Key Success Factors for Building a Sustainable Presence in the Chinese Market

Sammanfattning: International expansion has become more and more important for companies in search of growth. China, especially, as a large and fast growing country, has become an increasingly popular target for such expansion. Sweden and its companies, being export dependent and with an ever increasing volume of exports to China, have a strong interest in understanding the question 'What are the key success factors for a Swedish MNE for building a sustainable market presence in China ' A single in-depth case study has been chosen to analyze such a complex question.The internationalization process can be broken down into four phases - exporting, licensing, JV and WOFE - and seen as a longitudinal process. For each phase, this thesis examines various factors and breaks them down into three categories believed to be important for the internationalization process: (i) Partner Interaction; (ii) Control and Protection and (iii) Product and Management. The literature identifies success factors for each phase and our findings support this.Overall five overarching success factors could be observed within the phases and categories. In line with the theory of internationalization, experiential learning plays an important role and is seen as vital to succeed in the Chinese market. The study also provides evidence to support and add to the network theory arguing that, rather than having a strong and extensive network, having the right network and listening to the network contacts are of utmost importance. Continuity and endurance for the development of trust; protection of technology; and becoming a local actor were identified as the three final key success factors for building a sustainable market presence in China. The finding that continuity is vital in the Chinese market is particularly interesting as it adds to Yang's (2010) theoretical addition about social networks in China.The idea, however, that clear-cut golden rules exist for building a sustainable market presence in China was not supported; neither within the phases nor overarching the phases.