Market sensing of the international new ventures: strategies and determinants

The market sensing capability, involving the routines needed to recognise market opportunities, is crucial for fast foreign expansion. So far, the antecedents of market sensing have not been thoroughly studied in the context of SME internationalisation, especially regarding companies from post-transition markets. This study offers a contribution to a research field concerning managerial capabilities' role in internationalisation. It aims at identifying the market-sensing strategies and determinants, concerning International New Ventures (INVs) with diverse backgrounds. A qualitative research approach consisting of individual expert interviews with the Polish, Finnish and Italian INVs' managers is applied. It includes a card-based game, enabling identification of market sensing's role. As it is shown, the market-sensing strategies differ depending on the represented market. They are targeted at exploiting opportunities in firms from mature markets, whereas in Polish INVs they support customer responsiveness. The social ties and company experience are key determinants of market sensing of INVs.