Abstract:
The world in which business is conducted has become more interconnected than ever, with
institutions being intertwined in the manufacturing and delivery of products and services on a
global scale. Organisations are required to continuously adapt and realign their strategic intent
to a global landscape that presents numerous challenges needing to be navigated with
precision and extreme caution. This is even more prevalent to organisations that are seeking
to expand their business activities outside their home country. In international business, the
internationalisation process is in itself complex and dynamic. The Uppsala model is applied to
interpret the internationalisation process where the opportunities that are presented to the
organisation are explored. It is during this analytical process and beyond, where the leadership
of the organisation is confronted with decision making processes that could ultimately
influence the organisation’s internationalisation behaviour. In view of this, the study examines
the knowledge gap by exploring the managerial cognition of the individual, how the individual’s
managerial cognition is influenced by the global mindset approach, and how the individual’s
decision-making behaviour is influenced by their own rationality. Examining the behaviour of
the individual during the internationalisation process, will allow organisations to identify
linkages between the individual and the organisation that would potentially have a direct
influence on the performance of the organisation. The research methodology was a qualitative
study which applied semi structured interviews with representatives from South Africa,
Canada, United States, Indonesia, Ghana, New Zealand, and Australia. The outcome of the
research indicated that there is a relationship between the individual’s cognitive attributes and
the effect it has on the organisation’s internationalisation processes. The research further
showed that the relationship between the mentioned cognitive attributes of the individual is
not a singular function in the organisational context but that it points towards a dual
relationship, that being the individual and his/her respective characteristics, and the collective
characteristics of the individuals in the organisation, namely leadership.
