Financial service firms' entry-mode choice and cultural diversity: Spanish companies in Latin America

Emerging markets in newly industrialised countries have caught the attention of managers of manufacturing companies facing heavy domestic and global pressure. Key barriers to the effective management of international manufacturing operations need to be identified. The same applies to the management of international service operations. The share of services in international trade, the amount of foreign direct investments made and the number of multinational service-sector enterprises has been increasing rapidly in the last two decades. Existing studies on service internationalisation apply a fairly broad theoretical base. This paper contributes by examining the internationalisation behaviour of Spanish financial service-sector companies in Latin America to find out if general internationalisation patterns are applicable or if the manufacturing sector influences their internationalisation behaviour.