Performance Determinants: An Investigation of the Relationship between Resources, Experience and Performance in Challenging Business Environments

This dissertation examines the performance determinants of foreign firms’ engagement in emerging markets and developing countries (EMDC) by focusing on the internationalisation process and factors that determine a sustained and economically viable presence. Firms are identifying the rising business prospects in, e.g. Africa and develop strategies for entry or long term survival. The notable differences between the business environments in advanced economies in the geographical North and the EMDCs pose challenges for foreign firms. Some firms fulfil their entry objective while others fail. After entry, some firms survive while others fail. This dissertation examines the performance effect of resources and experience to ascertain their role concerning entry or sustained presence in challenging business environments in the EMDCs. It employs three empirical papers and one review paper to accomplish this undertaking. The first paper explores the firms' adopted entry modes in light of their accumulated experience and their assessment of the essential resources. The second investigates how subsidiaries deploy strategies to source resources in the juncture between their parent firm and local resource scarcity. The third empirical paper studies the effects of experience on subsidiary performance in challenging host country environments, while the review paper provides reasoning for the measurement aspects of subsidiary performance.