International expansion enables companies to potentially enhance their competitiveness through securing access to new markets, technologies, brand names, resources and strategic assets abroad by utilizing a variety of strategies, including product and technological diversification across fields and geographical sites (Cantwell and Piscitello 1999). These potential enhancers of competitiveness would not be available to firms that elected to stay focused on their own domestic economy, potentially missing out on opportunities that are available only to firms that are prepared to expand globally – opportunities such as becoming integrated in global value chains or attracting global customers. A combination of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors is responsible for international expansion and these will be examined below.

This report is to propose the strategy for future implementation upon evaluation of the driving factors and available options.

Asset-Exploitation and Asset-Seeking

There are various modes to engage in international business activities with exporting with the lowest risk to direct foreign investment on the other end of the spectrum. According to the conceptual framework by Dunning (1981, 1988), a company chooses among three modes of internationalization (exporting, licensing and FDI) on the basis of three different but interrelated advantages (ownership, location and internationalization).

While in accordance to the Uppsala model, internationalization is incremental, sequential and learning based, occurring in stages, based on cumulative market knowledge and commitment (Erdilek 2008), Arcelik has the capability to operate in volatile and turbulent environments, giving a competitive advantage to adapt and survive. At the same time, Mathews (2006) spearheaded another perspective of ‘asset seeking’ and developed the “resource linkage, leverage, and