Predictive and effectual decision-making in high-tech international new ventures – A matter of sequential ambidexterity

This study investigates the international opportunity exploration and exploitation processes of high technology international new ventures (INVs) operating in the global medical devices sector. Drawing upon the effectuation and causation perspectives, we contribute to the micro-foundations of international entrepreneurship research in the early innovation development space by focusing on decision-making logics of techno-entrepreneurs of INVs. Specific focus is afforded to the phases of their exploration and exploitation of international opportunities leading to international new venture creation. In the pre-start-up and start-up stages of international new ventures, we find that sequential ambidexterity applies to how the subject firms manage the exploration and exploitation of opportunities in the delivery of their innovations to global markets.This research advances prior international entrepreneurship studies by focusing on the opportunity and innovation processes on the individual level. We identify different decision-making logics in the different phases and contrary to earlier findings in the international entrepreneurship (IE) area, we found causation logic to dominate the initial stages of exploration and effectuation logic, in the latter stages. Prior commercial experience presented itself as a key determining factor in the decision-making path chosen by international techno-entrepreneurs. Our study further extends the view of organizational ambidexterity by offering empirical insights into the relevance of sequential ambidexterity for understanding the processes of innovation exploration and exploitation in high-tech INVs and the decision-making logics driving these processes.     

The internationalization of entrepreneurial firms from emerging economies: The roles of institutional transitions and market opportunities

This paper examines the influence of institutional transitions and market opportunities in emerging economies on the internationalization of entrepreneurial firms from these economies. We conceptualize and examine a three-stage model of institutional transition in emerging economies, and their effects on the internationalization strategies of new venture firms. Propositions are developed in examining how the different stages of the institutional transition can influence the strategic choices for the internationalization of new venture firms. In responding to the calls for more research on institutions and international entrepreneurship, this paper is an attempt extending the linkages between the two to the context of emerging economies. The paper also has managerial implications for entrepreneurs and the associated policy implications in international entrepreneurship.     

SME internationalization: How does the opportunity-based international entrepreneurial culture matter?

We employ the opportunity-based international entrepreneurial culture (IEC) comprehensive notion that draws upon the opportunity-based view (OBV). The OBV supports the idea that entrepreneurs mold the organizational behavior and characteristics of their firms to pursue opportunities abroad. We set out to explore possible attitudinal differences as regards exploitation of opportunities within firms in each of three internationalization dimensions that are previously identified in the literature, notably time to internationalization, country market presence and international mode. We perform eighteen case studies on high-performing internationalized small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in knowledge intensive sectors. The evidence refines the OBV as it manifests how three IEC characteristics (namely risk attitude, market orientation and networking propensity) matter for firms in the three internationalization dimensions. The study further adds to the international entrepreneurship literature that has until now myopically focused on international new ventures as if they were the sole opportunity-driven group of internationalized SMEs.     

International ambidexterity and firm performance in small emerging economies

Conventional IB theories stress the importance and implications of a firm's exploitative strategy. However, the unprecedented competitive nature of contemporary business necessitates firm “ambidexterity” — the simultaneous execution of exploitation and exploration activities. Using balanced panel data of 207 Taiwanese firms spanning six years, this research examines the effects of international ambidexterity on firm performance. Findings reveal that ambidexterity promotes a firm's performance. For firms from small emerging economies, international ambidexterity is highly vulnerable to environmental complexity and sensitive to previous international experience and the firm's capability to conduct international business. These factors significantly moderate firm performance.     

Ambidexterity in new ventures: The impact of new product development alliances and transactive memory systems

Unlike established firms, new ventures often lack the resources and structure necessary to simultaneously pursue exploration and exploitation activities in the process of developing and introducing new products into markets. Thus, it remains unclear whether and how ambidexterity (i.e., simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation activities) can develop in new ventures. This study posits that product development alliances and the transactive memory systems of entrepreneurial teams contribute to new venture ambidexterity. Moreover, we propose that the two mechanisms reinforce one another. Data collected from 148 new Chinese ventures support these hypotheses.     

Coevolution of home country support and internationalization of emerging market firms

This study explores the role of diverse home country support for the internationalization of emerging market firms through a coevolutionary approach. A coevolutionary approach can improve our understanding of the complexities of comprehensive institutional transition in emerging market economies which allows firms to adapt and leverage institutional support for internationalization. Based on institutional theory and the strategic choice perspective, we present a coevolutionary model of mutualism and competition among businesses, government officials and industry players through multidirectional interactions. Our research offers an alternative and nuanced explanation of selective and relevant home country support, the role of independence of firms, support criteria and reinforcement of governance for internationalization of emerging market firms. This study contributes to the literature of home country support for internationalization through an enrichment of the institutional framework and strategic choice with a political perspective.     

The Internationalization of Service Firms in China: A Comparative Analysis with Manufacturing Firms

In this article, we expand upon the springboard perspective of emerging markets in the service sector. We investigate the phenomenon of service firm internationalization in China and the distinct differences between service and manufacturing firms during international expansion. Using dynamic analysis of historical data for 363 service firms and 569 manufacturing firms from 2001 to 2007, we find that the internationalization of service firms in China is different from that of manufacturing firms in terms of resource requirement and experience exploitation. The internationalization of service firms relies more on international experience than corporate resources. Furthermore, we also identify the structural differences between hard and soft service industries. In China, identifiable intangible assets are found to be more important for the international expansion of hard service firms than they are for soft service firms. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Dynamic ambidexterity: How innovators manage exploration and exploitation

Firms must excel at both exploration and exploitation to ensure long-term survival and prosperity. However, firms often have difficulties in doing so because they have to accommodate the contradictory logics of exploration and exploitation. This article examines the logics of exploration and exploitation, evaluates the difficulties of accommodating both logics, and identifies dynamic ambidexterity as a new way to overcome these difficulties. To achieve dynamic ambidexterity, firms need to support structural ambidexterity at the corporate level, contextual ambidexterity at the business-unit level, and sequential ambidexterity at the project level. I believe that the notion of dynamic ambidexterity and its managerial practices can help firms manage exploration and exploitation and ensure long-term survival and prosperity.     

Legitimacy and accelerated internationalisation: An Indian perspective

This paper extends the institutional theory perspective by examining the strategic behaviour of founders of smaller service firms in a key emerging economy—India. Building on accelerated internationalisation and legitimacy literature in the emerging market context, we provide a new perspective, emerging market aggressiveness, which explains why founders/managers are not always passive recipients of their environment. Their selections of locations are dependent on the vision and stretch goals of the founder and their ability to gain legitimacy quickly to move that vision to a reality. They do not appear to be limited by their potential liabilities of newness, foreignness, emergingness or outsidership. They adopt committed modes of entry from the outset to build their legitimacy and reduce their liability as an outsider. Using a qualitative multiple case study approach, we demonstrate that managers are able to use proactive, planned and unplanned strategies simultaneously, in order to quickly prepare themselves to take advantage of transient international opportunities, ahead of their competitors in advanced markets.     

Strategic ambidexterity and its performance implications for emerging economies multinationals

Emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) are attracting significant scholarly attention in the international business and general management domain. The extant research has provided important insights into the EMNEs’ internationalization processes and whether the existing theories adequately explain their outward investment motives. This special issue aims to provide a platform suited to extend the current understanding of the rapid rise of EMNEs and examine the vital role played by strategic ambidexterity and its performance implications for the EMNEs. The current research on EMNEs has failed to adequately leverage strategic ambidexterity and link it with the post-entry performance of EMNEs. We argue that the strategic ambidexterity perspective offers valuable opportunities to understand the post-entry performance of EMNEs as they expand into developed and developing markets. The article also highlights important areas for future research by taking into account the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis.     

The micro-foundations of strategic ambidexterity: Chinese cross-border M&As,Mid-View thinking and integration management

Chinese cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) display several unique properties in relation to the ways in which their international business operations are organised and managed. Their seemingly puzzling ‘light-touch’ integration approach can be significantly understood from a strategic ambidexterity perspective: on the one hand, the ‘light-touch’ enables the exploitation of the targets’ existing knowledge bases; on the other hand, elements of the ‘light-touch’ facilitate the exploration of the new knowledge arising from the collaboration between targets and acquirers. However, an important theoretical gap remains: why do Chinese companies deploy such a strategic ambidexterity approach in their post-acquisition integrations? This paper aims to fill this gap by proposing Mid-View thinking as a micro-foundation of strategic ambidexterity in integration management from a cultural and philosophical perspective. To illuminate our conceptualization and argument, we conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with CEOs/high-level managers of acquired German companies. Communication approach and organizational control—as two critical aspects in integration management—reveal how Mid-View thinking can serve as a micro-foundation of strategic ambidexterity. We conclude this paper by presenting its theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and future research directions.     

Exploration and exploitation fit and performance in international strategic alliances

Exploration and exploitation constitute two separate, potentially conflicting strategic choices for firms engaged in international strategic alliances. Our empirical study challenges the ambidexterity argument and demonstrates that exploration and exploitation are separate (though not necessarily antithetical) strategies with different antecedents and performance consequences.Our results show that while competency similarity is conducive to upstream innovative performance, prior experience with the partner is potentially damaging for this type of performance and trust and cultural distance do not play significant roles. When the motive is efficiency and downstream market performance, prior experience with the partner instead is beneficial, as are high levels of trust and low levels of cultural distance. These findings have key implications for literature on strategic fit and alliance performance.     

Synergies and tensions between and within domestic and international market activities of firms

The distinction between domestic and international market activities has an idiosyncratic meaning for international business research. This study examines the significant yet unclear role of domestic market activities for the internationalizing firm through the theoretical lens of exploitation and exploration. By means of five qualitative case studies, we show that both the dynamics between domestic–international market activities and the interplay between exploitation–exploration are intrinsically concerned with synergies and tensions. Our findings uncover how firms leverage these synergies and manage these tensions that manifest between and within their domestic and international markets. Synergies and tensions are found to revolve around ambidexterity, networks and organizational market information processes.     

Microfoundations of network exploration and exploitation capabilities in international opportunity recognition

While international entrepreneurship (IE) recognizes opportunity recognition (OR) as a central activity and the prominent role of network capabilities in OR, it is not informative as to how different network capabilities influence OR in international markets. We utilize dual network capability through the lens of exploration-exploitation to better understand how these two different capabilities influence the identification of international opportunities. Given that microfoundations perspective and prior experience in IE are under-developed and under-theorized, we explore founder’s prior experience as an essential microfoundation for the dual network capability. By employing structural equation modeling on a sample of 647 early internationalizing firms from a developing country, the study demonstrates that founders’ prior experience is a significant microfoundation of dual network capability in international OR. However, both exploration and exploitation capabilities fail to bring new opportunities in a changing market environment. A post-hoc analysis reveals that at a higher level of market change, younger firms benefit more from network exploration, whereas older firms achieve greater success when leveraging benefits from network exploitation. The study concludes with implications and future research avenues.     

A longitudinal micro-foundational investigation into ambidextrous practices in an international alliance context–A case of a biopharma EMNE

This paper explores the development of an ambidextrous context in a rapidly growing emerging market multinational (EMNE), thus unbundling cultural and structural complexities. We use the micro-foundational lens of ambidexterity to explore and identify different processes, structures and mechanisms that underpin the development of ambidextrous practices in the EMNE. We adopt a longitudinal case study design to trace the evolution of the EMNE, which during the initial phases of its existence focused on supplying industrial enzymes and refined its technical base. In subsequent years, it exploited its technical base to emerge as a full-fledged biopharmaceutical EMNE and adopted strategic partnerships with international companies to explore new knowledge. Our novel and rich research context also provides us with insights on how this EMNE exploited its technological knowledge, whilst utilizing strategic alliances to simultaneously engage in exploratory activities. Through the micro-foundational lens of ambidexterity, we uncover the critical role played by its leadership in addressing paradoxical tensions for simultaneously managing exploitation and exploration in an international strategic alliance context.     

On the internationalization of Turkish hospital chains: A dynamic capabilities perspective

How do professional service firms build the capabilities required for effective international operations? Although the internationalization of manufacturing firms is a widely studied topic, the literature on the internationalization of service firms remains scant. The problem is even more acute when it comes to studies of professional services such as healthcare organizations and hospitals. Yet, we encounter remarkable examples of international market expansion by professional service firms. In this paper, we report on a study of large privately-owned hospital operators from the emerging economy of Turkey, based on in-depth interviews with senior executives. Taking advantage of Turkey’s strategic location in the region, these firms have shown extraordinary entrepreneurial initiative expanding their operations beyond the home market over the past two decades. Even more impressive is the creative strategies these firms have been deploying in terms of market entry modes. These range from medical tourism to setting up diagnostic clinics abroad, operating full-service hospitals in key markets, management contracts, and attracting equity capital from international investment firms. We draw from the theory of dynamic capabilities in order to explain the success these firms have had in cultivating international market opportunities. We contend that it takes a variety of organizational capabilities for traditionally domestic-market focused firms to expand into international markets. We provide an integrative discussion and offer implications for advancing knowledge and managerial practice.     

Unpacking the effect of strategic ambidexterity on performance: A cross-country comparison of MMNEs developing product-service innovation

This study tests whether strategic ambidexterity improves Product-service innovation (PSI) outcomes for manufacturing multinational enterprises (MMNEs). It also tests successful pathways to develop PSI properly by organizing exploitation and exploration activities. Data from a survey of 338 MMNEs are analysed through Structural Equations Modelling. The sample contains firms from five world regions, including emerging economies. This approach enables contrast to determine cross-country heterogeneity in PSI outcomes. The results show that, to maximise firm performance, PSI must be developed through a sequential Exploitation-Exploration pathway. Although this optimal sequence is consistent across all world regions (except Japan), noticeable contextual differences emerge in the relative importance of exploration and exploitation to firm performance. Our findings show that exploitation (i.e., cost efficiency through PSI design) and exploration (i.e., PSI R&D) capabilities are equally important in emerging economies.     

Organizational Expansion to Underserved Markets: Insights from African Firms

Although scholars have highlighted the need for firms to explore and exploit market opportunities in underserved markets to achieve superior performance, emerging‐market firms’ strategic choices and constraints in such environments remains an underexplored area. Drawing on insights from the intra‐Africa air travel sector, we uncovered that the intense competitive pressures on inter‐African routes has intensified both exploration and exploitation activities on the intra‐African market as firms seek to mitigate the competitive effects. We also found that the firms’ exploitation activities have been punctuated by a number of firm‐specific and institutional factors. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Knowledge seeking in going abroad

Based on knowledge theories, this study examines the impact of client‐following and market‐seeking entry strategies on foreign market entry by firms. The article also explores the subsequent development of knowledge in firms. Using data from 116 firms, we test three hypotheses using logistic regression. Our hypotheses are supported in the data. Our analysis shows that significant differences exist between client‐following firms and market‐seeking firms. Client followers are both supported and trapped by their international network, whereas market seekers, though not supported, are much freer to pursue higher‐order learning. Due to differences in their network ties, these two types of firms learn at different speeds and learn different things. We also found that firms with proactive knowledge‐seeking strategies learn more. Thus, learning strategies have consequences for exploration and exploitation of international markets, what is learned and how much is learned, and proactive internationalization strategies for firms. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Ambidexterity in MNC knowledge sourcing in emerging economies: A microfoundational perspective

Innovation performance of multinational corporations (MNCs) derives from access to and utilization of a combination of explorative and exploitative knowledge across heterogeneous settings. These settings increasingly encompass flagship industries in emerging economies. There is limited research, however, that scrutinizes the processes of knowledge sourcing within such dynamic host environments, taking into account MNCs’ differing location capabilities. We draw on the concept of ambidexterity – the combination of exploration and exploitation – and the microfoundations approach to study eleven MNCs in the Bulgarian software development industry by focusing on their local R&D projects. We extend the explanatory capacity of ambidexterity at the micro level and clarify the relationship between exploration and exploitation by identifying four types of ambidexterity: global knowledge differentiator, global-local knowledge integrator, emerging local-global integrator, and local knowledge integrator. Our typology is underpinned by three specific dimensions of R&D capabilities: technical know-how, scope of expertise, and market potential.