Using Qualitative Meta-Synthesis to Develop a Risk and Internationalization Framework

Risk can be perceived in the following three different ways: (1) risk as danger – when the consequences are negative; (2) risk as uncertainty – when the variables are unknown and cannot be measured; and (3) risk as opportunity – when there is a positive return. The internationalization process is when companies expand to the international market to be exposed to high risks, which can negatively influence their performance. However, internationalization can also provide an opportunity for positive returns. Therefore, to understand how risk is analyzed in the internationalization of companies, a rigorous search for case studies was carried out. Accordingly, meta-synthesis by Hoon (2013) proved to be methodologically effective. For the meta-synthesis, 24 internationalization risks were analyzed from 19 articles based on 201 interviews from 94 companies across 17 different countries. We conclude that different internationalization processes (gradual or rapid) can result in different risk perceptions, and that companies do not avoid risks, they manage them. Our theoretical contribution highlights different perceptions of risks for each internationalization process. We propose a theoretical framework derived from this first meta-synthesis on the subject in the literature.