Public-Private Partnership as an Internationalization Strategy in the Finnish Water Industry

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to examine if public-private partnership can support internationalization in the Finnish water industry. Water industry has been selected as the research area due to the significant societal and monetary value related to the industry, the involvement of organizations both in the private and public sectors, as well as the great internationalization potential it withholds. The theory suggests that the utilization of partnership both on domestic and international markets can bring about possibilities in internationalization especially to SMEs. The literature also highlights the role of internal and external networks during internationalization. However, public-private partnership as an internationalization strategy has remained an unstudied phenomenon. This study contributes to the existing literature on partnership models and internationalization by providing novel information on the internationalization process as well as by introducing a framework for internationalization in a public-private partnership. This study is a qualitative research and the evidence is derived from an integrative analysis of literature and from a multiple case study analysis. The results obtained throughout the research imply that public-private partnership can facilitate internationalization in industries with strong public interest, knowledge on private and public sectors and in industries where the customer is often a public sector organization in the international markets. Additionally, the public-private partnership can facilitate internationalization to countries that might be hard to enter without support from the public sector. As for the practical implications, this thesis presents internationalization practices that can be adopted by organizations that are planning to start international operations. The described practices can ease internationalization as a process, identification of the right partners and selection of entry market and entry mode.