This study examines how so-called born micromultinationals multinationalize. Existing theoretical frameworks do not capture the multinationalization of young and small firms because of the literature gap separating studies on born globals and international new ventures from the research on multinational enterprises. However, firms go beyond accelerated internationalization and engage in accelerated multinationalization. Born micromultinationals invest and operate in multiple countries from, or soon after, their foundation. We argue that it is necessary to examine their smallness, newness and entrepreneurial nature, as suggested in the BG/INV literature, as well as to investigate why and how they invest abroad through the lenses of MNE theories. We discuss existing theories and examine them in the light of four case studies of Finnish born micromultinationals. Our results show that the organizational, locational and internalization approach and transaction costs economics for example, have explanatory power for the FDIs conducted by born micromultinationals. We suggest that the multinationalization process of born mMNEs consists of commitment decisions; reconfigurations of the value chain; and learning from, and creating and building trust with internal sources.

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This research investigates how small multinational enterprises (small MNEs) internationalize by opening branch offices or subsidiaries in foreign markets, managing their multiple embeddedness in their host and home locations, and their subsidiaries’ dual embeddedness in external environments and within their organizations. We study four small multinational enterprises, two each from the small open economies of New Zealand and Finland, and we use literature from entrepreneurship and international business to derive a model of these multiple dimensions of embeddedness. The cases illustrate how firms can become more (or less) embedded in their locations through their physical presence, operations, key employees, and local hires while achieving internal organizational embeddedness through their corporate structure and social and technological bridging. Our research gives insight into how small MNEs may overcome their liabilities of smallness, foreignness, and outsidership by drawing on resources from home and host locations and sharing this throughout the organization.