Exploring Market Entry Strategies of German SMEs in Bulgaria. An Empirical Analysis and Comparative Study

Master's Thesis from the year 2022 in the subject Economics - International Economic Relations, grade: 1,0, New Bulgarian University (Economics), course: International Business, language: English, abstract: This master's thesis will deal with the different market entry strategies of German companies in Bulgaria. More specifically, I will focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), since they do not have the financial strength and confidence of large enterprises and corporations, and it would be interesting to examine their behaviour when entering a foreign market. An overview of the micro- and large enterprises will also be presented in order to further support the statements made about SMEs. Through an empirical and comparative analysis of a report of the German-Bulgarian chamber of industry and commerce, I will give an answer to the question, whether is this even worth it and if so, what strategy would be most successful for them and what factors influence the most. The analysis will begin with a more global overview of international business and especially internationalization. The definition of internationalization, its meaning and its relation to entering foreign markets will be presented. In the third chapter, the term market entry will be introduced, as well as the different possible strategies and variations for this. The fourth chapter will focus on small and medium-sized enterprises - what exactly they are in general, in Bulgaria and in Germany, what are the main differences between them and the large ones and why they are important. After that, a legal framework of the situation in Bulgaria will be presented - the economic development of the country, its business environment, corporate law, forms and taxes. All this will be considered in order to get to the heart of this thesis in the sixth chapter - the empirical and comparative analysis and the results drawn from them. Concrete samples with German companies in Bulgaria will be used in the study. Several variables will play a role in my research such as location, type of the enterprise, market entry method, industry and market participation. Based on it, specific problems will be discussed and finally conclusions will be drawn on the determining factors of market entry behaviour of German companies on the Bulgarian market. The master thesis will end with a summary of the main conclusions.