This doctoral research was triggered by my interest in understanding why some Finnish maritime and offshore sector SMEs engage in a joint entry to new, challenging foreign markets, such as neighbouring Norway and Russia, while others do not. On this basis, the objective of the thesis is to explore the dynamics of the collective international opportunity recognition process among Finnish maritime and offshore industry SMEs that aim at joint internationalisation. This objective is divided into the following research questions: (1) How do individual entrepreneurs recognise collective international opportunities? (2) How do several entrepreneurs together recognise collective international opportunities? (3) How does the collective international opportunity recognition process evolve over time? These questions are answered in four empirical articles that constitute the core of the thesis. The employed theoretical framework builds on three streams of literature: international opportunity recognition, mental images and sensemaking, and network interaction. The qualitative data were collected primarily via biyearly interviews from 2015 to 2017 with representatives of Finnish maritime industry SMEs exploring business opportunities in Norway and Russia.

The thesis contributes particularly to the international entrepreneurship literature by providing insight into collective international opportunity recognition, a process critical to the joint internationalisation of SMEs yet highly understudied. First, by introducing mental images specific to opportunity contexts and by exploring the dynamics of auspicious and ominous sensemaking involved in an individual’s recognition of collective international opportunities, this thesis sheds light on the individual-level aspects of the phenomenon. Second, by investigating two forms of inter-firm sensemaking, that is, collective and fragmented sensemaking, the study provides insight into how multiple individuals from different firms come to recognise, together, an opportunity for joint internationalisation. Third, by building on the process-based approach, this thesis provides understanding on the temporal dynamics of collective international opportunity recognition: mental images and sensemaking processes evolve over time through various kinds of events and determine whether managers recognize opportunities for joint internationalisation in the future. In addition, this thesis provides avenues for further research and offers managerial and policy recommendations for supporting the joint internationalisation of SMEs.