The Process of Foreign Market Entry for Professional Service Firms: a Case Study of an Australian Law Firm in a Newly Emerging Market

Service firms often look beyond their domestic markets to those defined as transitional or newly emerging markets (NEMs). Additionally, enterprises in the professional services arena have become active players in international markets in recent times. There is a greater need to understand the foreign market entry (FME) processes of professional service organisations. A critical element impacting FME are business relationships and the concept of networks. From an internationalisation perspective, the network theory stresses the influence that relationships and actors in the network have on the FME process. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study is to examine the FME process of an Australian based law firm into Thailand to provide preliminary understanding of current FME models in NEMs. The analysis will be undertaken from a network perspective. Broadly, the significance of the study is that it will assist in further developing our theoretical understanding of, and the managerial implications surrounding, the process of FME by professional service firms into NEMs. More specifically, this paper highlights the importance of network relationships and the key elements of orientating, positioning and timing in the FME process in NEMs.