Firms entering transition markets are typically ignorant about those markets, and the markets, owing to the transition from a planned to a market economy, are typically turbulent. Consequently the entry process involves discoveries that could not have been predicted in advance. This position is supported by a longitudinal study in real-time of a Swedish firm’s entry into the Russian market between 1987 and 1993.
The paper distinguishes between three types of activity that form part of the entry process, namely search, routines and improvisation, and it discusses how they relate to operative and strategic discoveries made and the characteristics of the entry process.
The paper offers a conceptual framework for studying the role of discovery in the process of entering turbulent foreign markets. A longitudinal case study of a Swedish firm’s entry into Russia demonstrates that discoveries were important in the entry process. It shows also that strategic discoveries tend to be a result of either search or improvisation, while operative discoveries are usually made in the course of routine activities performed by the entering firm.