A study of the internationalisation of indigenous Irish software technology firms

Abstract

This research is a study of the factors influencing the internationalisation of indigenous Irish software technology firms. It is a three phased study - phase one: an initial exploratory study, phase two: an in-depth case study and phase three: an inductive study. The primary research question is “what factors influence internationalisation of the firm?" with subsidiary research questions developed at each phase of the research. The following is a summary of the research: Phase one was an exploratory study of the indigenous Irish software technology sector. The objective of this initial study was to gain insight into the key factors influencing the internationalisation of the firms in the indigenous software technology industry and gain some sector specific data. It also provided firm data as an input to case selection in phase two. The phase one study found evidence of “Born Global” firms within the Irish indigenous sector. The key findings of the study were presented in relation to the pattern and level of intemationalisation, the importance of the psychic distance factor and the role of knowledge in intemationalisafion. The role of knowledge - in particular knowledge intensity and intemational knowledge accumulation formed the basis of the research conceptual model and design for phase two.