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The foreign market entry mode of EU companies in Azerbaijan: The impact of social networks - online DBA defense

19-07-2021

On 15 July 2021 Mr. Fariz Ismailzade successfully defended his DBA thesis titled: 'The foreign market entry mode of EU companies in Azerbaijan: The impact of social networks.' The defense took place in an online session.

“During the past five years, I have been privileged to be part of the DBA program at Maastricht School of Management. I found this program very useful, especially in terms of understanding in-depth research techniques, linking theory to practice, and developing recommendations for the policy makers, based on my research findings. My thesis supervisors and faculty at MSM have been extremely helpful in guiding me through all steps of the dissertation.” This is how Dr. Ismailzade summarizes his DBA journey.

About the research of Dr. Fariz Ismailzade
Dr. Ismailzade’s research work examined the interrelation between quality (strength) of social networks that companies from the European Union (EU) develop in Azerbaijan and the choice of market entry mode that they make as well as the rate of success in entering the market. Essentially, his research tried to answer the question: How do social networks of EU companies in Azerbaijan affect their choice of entry mode and success rate of entry into this transitional economy?

Data for this research project comes from a web-survey, implemented among 102 randomly selected EU companies in Azerbaijan, as well as in-depth interviews with some of their CEOs.

Dr. Ismailzade believes that his research findings have important implications both for the theoretical literature on social networks and internationalization of companies as well as for managers and policymakers.

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