The competitive landscape of INVs : An explorative study on competition with well-established MNCs

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this master’s thesis is to gain a richer understanding of the competitive landscape of INVs and in particular how they compete with well-established MNCs. The existing literature depicts the existence of an untapped potential for extending and enriching the field of international entrepreneurship research heretofore. This exploratory study with its abductive approach applies twelve personal interviews of qualitative nature as the method to collect the data. The ten companies from the multiple-case study are from the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The findings show that although MNCs have a potential to be threats due to their extensive resources, INVs perceive them more as opportunities. Moreover, the study discovers key elements of competition (especially against MNCs), the main common challenges for INVs accordingly, and capabilities that relate to and help accomplish these challenges. These findings do not only have the potential to act as a starting point for further research, but they also contribute to the managerial world by acting as a possible competition guideline for INVs.