Living next door to Gazprom : how a Norwegian company found itself in Murmansk, employing 80 engineers and welders - and a guy from Verdal

Abstract

Russian-Norwegian cooperation and the term “The High North” have been subject to increased attention, especially from an energy perspective. The impression that North West Russia holds a great promise for Norwegian companies has been widely projected by media and politicians. The lack of energy business initiative in North-West Russia is however curiously absent, save for one company, the case of this study, who has achieved success in short time. This thesis utilizes internationalization theory to analyze why Reinertsen NWR’s establishment in Murmansk was successful. The findings suggest that managerial commitment, a broad resource base and re-export have played important roles for a successful start-up.