Shaping a strategy for emerging market: Russian IT-service company entry to Chinese educational sector

Abstract

This paper analyzes the internationalization of IT-service companies, which operate in education segment. It explores the peculiarities of education sector in emerging markets and how they affect the internationalization strategies of the companies. The paper conducts an in-depth analysis of Chinese education sector in order to develop strategic recommendations for successful entry to China. Various internationalization theories are analyzed to find if they are applicable for educational IT-service companies. The paper finds that Uppsala and born-global theories, which can be used for most of IT-service companies, are not applicable for education segment. The eclectic paradigm can be used to explain IT-service companies internationalization in this segment to some extent. Also, the internationalization determinants are analyzed. The paper suggests that home country business presence, government policies/openness and cultural distance are the most important determinants, while market size, technological and operational competitive advantages and firm size have significantly less importance that the theory suggests. The paper develops strategic recommendation for entry to Chinese education segment, which can be used by IT-service companies. These recommendations can be used to some extent for other emerging markets education sectors.