Disconnected rhythm of Internationalization. The case of traditional emerging economies firm’s internationalization

Firms adopt diverse strategies and modes in their cross-border expansion and internationalization process (hereafter IP). The objective of this study is to investigate and identify stages and fluctuations in the internationalization process of developing economy new ventures (DINVs). We investigate the internationalization paths of Pakistani fashion garment and home textile companies operating in international markets over decades. Our empirical study consists of longitudinal multiple case studies and 69 interviews in three phases over 10 years. We found that internationalization is a nonlinear process, consisting of distinct stages, and continuous fluctuations between stages, as well as, at each stage. The identified stages and fluctuations between stages and at each stage can be caused by internal, external and certain critical factors, and depicts characteristics of different internationalization models and phenomena in an integrated manner. The study focused on the micro-level aspects (i.e. at each stage) and contributes to the nonlinear internationalization process it.