This article introduces the reader to the scope, boundaries, variation, and theoretical lenses of transnational entrepreneurship (TE) research. We discuss issues concerning why, how, and when individuals and/or organizations pursue new business ventures, often in far less attractive environments, while relying on abilities and opportunities stemming from the exploitation of resources, both social and economic, in more than one country. We compare TE with international entrepreneurs, ethnic entrepreneurs, and returnee entrepreneurs. TE is considered from several perspectives: agency, institutional, cultural, power relations, and social capital and networks. We summarize the articles presented in this special issue and outline an agenda for further research. Transnational Entrepreneurship (TE): An Emergent Field of StudyAs showcased in this special issue, TE is a rapidly emerging aspect of international business (IB) expansion that was insignificant only a few short decades ago. Approximately 3% of the world's population are immigrants, who account for 10% of the population living in developed countries (Riddle, 2008). The process of TE involves entrepreneurial activities that are carried out in a cross-national context, and initiated by actors who are embedded in at least two different social and economic arenas. Transnational entrepreneurs (TEs) are individuals that migrate from one country to another, concurrently maintaining businessrelated linkages with their former country of origin, and currently adopted countries and communities. By traveling both physically and virtually, TEs simultaneously engage in two or more socially embedded environments, allowing them to maintain critical global relations that enhance their ability to creatively, dynamically, and logistically maximize their resource base. We thus define TEs as social actors who enact networks, ideas, information, and practices for the purpose of seeking business opportunities or maintaining businesses within dual social fields, which in turn force them to engage in varied strategies of action to promote their entrepreneurial activities.Since information is critical to the success of any organizational endeavor, and because TEs occupy two geographical locations that provide and support unique informational flows, they are in a unique position to identify and exploit opportunities that Please send correspondence to: Mike Wright,

We report the results of a longitudinal case study depicting the relationship between internal and external legitimacy at Orion, an emergent creative professional firm. We address the following questions: How do different types of legitimacy emerge, and how do they interact to shape organizational evolution? Introducing a staged process model, we demonstrate that organizational legitimacy is a product of action, which is continually reproduced and reconstructed by members of an organization in concert with external legitimation activities. Internal and external legitimacy evolve through a process of emergence, validation, diffusion and consensus, sometimes recursively repeating the cycle when imbalances result in conflict and friction.

We study how collaboration and internal resources drive knowledge creation and application in university research programs. Academic collaboration with fellow university scientists drives knowledge creation, whereas collaboration with industry partners drives knowledge application. Nevertheless, contrary to prior research that has underscored the merits of collaboration, we identify an optimal level of collaboration beyond which collaboration undermines both processes. Furthermore, the availability of internal resources can either complement or substitute for collaboration depending on the level of collaboration. In particular, we find that availability of internal resources mitigates the effect of academic collaboration on knowledge creation when collaboration is moderate and complements it as collaboration becomes excessive. Thus, our study reveals the contingent value of collaboration and the interplay between internal and network resources. It enhances understanding of collaboration in nascent science-driven industries and advances the resource-based view and knowledge management research.

Firms struggle to create an agile organizational system since it requires the development of three enabling capacities: to make sense quickly, make decisions nimbly, and redeploy resources rapidly. While the study of strategic agility is of growing interest as a prime means of organizational growth, the ways by which key mechanisms of growth such as mergers and acquisitions (M&As) help in building this capability remain elusive. This article highlights the differences between platform acquisitions and bolt-on acquisitions (most bolt-on acquisitions in high-technology industries can further be separated into product acquisitions on the one hand, and educational, technological and/or talent acquisitions on the other hand). These different forms of acquisitions can enhance strategic agility in distinct ways along different time horizons. When properly managed, acquisitions can enhance the gradual accumulation of the capabilities underlying strategic agility. This article presents a more complex picture of a non-linear reinforcing dual path between M&As and strategic agility.