Internationalisation strategies in business-to-business services: the case of architectural practice

The internationalisation of business-to-business service firms has received relatively little attention from researchers in international business, yet there has been a considerable expansion in the international activity of lawyers, accountants, management consultants, advertising firms, and design consultants over the last 30 years. This paper aims to help to redress that balance by exploring the experiences of British and French architectural practices as they internationalise. A case survey of 59 architectural practices working in international markets is reported, focusing on how they enter foreign markets, and then deliver on their commitments to their clients once they have entered those markets.