The Long Shadow of History: Beiersdorf and Its Internationalisation Strategies 1890s-2000s

The aim of this paper is to illustrate and discuss what Business History can contribute to understanding corporate internationalisation strategies and approaches. In this paper I use a longitudinal, multiple case study approach studying the internationalisation processes of and within one single corporation. My key argument is that, for understanding internationalisation strategies, it might be necessary to study respective internationalisation decisions over time and across industries and product markets, rather than just using “firm-level data for different industries and countries” as IB scholars suggest. Even within one single corporation internationalisation strategies vary over time, across industries and product markets. The case material is drawn from the German headquartered multinational Beiersdorf, an early internationalising firm with appr. 40% of corporate profits originating from the US before WW I. The company – today famous for its global brands NIVEA and La Prairie – was active in different markets: skin care, medical plasters, household and industrial tapes/adhesives, pharmaceuticals, and medical products (ranging from band-aid to surgery supply and joint prosthesis). I show and explain how and why internationalisation strategies differed across industries and across regions and why historical contingency matters.