Internationalisation of Polish and German Furniture Manufacturers – Comparison of Different Internationalisation Paths

Abstract

The papers aims to analyse the key drivers for internationalisation in furniture industry by taking into consideration the cross-border activities of selected furniture manufacturers in Poland and Germany in comparison. The results show some similarities in internationalisation strategy design of selected furniture manufacturers in both countries. Export tends to be the predominant foreign market entry mode, and major motives to internationalise tend to have a reactive nature. There are some differences with regard to manufacturing location decisions, whereby the general assumption is confirmed that certain manufacturers are in a more advantageous position by concentrating their production at home.

Keywords

• internationalisation
• firm performance
• furniture industry
• firm behavior
• cross-country comparison