Reijo Luostarinen and Jorma Larimo: a multigenerational research
agenda on international business in Finland 285
Ahmad Arslan and Minnie Kontkanen
20 Reijo Luostarinen’s legacy: a personal perspective from outside academia 292
Mikko Kosonen
Afterword: connecting the dots: reflections on Reijo Luostarinen’s thesis and
life’s work 297
Niina Nummela