Foreign Market Entry Strategies in the North-Adriatic Area

The consolidation of economic and political relations in the North-Adriatic area and their formalization encouraged by the new institutional structures of Euro-regions are phenomena of central relevance to the actual European economic environment. These conditions have a significant influence on the strategic choices of local firms. In spite of the geographical proximity between Italy, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia, cultural differences still act as important determinants in leading foreign investment strategies. The current study aims at analyzing the role played by cultural distance between the examined countries in affecting entry mode strategies followed by companies of the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In particular, the analysis suggests that a larger cultural distance, together with specific market characteristics, may force companies to choose entry forms with a lower degree of control, while specific firm characteristics may have an opposite impact on the internationalization strategies.