Entering a Brave New World: Market Entry Assessments Into a Born Global Industry

Abstract

This chapter investigates key motivations, drivers, and barriers for firms that are seeking to enter new international supply chains for renewable energy. Offshore wind (OW) is a born global industry with a fully internationalized supply chain from inception. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach by first doing 11 case studies of Norwegian industrial companies entering OW and secondly by conducting an online survey targeting the whole population of Norwegian firms in OW. The study finds that new green industries' distinctive features, managerial motivation, and industry relatedness shape a firm's entry strategies and behavior. Risk and uncertainty, complexity and turbulence, high transaction costs and disadvantages of scale postpone industry entry from established actors. The study finds that environmental motivation tops the list of motivations for managers to enter, but financial motivation is the strongest of perceived market performance. Finally, the study finds that market relatedness is more critical than technological relatedness.