La Bulgarie dans les stratégies d'in ternationalisation des firmes occidentales

Bulgaria, and the strategic approach of Western firms to internationalization. The opening of the economies of Eastern Europe represents a new field of competition for the economies and enterprises of the West, a source of uncertainty at the same time with prospects of apportunity and danger. A study of the tactics of Western firms in Bulgaria is particularly useful for showing up the shadowy areas left unclear by an approach based on attractiveness. Indeed, what are the factors motivating the firms who become involved in what is globally a fairly unattractive market ? The basic hypothesis is that internationalization involves a limiting dimension arising from the competitive postures and pressures which firms undergo on their home market. From this viewpoint, the intrisic attractiveness of a country would lie in the extent and degree of permanence and commitment, and not in the basic decision wether or not to show one's presence in the market in question. Thus, a weak attraction need not discourage an interest in Bulgaria, on the part of certain Western firms, but would fundamentally influence the kind of methods used for internationalizing the local production system. As for enterprises, it seems that Bulgaria largely attracts " followers" (large groups who are losing momentum on specific markets, or SMEs, not necessarily running at a loss, but relatively vulnerable and short of funds). At the same time, the number of active parties and opportunity schemes is considerable. The prime concern of these enterprises is to effect an entry into the market, and the process of internationalizing the Bulgarian economy seems, at the present stage, to be passing through the phase of trade rather than that of production

Attractiveness · Business · Competition (biology · Dimension (graph theory · Economics · International trade · Internationalization · Limiting · Market economy · European Socioeconomic and Political Studies · Global Trade and Competitiveness · Marketing