An exploratory study of UK based, family‐owned, Asian firms' motives for internationalising

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate UK based, family‐owned, Asian firms' motives for internationalising.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reports on eight interviews with the key decision‐makers in UK based, Asian, family‐owned firms.

Findings

Differences were found between two groups of firms: first, “internationally oriented Asian entrepreneurs” were those whose manufacturing operations were based in the UK but whose businesses were involved in overseas sales; second, “transnational entrepreneurs” were those who operated in two socially embedded environments and leveraged their family's resources in their country of origin in order to serve overseas markets.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper is that it offers socio‐cultural insights into issues that motivated these firms to internationalise and especially those that outsourced operations to the Indian sub‐continent.

Citation

Crick, D. and Chaudhry, S. (2013), "An exploratory study of UK based, family‐owned, Asian firms' motives for internationalising", Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 526-547. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-04-2013-0051