Uppsala Model
Updated 2026-08-01
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Developed by Jan Johanson and Jan-Erik Vahlne. The model describes internationalization as an incremental process in which firms gain market knowledge and progressively increase commitment: no regular exports, then exporting through agents, then a sales subsidiary, then overseas production. Firms typically enter culturally and institutionally closer markets first. Investment is treated as the cost of buying information about a market whose risks are otherwise unknown.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Measure the gap: assess cultural, institutional, and language distance before choosing a market - Start light: begin with exporting or an agent rather than a subsidiary or a plant - Deepen on evidence: increase commitment only as market knowledge accumulates through experience
Anchor fast decisions
Unfamiliar markets carry uncertainty that cannot be resolved by analysis alone, because the relevant knowledge is tacit and local. Committing resources at low levels generates that knowledge at low cost; as knowledge grows, the perceived risk of larger commitments falls. The sequence therefore reflects rational information buying rather than timidity, and it holds wherever local knowledge is essential.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uppsala_modelverified
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