The international entrepreneurial dynamics of accelerated internationalisation

Abstract

The initial stages of internationalisation, prior to firms having established their definitive sources of advantage, remain the relatively unexplored area of the international business (IB) literature. At these early stages, where firms are seeking to establish themselves, and new multinational firms are appearing to exploit new opportunities created by globalisation, the entrepreneurial aspects of internationalisation come to the fore. In this paper we aim to delineate an emerging field of IB scholarship: we use the appearance of international new ventures, and the phenomenon of accelerated internationalisation that they feature, to identify a set of issues that has slipped through the net of some of the existing IB frameworks. We propose that the salient features of accelerated and early internationalisation by the newly internationalising firm are best captured in a framework that is found at the intersection of entrepreneurial and internationalisation perspectives, which we propose be known as international entrepreneurial dynamics. We discuss such a framework in terms of entry points and pathways mapped by firms as they probe the IB arena, and the key factors that impinge on behaviour and strategic choices. In line with recent developments in the entrepreneurship literature, these are grouped into three milestones of entrepreneurial processes that extend across national boundaries: (1) the discovery of new opportunities; (2) the deployment of resources in the exploitation of these opportunities; and (3) the engagement with competitors. Implications for MNE and internationalisation theory are discussed. Journal of International Business Studies (2007) 38, 387–403. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400271

Interdependence Across a Firm's International Trajectories

“…We suggest that the interdependence across them is the driving force behind it. Although this finding goes against one of tenets of process-oriented models of internationalization (Johanson & Vahlne, 1977), it is line with research on firms that pursue accelerated internationalization such as bornglobal firms and firms from emerging economies (Mathews & Zander, 2007). Unintentionally, this result can also be viewed as a preliminary response to Hashai's (2011Hashai's ( , p. 1011 call to "explore whether at some level of foreign experience, born global firms become able to combine simultaneously expansions".…”

“…In addition, the internationalization of firms from emerging countries are suggested to be different from firms from developed countries (Mathews & Zander, 2007), thus limiting our results to the country of origin itself. In this piece of research we considered a firm's internationalization process with four international trajectories.…”

Redes, inovação e desempenho exportador: uma abordagem institucional

“…Porém, atualmente, há novos fatores sendo considerados na proposição de teorias, que passaram a contemplar, por exemplo, as redes de relacionamento, a inovação e as características empreendedoras (Mathews & Zander, 2007;Moen, Gavlen, & Endresen, 2004;Weerawardena, Mort, Liesch, & Knight, 2007). Tais abordagens contribuíram significativamente para fornecer novas perspectivas de avaliação dos fatores determinantes da internacionalização de empresas de modo geral e, mais especificamente, do desempenho exportador de empresas.…”

The International Entrepreneurial Firms’ Social Networks

“…This attention has further increased after the 1996 Special Issue on IEFs in the journal Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. In fact, studying IEFs is important (McDougall, 1989; even to better understand why and how some firms expand and compete internationally with large established firms (see also Mathews & Zander, 2007). For instance, the Australia's high-value-added manufacturing exporters have witnessed the rise of numerous small and medium-sized companies that successfully compete against large established multinationals in the global business arena (Rennie, 1993).…”

“…It is likely that the IEFs dependence on the social relationships is due to a limited pool of resources to exploit abroad and the lack of capabilities and international experience (e.g., Jarillo, 1989;Beamish, 1999;Lu & Beamish, 2001) that allow them to explore for new knowledge or novel foreign business opportunities (Knight & Cavusgil, 2004;Mathews & Zander, 2007). That is, IEFs seem to suffer cumulatively from the liabilities of smallness (cfr.…”