Internationalization and Performance: An Organizational Learning Perspective

For over 30 years, researchers have investigated the relationship between corporate internationalization and performance. While most recent findings indicate that the link may exhibit a non-linear form, researchers disagree on the exact shape of the statistical curve. In this study, the relationship was examined through cross-sectional and longitudinal statistical analyses of data from 84 German manufacturing companies during the 5-year period 1993-1997. A standard-U form of the internationalization-performance relationship was found across all statistical techniques applied. Organizational learning appears to accompany the internationalization process of multinational corporations (MNCs).