JultikaUniversity of Oulu repository

Globalization has had an effect on the operational environment of enterprises. Enterprises are increasingly working at markets that do not recognize national borders. A lot of studies have been made to international business. Enterprises are interested in and ready to invest in finding ways to new markets, to understand their own relationships and chances in internationalization. The aim of my pro gradu thesis is to understand how small Finnish companies acting in game industry to get ready for becoming international from the point of view business model. The company is operating in both electronic and traditional business which makes it as an interesting case to study. In my case study I concentrated on research on how the company prepares for the internationalization and how it affects the business model. The study was executed as a work shop. Chief executive officer and development manager of the case company were invited to the workshop and they brought up their understanding of what will happen in international process and how it will affect the business model. A business model simply describes how a company lures customers, preserves their customer relationships in a faithful manner and transfers money from customers to the company. Observing internationalization theories from the point of view business model brought out a new perspective on how to prepare for the internationalization. Combining these two tools answer the question of what is the right path of internationalization and how companies should prepare for it from the point of view business model. According to this pro gradu thesis, when a company makes a decision to reach international markets their business model will change. Different dimensions of the business model shed light on the challenges and bring out new perspectives for internationalization process. While analyzing the business model of the case company it became clear that most of the dimensions of the business model will be changed during the internationalization process. I would recommend the case company to edit their business model totally to better encounter the demands of internationalization. Changing the business model totally will, however, require more research.