1. Alice in Wonderland, as a Model of Internationalization of Business
(Lewis Carroll’s version, not Disney’s)

2. Alice is a bit of a Twit, with no real worries, and a bit bored, yet intrigued by challenges.
She is listening to her sister read.
She is bored with her present state.
She wishes something interesting would happen
She is open for new opportunities, if they don’t require too much effort.

3. Alice is attracted by a funny, running rabbit
“Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do…she was considering in her own mind whether the pleasure of making a daisy chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daises, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.”
Source: 2004 version of “Alice in
Wonderland,” G.Helderbrandt illustrator.
By Courage Press, Philadelphia, Pa.

4. Like a Company, seeking new markets, Alice was somehow attracted to the funny rabbit.
“Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit hole under the hedge.”
Reasons for a company going international often arise from the same non-rational interests.

5. Alice is attracted, by curiosity, to unknown difficulty
“The rabbit hole went straight on like a tunnel for some ways, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.”

6. Then, The Falling into “another” world
“In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.”
(This is not unlike the way in
which firms decide to enter
International markets.)

7. Finding exciting visions, that appear inaccessible
Through a small doorway
Alice saw –
“…the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but she could not even get her head through the doorway.”

8. Then, technology was discovered, which could help Alice to become “right-sized”
Technology promises to help manage all problems and potentials.
After drinking the curious technology, Alice became the “right size” to pass through a small doorway, but, alas, had forgotten to pick up the key as she changed to being smaller.
Her problem continued, but changed.

9. Alice thus has to seek another “technical fix” to access paradise
After experimenting with another fix, to become larger, Alice got so big she couldn’t move
Finding the “right size” is a continuous challenge for all entities.

10. Self-generated Dilemmas
Thus, Alice began to cry from some sadness and much frustration, thereby generating a flood that almost drowned her and others.
After some very “dry” lectures by a consultant, things seem to dry down and get better, except she had no idea what was being said.

11. Lacking rules in the international arena Alice suspends Reason and turns to Experience
“Speak English, said the Eaglet, ‘I don’t know the meaning of half those long works, and, what’s more, I don’t believe you do either.”
“The best way to explain it is to do it,” said the Dodo.

12. Managing the Size Problem
‘Who are you?’ said the Caterpillar.
Alice replied, rather shyly, ‘I – I hardly know, sir, just at present – at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then.’
‘What do you mean by that?’ said the Caterpillar sternly, ‘Explain yourself!’
‘I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid, sir,’ said Alice, ‘because I’m not myself, you see.’

13. New Rules, Chaos, and New Problems
“There was no ‘One, two, three, and away,’ but they began running when they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over. However, when they had been running half an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out ‘The race is over!’ and they all crowded around, panting, and asking, ‘Who has won?’ ”

14. New Rules of the Road
“Alice thought she had never seen such a curious croquet-ground in her life; the balls were hedgehogs, the mallets live flamingoes, and the soldiers had to double themselves up and stand on their hands and feet to make arches.”

15. Strangeness Continues to Grow
“ ‘Cheshire Puss,’ she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name. ‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’
‘That depends a good deal on where you want to go to,’ said the Cat.
‘I don’t much care where – ‘ said Alice.
‘Then is doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.”

16. And grows …
“ ‘so long as I get somewhere,’ Alice added as an explanation.
‘Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, ‘if you only walk long enough.’
Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question. ‘What sort of people live here?’
‘In that direction,’ the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives a Hatter. And in that direction,’ waving the other paw, ‘lives the March Hare. They’re both mad.’
But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked. ‘Oh, you can’t help that. We’re all mad here.’ said the Cat, and vanished.”

17. Until, Alice wakes up in the “normal,” but can she forget the attractions of the unusual?
‘Oh, I’ve had such a curious
dream!” said Alice. She told her
sister, as well as she could
remember, all these strange
Adventures of hers that you
have just been reading about,
and when she had finished, her
sister kissed her, and said, ‘It
was a curious dream, dear,
certainly, but now run in to
your tea; it’s getting late.’

18. Adjusting to the Normal
“So Alice got up and ran off, thinking while she ran, as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been.”
THE END