Early and late movers in domestic and international market entry

In this three-essay dissertation, I apply the behavioral theory of the firm (Cyert & March, 1963) and Hofstede's national culture dimensions (Hofstede, 1980, 2001) to predict the relative timing in which firms enter a new product market and a new geographic market, respectively. I also examine the effect of the diverse modes of imitation on the relationship between early market entry and firm performance. The results from Study I indicate that market entry timing is influenced by firm level factors, such as prior performance, slack resources and prior entry experience, but in ways that are sometimes contrary to theory. The results from Study II indicate that market entry timing is also influenced by societal level factors at the single and multi-firm level of analysis. However, as Study III suggests, the influence of the different modes of imitation on the relationship between firm performance and early market entry remains unclear. I test these ideas on sample of firms that entered the mutual fund industry and the project-finance market. In multiple ways, this dissertation adds to the extensive body of work in strategic management and international business regarding market entry and points to several opportunities for future research.