Ecofluid Ltd. was founded in 1991; two weeks after the fall of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Ecofluid’s founders (twin brothers) had previously worked in academic positions and decided to commercialise the water-treatment technology they had been researching. Because of the economic, political and financial situation in Czechoslovakia the founders realised that in order to obtain financial resources, investors had to be sought internationally. Also, the potential revenue in the domestic market would be limited. Therefore, customers had to be targeted internationally as well. Customers include municipalities, hospitals, hotels, agricultural firms and industrial plants and come from various countries in North America and Europe including the U.S., Canada, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Czech Republic and Slovakia. By the end of 2003 Ecofluid had offices in Canada, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia where various value-added activities are performed including sales, R&D and production
Logitech (Jolly, Alahuhta and Jeannet, 1992)
Founded in 1982 by a Swiss and two Italians, Logitech SA was truly international from the very start. Intent on setting up a company with a global reach, the founders decided to set up headquarters both in Switzerland and the U.S. Within a few months operations were expanded to Taiwan and Ireland. The rest of the world soon followed. By 1989 when the case study was first published the company sold 65% of its produce in the U.S. 28% in Europe and 7% in the Far East. Besides sales, international activities included engineering and manufacturing in three continents. For instance, R&D activities were moved from Switzerland to California quickly to benefit of huge presence of specialised and well-trained human resources and enormous R&D activity in Sillicon Valley
Heartware International Ltd. (McDougall et. al. 1994)
Heartware International Corporation (Heartware) was a medical equipment company founded in 1988. The company’s founder was internationally experienced and clearly had a global vision. Indeed, from the start the company was truly global. Headquarters and investors were located in the U.S. Human resources were found in the U.S. and the Netherlands. Product development and technical support originated in the Netherlands where a close strategic alliance was formed with the University of Maastricht. Sales came from the U.S., the U.K., Italy, Spain and Brazil and distributors were found in the U.S., the U.K., Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey. Although the future looked bright for Heartware, problems arose when the company’s key contact person at the University of Maastricht was suspended and differences arouse with respect to the interpretation of the contracts between the university and Heartware. When negotiations with an American company for further co-operation also failed it was clear that Heartware had no future and the venture was terminated
Sci-Tex (Ray, 1989, 1995)
Founded in Israel, Sci-Tex (Scientific Technology) develops, manufactures and markets electro-optical systems. The company was founded in 1968 as a spin-off from the American company where the founder, Mr. Arazi, was previously working. Mr. Arazi’s life experience on two continents proved useful in expanding the company globally. This global expansion was essential as the domestic Israeli market could not compensate the necessary investments in R&D and would not enable company growth. During the first few years however, Sci-Tex experienced technical success but commercial failure. This only changed when a new manager was added to the team. This new Canadian manager was the key to finding a market niche in supplying specialised equipment to the textile industry. He got Sci-Tex out of the military business and introduced both a bottom line and marketing orientation to a R&D company. This allowed the small firm to compete with even the largest players. Within a short period the company was involved in both sales and collaborative activities in North America, Europe, Israel, and Asia. Today, Sci-Tex shares are traded on the Nasdaq. Sci-Tex now employs more than one thousand people and provides a wide array of industrial inkjet printing solutions supported by 700 related patents and patent applications
ChipIdea (Simeos & Dominguinhos, 2001)
ChipIdea Microelectrónica S.A. was founded in February 1997 by three University Professors from the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). Chipidea is the only company in Portugal which possesses advanced microelectronics design capabilities, particularly in the areas of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits, and which is operating fully in the global semiconductor market with R&D being the companies main focus. By the end of 2003 the company employed over 120 people and continues to grow. In fact, ChipIdea Microelectronics SA is Europe's 32nd Fastest Growing Small-to-Medium Sized Business. International activities include sales in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, collaborative R&D with partners from Israel, China and the U.S. and production and design centers in China (Maucau)
