How Finnish cleantech firms can internationalise and enter the Australian market
Wilken, Jackson (2025)
Pro gradu -tutkielma
2025
School of Business and Management, Kauppatieteet
Kaikki oikeudet pidätetään.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe20251127112294
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe20251127112294
Tiivistelmä
This thesis takes a deeper look into how Finnish cleantech firms can internationalise and enter the Australian market. By employing the use of a qualitative single-case study, which focuses on one Nordic renewable energy developer active in Australia and Europe, the research examines how learning, networks, legitimacy, and internal capabilities interact and shape international expansion.
Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with the case company’s employees and supported where needed by secondary data. The findings were then analysed using the combined methods, open coding, axial coding, and thematic coding, via an inductive content analysis process. Three themes emerged: internationalisation strategy, market selection and legitimacy, and entry process and integration.
Findings bring forth that the case company expanded via steady learning and flexible decision making. The move into Australia reflected ideas from the Uppsala Model, the OLI Paradigm, and Network Theory frameworks. Progress relied on things like practical learning and strong relationships additionally, the continued building of internal capability. Trust and open communication with the newfound local partners helped the case company manage differences between the two markets significantly.
Success for the case company in Australia wasn’t about having one perfect strategy, but more importantly, that the firm could take on practical learning and embrace local understanding while still expanding on reliable partnerships. The case company could better its position by engaging early while paying attention to, how the Australian system actually works, and then adjusting the approach as experience was gathered. Succinctly, the study shows that Finnish cleantech firms are more likely to perform well in Australia when they treat internationalisation as an ongoing learning process rather than a single major decision.
Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with the case company’s employees and supported where needed by secondary data. The findings were then analysed using the combined methods, open coding, axial coding, and thematic coding, via an inductive content analysis process. Three themes emerged: internationalisation strategy, market selection and legitimacy, and entry process and integration.
Findings bring forth that the case company expanded via steady learning and flexible decision making. The move into Australia reflected ideas from the Uppsala Model, the OLI Paradigm, and Network Theory frameworks. Progress relied on things like practical learning and strong relationships additionally, the continued building of internal capability. Trust and open communication with the newfound local partners helped the case company manage differences between the two markets significantly.
Success for the case company in Australia wasn’t about having one perfect strategy, but more importantly, that the firm could take on practical learning and embrace local understanding while still expanding on reliable partnerships. The case company could better its position by engaging early while paying attention to, how the Australian system actually works, and then adjusting the approach as experience was gathered. Succinctly, the study shows that Finnish cleantech firms are more likely to perform well in Australia when they treat internationalisation as an ongoing learning process rather than a single major decision.