Who is an expat-preneur? Toward a better understanding of a key talent sector supporting international entrepreneurship

The conceptualization of immigrant entrepreneurs has recently expanded to consider some of them as a sub-type of self-initiated expatriates that move across national borders to engage in entrepreneurial activities and opportunities. Known as “expat-preneurs,” and in spite of their growing numbers, this segment of the immigrant entrepreneur population has received far less attention than other types of immigrants in the international and diaspora entrepreneurship literature, and even less attention in the self-initiated expatriate field of study. In this article, we seek to address the gap in empirical studies about expat-preneurs as an important, albeit under-researched, segment of the immigrant entrepreneur and self-initiated expatriate diaspora. While we acknowledge that there may be controversy as to how our entrepreneurship lens is accepted in the international entrepreneurship domain, we see particular value in engaging with the ongoing and emerging discussion within JIEN about what international entrepreneurship can be. To advance the study of expat-preneurs from a theoretical standpoint, we demonstrate empirically that aggregating various kinds of self-initiated expatriates without first ensuring that they are demographically comparable (i.e., that there can be different types) can potentially contribute to poor construct clarity and validity about this field of research in general. More importantly, it can diminish the important role of expat-preneurs in particular within the international entrepreneurship domain, for example, by ignoring that their motivation to engage in entrepreneurial activity differs from the majority of necessity-based diaspora entrepreneurs. To illustrate our point, we surveyed self-initiated expatriates in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore and compared personal characteristics. We found differences regarding their age, position, time in current job in the host location, time as an expatriate, and time in the host location overall to suggest that not all self-initiated expatriates are the same. While we found no intergroup differences for educational level, gender, or marital status, clear distinctions emerged showing that expat-preneurs are different from company-employed self-initiated expatriates. We discuss theoretical implications arising from these findings.     

Ethnic Enclaves to Diaspora Entrepreneurs: A Critical Appraisal of Black British Africans' Transnational Entrepreneurship in London

In this article, the author examines the transition from ethnic enclave to diaspora/transnational entrepreneurship by Black African ethnic entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom through interview/case study approaches. Key issues at stake are whether diaspora/transnational entrepreneurship is a kind of adaptive process in self-actualization, economic empowerment, or competitive advantage or a strategy of reintegration with the country of origin. Leveraging duality of opportunities results in subjective successful business performance and personal contentment of the diaspora entrepreneurs. Transnational entrepreneurship is crucial to business growth in Africa. This is particularly true with diaspora transfers to Africa playing a significant role in social, economic, and business developments.     

A New Internet Driven Internationalisation Framework

This paper aims to offer a new Internet driven theoretical framework that explains how a successful internationalisation process may be developed and identifies the strategic dimensions that influence the key decisions in an interrelated, performance-associated way. The extant literature is examined in international marketing, international entrepreneurship and Internet marketing and a comprehensive strategic analysis is conducted of a successful individual services business: ING Direct. It is shown how strategic constructs and risk constructs drive the internationalisation process in an interrelated and performance-associated way. In the framework, the firm's target is to take advantage of an opportunity by obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage while attenuating international risk. Entry mode and country selection are strategic decisions interrelated mutually and with other strategic choices and with performance; this is why an analysis with ceteris paribus statements or episodic analysis may lead to the wrong conclusions.     

The Great Recession of 2008: Impact on the Bangladeshi economy and international business implications

This article examines the current global financial crisis (GFC) and its impact on Bangladesh's economy and discusses international business implications for the country within an institution‐based analytical framework. The article finds that the macroeconomy of Bangladesh has shown remarkable resilience in the face of this massive global crisis, and the impact has been minimal and limited to a moderate slowdown of the economy The country thus could be poised for taking advantage of international business opportunities as the global economy begins to recover. Further, JPMorgan's Frontier Five and Goldman Sachs's Next Eleven classification of Bangladesh indicates enormous potential for growth and development. The article suggests that the Bangladeshi diaspora could serve as a connecting hub so that “brain gain” could be achieved through labor migration and remittances. Strategic alliances among home and foreign firms are also important to the future capacity building of the country. However, strategic management in the form of further institutional, structural, and policy reforms are critical in enabling the country to develop an international‐business‐friendly environment conducive to taking advantage of evolving global opportunities and realizing its full potential. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Religious institutions and entrepreneurship

This article focuses on the impact of religious institutions on entrepreneurship. We find clear evidence that different religious institutions have a significantly different impact on the tendency to become an entrepreneur. Our article makes important contributions to the research of both religion and entrepreneurship. First, it proposes empirical evidence in which the country’s main religion significantly affects its level of entrepreneurship at the macro level. Second, it adds to our theoretical understanding of the mechanisms that characterize the effects of religion on entrepreneurship. We suggest that macro effects of religion as part of the country’s culture and institutions affect the country’s level of entrepreneurship beyond the direct effects of religion on the behavior of the religion’s members in the society.     

Typology of diaspora entrepreneurship: Case studies in Uzbekistan

The characteristics and importance of transnational diasporans as entrepreneurs for the economy and international business of emerging countries have remained underexplored. This paper addresses types of diaspora entrepreneurship (DE) theoretically and empirically in the context of Uzbekistan. Diaspora entrepreneurship is often seen as necessity-driven and less opportunity-driven. So far, emerging Central-Asian countries are considered countries of origin (COOs) of diasporans, but not yet as countries wherein diasporans want to invest and work, that is, countries of residence (CORs). Uzbekistan is also a post-Soviet economy with limited tradition on private entrepreneurship. Thus, the paper asks what makes people become entrepreneurs in emerging countries such as Uzbekistan when they have alternative opportunities in developed countries. It explores key drivers and socio-cultural reasons for the entry and establishment decision and introduces a typology of DE. This multiple case study presents implications and findings on culturally different entrepreneurs who have decided to enter Uzbek business elucidating their motivations and role in transition economies.     

Diaspora entrepreneurs as institutional change agents: The case of Thamel.com

Diasporans are migrants and their descendants who maintain a relationship to their country of origin (Safran, 1991). Diasporans who establish new ventures in their countries of origin comprise a special case of international ethnic entrepreneurship.In countries of settlement, diasporans confront institutional environments that often are quite different than those that exist in their countries of origin. We refer to the exposure to and adoption of institutional roles and relationships associated with a new cultural setting as “institutional acculturation.”Most extant work in management and marketing focuses on how a migrant's acculturation affects his/her behavior in the new country of residence. We shift the analytical lens to the country of origin. Utilizing a case study from Nepal, we demonstrate how institutional acculturation can inspire a diaspora entrepreneur to transform institutional arrangements in his/her country of origin and generate dramatic change in society's role expectations of the government, suppliers, and buyers.     

Global talent management: Shaping the careers of internationally educated talents in developing markets

In the context of globalization, country‐level actions to manage global talent (e.g., development of immigrant‐friendly policies, policies to attract back skilled diaspora, or investment in the international education of youth) have been underresearched. The aim of this article is to analyze the impact of a country‐level global talent management practice on the careers and career success of its talents in the Republic of Kazakhstan, a developing country in Central Asia. Using qualitative methods, this study introduces new dimensions of career success evaluation for internationally educated talents in developing markets: use of knowledge acquired abroad and international aspect of the job. Based on these dimensions, it develops a model of career types. The career types predict the varying degrees of talents' career success and their involvement in sharing and capitalizing on knowledge, ideas, and international experience, which may have an impact on society. The study contributes to the field of global talent management and career success by providing empirical evidence on an underresearched topic in the underresearched context of developing markets.     

Hierarchical Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Entrepreneurship in Changing Industrial Environments

The research fields of dynamic capabilities and strategic entrepreneurship have developed concurrently but separately. This study aims to bridge the gap in research on the underlying linkage between the two independent areas, both of which are critical for firms to sustain competitiveness in changing industrial environments. Drawing upon insights from the integrated perspective of hierarchical dynamic capabilities, strategic entrepreneurship, and environmental dynamics, an explicit theoretical framework is put forward to achieve a better understanding of the ways through which hierarchical dynamic capabilities promote strategic entrepreneurship. Moreover, through the proposed theoretical lens, this study further explores the detailed mechanisms of how first-order and second-order dynamic capabilities improve strategic entrepreneurship with regard to uncertainty of market conditions.     

The diaspora solution to innovation capacity development: Immigrant entrepreneurs in the contemporary world

The international migration of highly skilled labor was formerly a threat to the underdeveloped world with regard to indigenous innovation capacity. However, certain countries have successfully turned “brain drain” into “brain gain” by effective engagement with a skilled diaspora who have returned to set up business ventures in the homeland. This article advocates an entrepreneurial approach to the development of national innovation capacity through contemporary diasporic entrepreneurship (CDE). Drawing evidence mostly from China, the article argues that (1) CDE offers an alternative to conventional indigenously and internationally oriented approaches toward innovation capacity development; (2) compared to other ways of diaspora homeland engagement, CDE is most beneficial to capacity development; and (3) besides participating in philanthropic and scientific projects, a skilled diaspora returning as private business owners represents an often more productive way of contributing to national capacity development. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Theoretical milestones in international business: The journey to international entrepreneurship theory

For many decades global business was considered the preserve of large multinationals and traditional international business theory was developed to explain the behaviour of these firms. However, increasingly there is a realization that the small entrepreneurial firm has an important role to play in international business especially given that there are strong globalization pressures that both pull and push the small firm into international markets to ensure its very survival. On the questions of how and why international business takes place, several theoretical approaches have been developed that appear to run parallel to each other. However, this paper posits that the point of convergence is international entrepreneurship.     

Incorporating a Short-Term Study Abroad Service Trip for Educating International Entrepreneurship in the BOP Market

ABSTRACT

The bottom of the pyramid (BOP) market has gained importance in international entrepreneurship due to its large market potential. Drawing on the literature of international business education, as well as social entrepreneurship and international entrepreneurship education, we propose a course to educate students how to develop business intimacy with the BOP community. We employ the experiential-learning pedagogical framework and design elements including a short-term study abroad service trip, an entrepreneurship project, and structured reflections. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, we demonstrate that the course facilitates students’ learning in the key areas of international and social entrepreneurship, including the economic and social value of community embeddedness for BOP ventures, the emotional intelligence in interacting with BOP communities, and the attitude toward social entrepreneurship.     

International opportunity development on crowdfunding platforms: A spatial,temporal, and structural framework

Despite the prevalence and global diffusion of digital platforms, the international entrepreneurship literature has paid limited attention to the latent potential of this type of digital context for the emergence and actualization of international opportunities (IOs). Drawing on the cognitive and digital entrepreneurship literature, we develop a framework that focuses on the spatial, temporal, and structural dimensions of digital crowdfunding platforms. We elucidate how these three contextual dimensions influence the IO development, namely IO recognition, evaluation, and exploitation. We present three testable propositions, an illustrative case, and a future research agenda that provide a foundation for research on IOs in the digital context.     

Immigrant entrepreneurship: Scrutinizing a promising type of business venture

Immigrant entrepreneurship is an important socioeconomic phenomenon today. In major destination countries for immigrants such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, immigrant entrepreneurship plays a critical role in economic development. The economic impact of immigrant entrepreneurship in the host country is well known, but the influence of immigrant entrepreneurship in the host country is not limited to its economic aspects. It includes important noneconomic effects such as the development of vibrant ethnic communities, social integration and recognition of immigrants, a nurturing entrepreneurial spirit, and providing role models for immigrants. From the management perspective, there are many aspects of immigrant entrepreneurship that are still unknown and need to be addressed. The purpose of this special issue is to shed light on some of those aspects. The articles selected to be published in this issue offer an excellent analysis of various important aspects of the topic, including the success factors of immigrant entrepreneurship, the influence of family networks, and the noneconomic effects of immigrant entrepreneurship. We believe the issue breaks new ground and offers excellent information on the topic. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Theoretical Foundations of an International Entrepreneurial Culture

The seeming absence of theoretical foundations in the international entrepreneurship (IE) field significantly accounts for the fragmentation of research in the area. We seek to address this deficiency through an exploration of the IE concept in the overall context in which it is embedded, namely organizational culture. We develop and discuss a conceptual framework of an International Entrepreneurial Culture, which consists of six interrelated dimensions: international market orientation, international learning orientation, international innovation propensity, international risk attitude, international networking orientation, and international motivation.     

Business under adverse home country institutions: The case of international sanctions against Myanmar

We expand the institutional perspective of international business by exploring the range of institutions outside the host country that influence international business. We use a critical case, Myanmar, to explore the dynamics of institutional constraints and the reaction of business to such constraints. Our in-depth case analysis focuses on four industries for the period 1996–2011. On this basis, we develop the concept of ‘low profile strategy’ and propose a conceptual framework of home country pressures influencing multinational enterprises’ international operation, and the variation of their impact across industries and firms. This framework provides a foundation for future work on the extra-territorial effects of institutions in international business.     

Towards a conceptual multilayered framework of international entrepreneurship

The starting question before us here is: how should we approach complex international entrepreneurship decisions and problems? This article aims to trace the evolutionary scholarly road that has brought us here and highlight some of the significant signals, road signs, milestones, and barriers along the way. We will pause at each milestone to view the scenery surrounding it and also examine the underlying structures there, especially those that have served as foundations for the evolutionary course that usually starts at a local origin, passing through milestones, for reaching global destinations; as well as examining the nature of the evolution that has brought us to the current state of affairs. In light of multidisciplinary nature of international entrepreneurship (IE), drawing and relying on a few disciplines, there is a need to abstract from some in favor of deeper discussion of others with more prominent impact and presence in IE. We aspire to portray the outline of a multilayered conceptual framework to serve two primary purposes: to suggest a promising path for further theoretical developments and to provide a roadway to allow us to travel through to farther theoretical and operational destinations; and to highlight the articles appearing in this issue. We will view each article as a milestone and examine how the selective features of the article confirm, if not support, the framework enabling us to push forward to see farther horizons. Structurally, this article starts with a brief introduction that travels through three theoretical and foundational stops on the way to develop a broader view of IE at the end. A proposed conceptual framework will project, and enable us to see, that broader view. The latter part of the article travels through the four articles to highlight their theoretical developments and empirical findings that lend support to pertinent aspect of the proposed framework. A brief discussion at the end explore selected implications.     

Organising new business in a turbulent context: Opportunity discovery and effectuation for IJV development in transition markets

Research on entrepreneurship has suggested entrepreneurial phenomena to take place in a wide variety of contexts that deal with new venture emergence. Opportunity discovery and effectuation are seen as the essence of entrepreneurship. The present study examines entrepreneurial behaviour in the organising of an international joint venture (IJV) in Polish transition markets. The paper aims to answer the following question: How is an international joint venture organised in turbulent context through opportunity-discovery and effectuation behaviours? Based on theoretical analysis and a longitudinal case study, we illustrate the organising of an international joint venture in transition markets through specific behaviours of opportunity discovery and effectuation. We show especially the relationship-based nature of all the behaviours. The study advances international entrepreneurship research by emphasising the intertwinedness of the entrepreneurial behaviours with the drastic developments in the transition markets and the evolution of the IJV partnership.     

International Entrepreneurship as a Dynamic Adaptive System: Towards a Grounded Theory

This paper is based on a primary assumption: That the internationalizing smaller firms are different from large international firms, such as multinational enterprises (MNEs); and therefore, the process of internationalization and growth of smaller firms may not follow processes stipulated in the extant theories of MNEs and international business processes (IBPs). Even the primary orientations and theoretical constructs used in IBP and the theory of multinationals are different from those in entrepreneurship: While the former focuses on the institution of the “firm” the latter concentres on the “entrepreneur” as internationalizing entities. This paper will suggest a theoretical framework capable of integrating this prevailing fragmentation. The framework is based on the tenets of dynamic open complex adaptive system (DOCAS), comprising three layers, reflecting entrepreneurs (or entrepreneurial teams), firms and markets to reflect their own dynamics as well as the inter-relations and interactions of entities within and across layers within the framework. After a brief review of the basic characteristics of a simple DOCAS and the major attributes of entities populating each layer in the framework, the interdependencies and interactions within and across layers are highlighted. This framework presents a coherent and comprehensive structure capable of housing the next six papers contained in this issue. They are reviewed and highlighted from the perspective of the proposed framework. These papers support the proposed framework substantively. The proposed grounded framework appears to lay the foundation for the research and theory necessary for enhancing our understanding of IBP and internationalization in smaller firms. Conclusion and implications of the papers are presented at the end.     

“双循环”理论综合及其在我国的应用实践

“双循环”新发展格局的提出是中国特色社会主义政治经济学的重大理论创新,本文致力于综合国民经济循环理论演进脉络和现有马克思主义政治经济学观点的新发展格局研究,构建包括循环内容、循环机制、内外循环依存关系的双循环分析框架,并以此分析框架系统梳理我国发展实践和国内国际循环现状特征。研究发现,我国经历了封闭失衡的国内循环、国内国际循环初步发展、国际大循环驱动、做大国内循环等多个发展阶段;2008以来我国国内循环比例大幅提升,以国内大循环为主体具备实践基础,但国际循环仍是重要牵引力,促进循环的创新动力和需求动力不足,国内国际循环的主导关系仍有待转换。因此,构建“双循环”新发展格局,关键是通过改革破除堵点,强化创新和扩大内需双向发力,以国内引力场集聚全球要素资源,形成以我为主、内外协同的国内国际循环互动新格局。