Learning to internationalise

The paper analyses the management development and learning implications for organizations in the early stages of “going international”. From an empirical study of companies which had recently internationalized, it highlights the requirement for different types of learning at different stages of the process. Some of the learning requirements for successful internationalization are of a “programmatic” type but mostly the implications of internationalization are for “tacit” knowledge, requiring reflective, action-oriented approaches to learning. The requirement for generative, double-loop learning is shown to be a key feature of the later stages of the internationalization process. A five-staged model of internationalization is produced which establishes the implications for management learning throughout the process. It provides those involved with businesses which go international an opportunity to analyse the management learning needs of the organization and so to enhance the success of this form of business development.