Entrepreneur-related Constructs Explaining the Emergence of Born Global Firms: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This paper is aimed at structuring entrepreneur-related constructs and building a conceptual framework that can serve as a foundation for future international entrepreneurship research and theory building. The author conducted the systematic literature review of 94 empirical studies and conceptual papers on the entrepreneur-related determinants of early internationalisation in the international management journals in the years 1966-2015. This article discusses and groups the existing knowledge on entrepreneur-related determinants of born globals successful international performance. The major theoretical contribution of the study is the conceptual framework of the main entrepreneur-level determinants of rapid internationalisation. The results of the study are exploratory and there is a need in validating the theoretical framework through an advanced quantitative study. Future research might try to integrate the reviewed entrepreneur-related constructs with organisational characteristics and external characteristics which determine born globals emergence. This paper provides the conceptual framework that groups entrepreneur-related constructs into 6 main categories which can enrich future international entrepreneurship research.

Headnote

ABSTRACT

Objective: The paper is aimed at structuring entrepreneur-related constructs and building a conceptual framework that can serve as a foundation for future international entrepreneurship research and theory building.

Research Design & Methods: The author conducted the systematic literature review of 94 empirical studies and conceptual papers on the entrepreneur-related determinants of early internationalisation in the international management journals in the years 1966 - 2015.

Findings: This article discusses and groups the existing knowledge on entrepreneurrelated determinants of born globals successful international performance. The major theoretical contribution of the study is the conceptual framework of the main entrepreneur- level determinants of rapid internationalisation.

Implications & Recommendations: The results of the study are exploratory and there is a need in validating the theoretical framework through an advanced quantitative study. Future research might try to integrate the reviewed entrepreneur-related constructs with organisational characteristics and external characteristics which determine born globals emergence.

Contribution & Value Added: This paper provides the conceptual framework that groups entrepreneur-related constructs into 6 main categories which can enrich future international entrepreneurship research.

Article type: literature review

Keywords: born globals; international entrepreneurship; internationalisation

JEL codes: F23

Received: 15 September 2015 Revised: 18 November 2015 Accepted: 16 December 2015

INTRODUCTION

Research on international business in the 20th century has been mostly focused on large multinational companies. Management of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and venture creation was rather the topic of interest for entrepreneurship scholars (McDougall & Oviatt, 2000). However, in the end of 20th century, the research borders between international business and entrepreneurship started to vanish. Due to changing global business environment - more efficient communication technology and transportation, decrease in governmental protectionism and increasing opportunities to get international experience - it became less costly to conduct business activities in different countries. This contributed to the emergence of the international entrepreneurship phenomenon (McDougall & Oviatt, 2000; Zahra & George, 2002).

International entrepreneurship concept, which combines elements of international business theory and entrepreneurship theory, is devoted to the new ways of firms' internationalisation. The traditional stage model of internationalisation (Johanson & Wiederheim- Paul, 1975; Johanson & Vahlne, 1977) understood it as a slow process with several consecutive stages. However, new competitive environment, empowered by globalisation and integration processes, showed that stage theory cannot be applied anymore and new models are needed to explain the way SMEs internationalise. Starting from the early 1990s studies on the theory of international entrepreneurship focused on SMEs which enter international markets immediately after their emergence (McDougall, 1989; Rennie, 1993; Oviatt & McDougall, 1994). Those companies, called born globals (Knight & Cavusgil, 1996; Madsen & Servais, 1997) or international new ventures (McDougall et al., 1994) do not use traditional incremental methods of exporting and begin to export from the first days of their existence.

The researchers have been trying to explain the key drivers of international expansion that are key for born global companies (Knight, 2000; Zahra & George, 2002). Most of the studies show the combination of external factors, internal factors and factors related to the entrepreneur who pushes companies to go global (Zahra & George, 2002). External factors are mainly associated with the market characteristics, as sectoral or regional export culture, international trade incentives or demand characteristics. Internal, organisational reasons of going international are niche products, global strategy and resource availability. Entrepreneur-related reasons, however, are found to be fundamental in the internationalisation of a company. Those reasons are usually associated with: (1) capabilities and aspirations of an entrepreneur before starting the business (Covin & Slevin, 1989; Knight, 2000; Andersson & Wictor, 2003) or (2) with entrepreneur's way of thinking and making decisions in the process of internationalisation (Harms & Schiele, 2012; Sarasvathy et al., 2014).

Those entrepreneur-related constructs are often overlapping and often it is difficult to distinguish among them, in consequence there are also some confusions within the international entrepreneurship literature. Therefore, there is a need for structuring entrepreneur- related constructs and building an integrative framework that could serve as a foundation for future international entrepreneurship research.

This paper aims to analyse and systematise the existing knowledge on the entrepreneur- related determinants of successful international performance of born global companies through the systematic literature review of empirical studies in the international management journals in the years 1966 - 2015. The following section describes methodology used for conducting the research. The next sections present analysis and findings - key constructs emerging in the literature and proposition of a theoretical framework. Finally, conclusions and directions for the future research are presented.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The systematic literature review was carried out in order to identify the current state of knowledge on the main entrepreneur-related factors which influence rapid internationalisation. It was carried out through a systematic analysis of 94 articles mostly from the leading scientific journals, but also from regional journals, monograph chapters and conference proceedings. The articles reviewed were published in the years 1966-2015. However, the majority of them (73) come from the 21st century. A three-stage procedure was used to select the articles:

1. using online bibliographic database Web of Science which provides access to the main international scientific journals in the fields of social sciences, art and humanities (the following keywords in different combinations were used for the search: "born global", "internationalisation", "determinants of internationalisation", "entrepreneurial orientation", "effectuation");

2. analysing references of the articles found, with a special regard to literature reviews and conceptual papers bibliography;

3. screening the articles in order to access their relevance to the research and select the final sample.

After the first two stages of research, 132 articles on internationalisation were identified. Papers reviewed ranged from the general conceptual papers concerning international marketing and international entrepreneurship to specific publication analysing a certain industry or a certain region. However, after the thorough examination, 38 of them were eliminated from the list as they were not relevant for the aims of this research. The remaining 94 articles were included into the final sample for the systematic literature review. They could be categorised into two main groups (with the dominance of the first one):

- empirical research on internationalisation of SMEs, especially with the focus on the entrepreneur- related determinants of internationalisation;

- conceptual papers or literature reviews which have an important contribution to the development of the international entrepreneurship science

The selected articles were published in 41 scientific journals, conference proceedings or monographs. Table 1 shows the most represented journals in the conducted review - most of the articles reviewed belong to the leading scientific management journals like Journal of International Business Studies (11 articles), Journal of International Marketing (11 articles), Journal of International Entrepreneurship (8 articles), Journal of World Business (7 articles), International Business Review (7 articles).

The review of the internationalisation literature was aimed at determining the topic and main objectives of the research, the research methodology adopted, the country of origin of the study and the key findings. Appendix 1 contains a sample of works on internationalisation from the past decades starting from acknowledged article by Vernon (1966) and a key work from the Uppsala University (Johanson & Vahlne, 1977). The process of reviewing and analysing was hindered by the diversity of writing and publishing styles, which can be observed in the articles from different timespans and different journals.

Main methodological aspects and key findings of the articles selected are presented in Appendix 1. It reveals the following information on the reviewed papers:

1. Authors of the article and the year of publication;

2. Sample characteristics - number of the companies, industry in which they operate, size of firms analysed;

3. Country of origin of the study;

4. Methodology used in the study - qualitative, quantitative, mixed, literature review or conceptual paper;

5. Key findings in terms of entrepreneur-related characteristics which determine rapid internationalisation or related topics.

The main constructs which emerged from the literature review are presented and discussed in the next section.

FINDINGS

The systematic literature review based on the presented methodology revealed that the topic of individual level factors influencing internationalisation is widely discussed in the international business literature. The research methodologies used, sample sizes and context of the analysis depicted in Figure 1 highlight balance within the international entrepreneurship research methods - there are 27 qualitative studies, 32 quantitative studies, 21 conceptual papers, 9 papers using mixed research methods (qualitative and quantitative) and 5 literature reviews. Quantitative papers dominate in the internationalisation literature, although qualitative research methods, conceptual papers and literature reviews are also well represented. Empirical studies however do not tend to use a longitudinal cross-cultural approach, but focus on a specific region or specific industry and analysis tends to be short-term. The countries of origin of the studies differ significantly, what indicates the widespread research on rapid internationalisation. Nevertheless, the majority of papers come from North America and the Nordic Countries.

Analysis of entrepreneur-related constructs within the internationalisation process has revealed several research fields, which are partially overlapping. The main constructs relevant to the topic reviewed are: (1) innovation and technology orientation, (2) entrepreneurial/ managerial knowledge, (3) entrepreneurial orientation, (4) effectuation logic, (5) international networks and (6) dynamic capabilities. Table 2 demonstrates the meaning of those constructs and their application in prior studies.

Innovation and technology

Among the key factors determining internationalisation, innovation and technology orientation is often observed. In one of the early empirical studies on born global firms, Rennie (1993) noticed that almost half of the surveyed companies ranked technology as their most critical lever. There is an empirical evidence that in response to globalisation SMEs tend to put greater emphasis on acquiring technology in order to prepare in advance before entering foreign markets (Knight, 2000; Knight & Cavusgil, 2004). Some studies (Jones, 2001; Luostarinen & Gabrielsson, 2004) find that although managers of born global companies are young and inexperienced when it comes to international business, they are often technologically competent. Especially, it is the case for high-technology companies or firms from IT sector.

Entrepreneurial and managerial knowledge

Born global researchers pay much attention to the international experience and prior knowledge of an entrepreneur. There is some evidence that born global entrepreneur's international living and work experience and his or her education are the factors which push them towards global markets (Madsen & Servais, 1997; Chetty & Campbell-Hunt, 2004). It is explained by the fact that prior knowledge and work experience reduce the psychic distance to global markets and minimize uncertainty. Chetty & Campbell-Hunt (2004) even hypothesize that present-day managers of born global firms are better educated than the generation of managers in 1977 when the stage internationalisation model was presented. Prior international experience of an entrepreneur plays an important role in increasing the firm's speed of learning and internationalisation (Oviatt & McDougall, 1997).

Researchers (Sapienza et al., 2006; Brennan & Garvey, 2009) suggest that the managers' previous international experience influences the outcomes of internationalisation because it may substitute for the lack of organisational experience with internationalisation. They state that internationalisation knowledge is already accumulated in the company through individual entrepreneurs who found the company.

Entrepreneurial orientation

Entrepreneurial orientation construct is associated with a strong leader who initiates innovativeness, proactiveness and risk taking (Knight, 2000). Firms with an entrepreneurial orientation pioneer in innovative products/ markets, engage in risky ventures and are characterised by decision action. Furthermore, according to Lumpkin and Dess (1996), such companies also combine autonomy and competitive aggressiveness, where autonomy means independent action of a person or team in giving birth to an idea, and competitive aggressiveness refers to firm's tendency to outperform in the marketplace and intensively challenge competitors.

Studies on rapid internationalisation agree that born global firms tend to possess certain characteristics as management team with "unusual constellation of competencies" (McDougall et al., 1994). It has been supported by empirical research that entrepreneurial orientation has a significant effect on international performance of companies. Entrepreneurial orientation is associated with quality leadership in born global companies (Knight, 2000; Jantunen et al., 2005; Kuivalainen et al., 2002). Researchers agree that possession of an entrepreneurial orientation is important in the development of company's strategy. Jantunen et al. (2005) state that the issue of entrepreneurial orientation within the internationalisation context is a relevant and under-researched topic, and suggest that entrepreneurial orientation might have a positive effect on international performance.

Effectuation logic

There are several studies which connect international orientation of companies to the effectual way of thinking (Bhowmick, 2008; Mainela & Puhakka, 2008; Schweizer, Vahlne, & Johansson, 2010; Sarasvathy et al., 2014; Galkina & Chetty, 2015). A theory of effectuation, entrepreneurial way of thinking and making decisions under uncertainty, was first introduced in 2001 by Saras Sarasvathy. She described two distinct types of logic used in decision- making processes - causation and effectuation. Causation refers to the typical managerial rational behaviour, where decisions are based on searching the ways to reach a distinct goal. Causation consists of starting with a given goal, then focusing on expected returns and competitive analysis and finally assembling means to achieve the given goal. Effectuation includes a set of decision-making behaviours, which are employed in the situations of uncertainty, when future is unpredictable, goals are not clearly known and there is no independent environment that serves as the ultimate selection mechanism. Effectual thinking includes considering the available means, keeping in mind what is affordable to lose, then seeking for strategic partnerships and exploiting contingencies to control the unpredictable future (Sarasvathy, 2001). According to Sarasvathy, effectual thinking is the prevailing logic among expert entrepreneurs in uncertain environments. Rapid internationalisation of born global companies is usually conducted in a highly uncertain environment for a novice entrepreneur.

The first studies which applied effectuation theory in international entrepreneurship research were Andersson (2011) and Harms and Schiele (2012). They state that internationalisation is basically a process of decision-making under uncertainty, therefore they claim that entrepreneurs tend to apply effectuation rather than causation. Authors agree that effectuation should be included in the future research on born globals.

International networks

Network approach suggests that traditional internationalisation models are no longer applicable to internationalised markets, where firms interact with international actors within their networks. Companies develop relationships and create strategic alliances in order to exploit and enhance their own resources and to gain benefits from the resources of other firms within their network (Laanti et al., 2007). Therefore, born globals have the opportunity to globalise their activities without significant human or financial resources, as networks allow them to achieve access to complementary resources in many areas like R&D, technology, production, marketing and distribution. Sharma and Blomstermo (2003) state that the selection of foreign market entry for born global firms is based on their existing knowledge and on the knowledge supplied by their network ties. They suggest that some firms establish strong ties with internationally active firms and consequently start internationalisation processes despite substantial cultural distance to the target market.

Dynamic capabilities

Dynamic capabilities notion has evolved from the resource-based view (Barney, 1991; Nelson, 1991) and is associated with the firm's processes that use resources, for example the processes which integrate, reconfigure, relocate resources, which eventually might create market change (Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000). Prange and Verdier (2011) propose to divide dynamic capabilities into two groups - exploitative and explorative, where exploitation refers to control, certainty, risk-reduction, while exploration corresponds to discovery, risk-taking, experimentation, flexibility and innovation. They state that both types of capabilities are applicable to internationalisation, however exploitative capabilities correspond more to the incremental internationalisation models, whereas explorative capabilities correspond to the accelerated foreign market entry. This distinction bears resemblance to the effectuation-causation model proposed by Sarasvathy (2001). Sapienza et al. (2006) argue that the earlier a firm internationalises, the more deeply embedded its dynamic capability for exploiting opportunities will be. They justify it by the fact that early exposure to internationalisation creates an imprint for adaptability to uncertain environments and a receptivity for constant change.

DISCUSSION AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK DEVELOPMENT

The above analysis leads to the development of conceptual framework on the entrepreneurial- related factors of rapid internationalisation of born global firms. In this framework the individual-level constructs are divided into two categories - those which constitute the potential of an entrepreneur before starting a born global firm (innovation and technology, entrepreneurial/ managerial knowledge, international networks), and those which reflect the logic of an entrepreneur, his decision-making schemes throughout the internationalisation process (dynamic capabilities, entrepreneurial orientation, effectuation logic).

Entrepreneurial knowledge and innovation and technology orientation are the constructs which appear in many studies on born global firms and seem to be indispensable to born global entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur's education, prior work experience, international living experience reduce the psychic distance between local and international markets (Madsen & Servais, 1997; Oviatt & McDougall, 1997). It allows entrepreneurs to see the whole world as a market place and gives them a global vision. Innovation and technology orientation is a construct often associated with born global entrepreneurs (Rennie, 1993; Knight & Cavusgil, 2004), as it allows them to operate in highly internationalised markets (IT, high-technology industries) or with more traditional industries as it enables them to take advantage of digital sales and distribution opportunities, modern communication tools or the latest technological advances. Using their prior knowledge and technological orientation, born global entrepreneurs use their personal international networks for entering foreign markets without substantial human or financial resources.

The second group of constructs is related to the way of thinking of an entrepreneur, his or her behaviour and decision making models. The constructs most often mentioned in the literature are dynamic capabilities, entrepreneurial orientation and effectuation logic. It seems that there is an overlap between these concepts in the literature on international entrepreneurship. Indeed, there are common features to those constructs. All three take into consideration proactiveness of an entrepreneur and constant searching for new opportunities. However, each of them has a different meaning - dynamic capabilities notion is grounded in the resource-based view, entrepreneurial orientation is a firm-level construct originating from entrepreneurship research, and effectuation logic is an entrepreneurial way of thinking and making decisions. As such these constructs describe the behaviour of a born-global firm from different perspectives.

There is an evidence that rapid internationalisation increases a speed of firm's learning and gaining new market knowledge (Oviatt & McDougall, 1997; Chetty & Campbell- Hunt, 2004). The framework shows that after rapid internationalisation born global firms gain additional entrepreneurial and technological knowledge and access to new international network chains. This process allows to search for new market opportunities and therefore creates new possibilities for born global entrepreneurs.

Emergence of born global companies cannot be explained solely by the entrepreneurrelated constructs presented in Figure 2. Apart from entrepreneur characteristics, rapid internationalisation may be explained by a combination of external and internal factors (Paweta, 2013). External factors are usually connected with sectoral, regional or national export culture, specific demand characteristics or foreign trade facilitators (Zahra & George, 2002). Internal determinants of internationalisation are connected with possessing unique products or services which have potential of gaining worldwide acceptance and human or financial resources availability (Cavusgil & Knight, 2009). In order to explain the rapid internationalisation phenomenon, the conceptual framework presented should be extended and include the above mentioned external and firm-level factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Multiple studies focus on determinants of internationalisation of born globals, firms which enter international markets immediately after their emergence. These determinants are based on constructs that overlap one another. This makes it more difficult to correctly interpret and compare the results of different studies on international entrepreneurship.

This paper presents a literature review of earlier research on born global companies and suggests a theoretical framework of entrepreneur-related constructs which are considered as the determinants of rapid internationalisation. Structuring entrepreneur-related constructs and building a conceptual framework is necessary for future international entrepreneurship research.

The major theoretical contribution of the study is the conceptual framework of the main entrepreneur-level determinants of rapid internationalisation. The framework illustrates two groups of entrepreneur-related constructs in an internationalisation literature - those which constitute the potential of an entrepreneur before starting a born global firm, and those which reflect the logic of an entrepreneur, his decision-making schemes throughout the internationalisation process. The importance of entrepreneurial knowledge and technological orientation seem to be one of the main explanatory factors of born global companies appearance. International networking chains are a significant factor positively influencing rapid internationalisation. The second group of factors connected with behaviour of an entrepreneur and his or her decision-making styles.

There are also managerial implications which can be drawn from the framework developed. The framework demonstrates the knowledge and capabilities needed at the early stage of a born global start-up creation and further capabilities needed for running such a firm. For governmental programs supporting firms internationalisation it indicates a shiftfrom providing direct financing towards training of founders and management and development of international networks for born global firms.

Future research might try to integrate the reviewed entrepreneur-related constructs with organisational characteristics and external characteristics which determine born globals emergence. The results of the study are exploratory and there is a need in validating the theoretical framework through an advanced quantitative study.

One obvious shortcoming of this paper has to be acknowledged, namely its scope is limited to 94 articles. The papers taken into consideration, however, cover all important issues related to the entrepreneur-related determinants of internationalisation. However, the literature on firm internationalisation and international entrepreneurship is very rich and allows for a more in-depth analysis and comparison based on a larger sample of papers.

Sidebar

Suggested citation:

Paweta, E. (2015). Entrepreneur-Related Constructs Explaining the Emergence of Born Global Firms: A Systematic Literature Review. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 3(4), 11-36. doi: 10.15678/EBER.2015.030402

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Appendix

(ProQuest: Appendix omitted.)