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A- STAGES (UPPSALA) INTERNATIONALIZATION MODEL Essay The Model Characteristics: 1- the export development process has a sequential nature -successive stages represent higher degrees of international involvement/commitment;2- the process is a gradual acquisition, integration and use of knowledge about foreign markets and operations; 3- the process is also one of organizational learning; 4- the model is experience/knowledge-based the more experience the firm gains in time, the more it is prepared to commit itself to this market and to launch new activities; 5- from this higher commitment the firm will gain experience/market knowledge; 6- internationalization is a slow process, beginning with local representatives in culturally close markets; 7- firms would enter new markets with successfully greater psychic distance; 8- the concept of psychic distance -factors preventing or disturbing the flow of information between firm and market, including factors such as differences in languages- cultures- political systems- educational levels- lev els of industrial development- tastes among consumers- values, behaviors, attitudes.9- the main structure of the stages model: a) state/static aspects of internationalization variables the market commitment and knowledge about foreign markets; b) change aspects of internationalization variables decisions to commit resources and current business performance. 10- the concept of market commitment is composed of two factors: a) the amount of resources committed- the size of investment in marketing, organization, personal, etc. ; b) the degree of commitment ? difficulty in finding an alternative resources and transferring them to alternative uses. 11- international activities require both a) general knowledge -can be transferred from one country to another; b) market specific knowledge -gained mainly through experience in the market. 12- there is a direct relationship between market knowledge and market commitment the better the knowledge about the market, the more valuable the resources and the stronger the commitment to the market (especially true for experiential knowledge). 13- additional market commitment as a rule will be made in small incremental steps. 14- However the exceptions are; firms with large resources experience small consequences of their commitments, and can take larger internationalization steps; when market conditions are stable and homogenous, relevant market knowledge ca