The Internationalization Decision-Making of United Arab Emirates Family Businesses

Abstract

International expansion epitomizes a vital strategic decision that family irms must go through to grow. However, limited research has been conducted on internationalization decision making in family businesses (FBs). Various disparities have been observed in the previous researches concerning the factors that afects and stimulate a FBs’ decision making to internationalize. The purpose of this study is to analyze the internationalization pattern of FBs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a dynamic emerging economy in the Middle East region. A qualitative research approach was selected, and after a thorough review of the relevant literatures, the major factors afecting international decision making in FBs were identiied. It was concluded that there are some common factors regarding international decision making in FBs in the UAE and the rest of the world, and some of the factors are unique to a speciic country, industry, or product. Suggestions on how to move this ield of study forward are also presented.