A Critical Review of Time in the Internationalization Process of Firms

Abstract This article analyzes the relation between time and experiential knowledge development in the internationalization process of firms. Based on the international marketing literature, international business literature and learning literature, this article critically reviews the relationship between time and firms' learning process. We define time as the time spent in foreign operations, which we will call duration. We conclude that time is important in internationalization process models. However, there is no uniform treatment of time in the current literature. Our literature review shows that the current knowledge of time and its relationship to knowledge accumulation in internationalizing firms is over-simplistic. Other researchers have presumed a linear and continuous relationship between time and knowledge accumulation in firms. We argue that the above relationship is more likely to be non-linear and discontinuous. We conclude that more research is required on the effect of time on knowledge ac...