Escalating internationalization decisions intendedly rational, but only limitedly so?

摘要

The Uppsala model is commonly considered to be the pivotal approach ininternationalization process research and often praised as particularly realistic. Yetat least implicitly and partially, it is also built on the assumption of rationallyproceeding decision makers. This article challenges the behavioral assumptions ofthe Uppsala model and examines whether bounded rationality in the form ofescalation of commitment has an influence on internationalization decisions. Itdemonstrates that this particular behavioral decision-making bias can be a criticalfactor. Thereby, this article indicates a major shortcoming of the Uppsala model, asit shows that internationalization processes can be maintained for non-rationalreasons. It becomes clear that the bounded rationality of decision makers, particu-larly their limited cognitive capability, presents an issue that internationalizationprocess research, including the Uppsala model, should give greater consideration to.