The use of social media platforms can facilitate the internationalisation and the

sales processes of international entrepreneurial ventures

14.10.2020 ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

In her dissertation study M.Sc. Sara Fraccastoro provides understanding on how

entrepreneurial firms that operate in international markets use social media
platforms for their internationalisation and sales management processes.
Specifically, it shows that the use of social media integrated with traditional
networking methods and sales communication methods can facilitate the
internationalisation and the sales management processes of international
entrepreneurial ventures. Public examination online on 23.10. at 12 noon (GMT +3)
at https://stream.lifesizecloud.com/extension/5767445/bfc995ca-e1d5-48a7-80e3-
fc4956b604ab

During the last decade, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, and LinkedIn have arisen as important communication channels. Their
characteristics of global online reach and the possibility of improving interaction
among users in an inexpensive way are leveraged in many business functions of firms
operating internationally.  However, evidence shows that firms are often concerned
about how to use social media and why.

The study shows that especially young entrepreneurial ventures can use social media
to build network connections needed when entering foreign markets and later, to
expand their foreign penetration. Leveraging the social media characteristics of
being cost-efficient and providing global visibility helps firms becoming embedded
in foreign business environments and thus overcome financial and organisational
resource limitations. These are typically faced by small and medium-sized firms
when conducting business in foreign markets, and often referred to as liabilities
of smallness, newness, and foreignness. The study conceptualises social media use
as a firm-specific capability and it shows that when used in tandem with other
internationalisation channels, it enables firms to acquire important learning about
foreign markets and intensify international operations.

From an international sales perspective, the study shows that given the needs of
dynamism, flexibility, and cost-reduction faced by internationalising firms and the
challenges related to technological advancement, business-to-business sales
processes focus on three main phases. In these, international entrepreneurial firms
seek diverse combinations of social media tools integrated with digital and
traditional sales communication methods to reach a wider scope of business in terms
of geographical reach and adaptation to customers’ needs.

The dissertation consists of three essays and adopts a qualitative methodology that
is used consistently throughout the thesis in order to generate new theoretical
understanding. Accordingly, the three essays follow a single-case study, a
multiple-case study, and a grounded theory method conducted on firms from Brazil,
Finland, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, and Sweden.

The doctoral dissertation of MSc Sara Fraccastoro, entitled Social media use in
international entrepreneurial ventures. An international network and sales
perspective will be examined at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business
Studies. The opponent in the public examination will be Professor Per Servais of
the Linnaeus University, and the custos will be Professor Mika Gabrielsson of the
University of Eastern Finland.

Photo available for download at https://mediabank.uef.fi/A/UEF+Media+Bank/37882?

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The doctoral thesis is available online at
https://epublications.uef.fi/pub/urn_isbn_978-952-61-3575-5/