International expansion process for SMEs. A strategic analysis of the oil field supply and services company 'Benood'

Master's Thesis from the year 2016 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: Distinction (71), Coventry University (Business School), course: Masters in Business Administration, language: English, abstract: By taking an oil field supply and services company named Benood as a case, the purpose of this research is to strategically analyse the company's expansion process by analysing the internal and external environmental factors, as well as evaluating and reviewing the possible modes of entry and the strategic consequences within three different locations which are: UAE, China and Nigeria. Apart from the high costs attributed to the expansion process, when it comes to SMEs, their characteristics can pose additional challenges related to expanding. The limited financial resources and the managerial structure of SMEs can make them more vulnerable to environmental factors than large MNEs. The literature review oriented the theoretical contribution by reviewing the applied frameworks, which aims to identify the major environmental factors that would affect the firm within each location. PESTEL analysis was applied to evaluate the macro external environment. On the other hand, Porter's five forces, industry lifecycle and strategic group analysis were applied to evaluate the external micro environment which represents the competitive situation in each country. Accordingly, value chain analysis and Hofstede's cultural dimensions are the applied tools to analyse the major internal environment of the firm. Moreover, SWOT analysis summarised the major external and internal factors within each country in order to assess the evaluation of entry modes and strategic option. Consequently, based on secondary data from governmental and trusted agencies, the findings of this research revealed that each location could offer lucrative opportunities to exploit, given that the industry represents a substantial percentage of the imports and exports within the three countries. At the same time, the firm could face several challenges in each location. For instance, the recent drop in oil prices could affect the value chain significantly.