This current article discusses the results of a research about the international behavior of the firm under the focus of the motivational perspective. The article aims at identifying the types of stimuli that lead a company to operate abroad and at examining the potential differences related to the motivational behavior, based on firm size, strategies of market entry and involvement in international sales. A survey was carried out with 73 Brazilian exporting companies in the manufacturing sector classified in the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. The results show that factors linked to the management and associated with the internal and external markets impel the international activities of the companies that were researched; they also show significant differences among the majority of theses factors in relation to size, strategies of market entry and involvement in international sales.
Internationalization; International business; Organizational characteristics; International motivation; International entrepreneurship
