Risk perception in the internationalization of the food sector

Abstract

The internationalization process of Brazilian organizations is gradually progressing. In international activities, the risk present in the domestic market increases due to the particular characteristics of the market in which the organization desires to introduce a product or service. Although under normal conditions it could said that it is necessary to analyze all the risks that could affect the organization, bounded rationality does not allow the manager to process all the information, be it through lack of knowledge or analytical capacity. Thus, the aim of this article is to understand the perceived risks associated with the internationalization of companies in the food sector. The guiding approach is a multiple case study, with semi-structured interviews, observation and document analysis. The results show diversity among organizations with regard to the concept of risk, differences between the kinds of risks considered and the influence of this perception on organizational practices. The contributions of the study include the construction of evidence coherent with the behavior theory of internationalization, which is more than a commercial and economic process, constituting a complex construction of reality influenced by the perception and attitudes of the managers involved.

Keywords

• risco
• internacionalização
• teoria comportamental de internacionalização
• percepção de riscos.