The De-Internationalization Process: A Case Study of Marks and Spencer

The increased internationalization of business has made internationalization an important research topic. However, by and large, theories of the internationalization of the firm have focused on one side of the coin — the internationalization process — and have tended to ignore the de-internationalization process (Caves, 1995; Hadjikhani and Johanson, 1996; Benito and Welch, 1997; Matthyssens and Pauwels, 2000; Burt et al., 2002). The lack of research into the de-internationalization process may be attributed to three factors; the stigma of failure associated with de-internationalization (Bower, 1970; Caves, 1995, p. 20); international firms themselves wipe failed international activities from their record books or public memory (Burt et al., 2002); and personnel in the host country often move after de-internationalization and neither they nor the artifacts remain to inform researchers (Burt et al., 2002). Consequently, we know remarkably little about how firms de-internationalize, particularly the management of the de-internationalization process. This study deals with the process of de-internationalization in response to crisis at home and abroad.