Internationalization of professional service firms as learning – a constructivist approach

Abstract

Purpose – Internationalization process research has conceptualized the cross‐border move of firms as a process of learning. Yet, little attempts have been made to develop a constructivist learning theory of the internationalizing firm. The aim of this paper is to apply a contemporary learning theoretical framework to analyze the internationalization of professional service firms.Design/methodology/approach – A constructivist theory of learning is applied.Findings – The paper explains learning during the internationalization process of professional service firms as a process of social interaction with the socio‐cultural environment. The paper outlines specific individual and social mechanisms through which firms acquire new knowledge when moving across borders and embed themselves into a new socio‐cultural market domain.Research limitations/implications – The argument is theoretical in nature and has particular implications for future empirical research, which may investigate the specific social learning m...