Are international new ventures really new? A process study of organizational emergence and internationalization

Firm inception is integral to the definition of the ‘international new venture’/‘born global’, yet has received little attention. In line with entrepreneurship research, we propose that inception be analysed as a process of organizational emergence. By means of a qualitative process-based case study, we identify the key inception events of six SMEs that according to conventional definitions could be considered INVs/born globals. Organizational emergence occurred prior to, and continued beyond, the date of incorporation, and included international activities. We reconceptualize INVs as firms that internationalize during organizational emergence. Our explanation for the international activities of INVs therefore integrates internationalization and inception processes.     

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.     

How does Industry 4.0 affect international exposure? The interplay between firm innovation and home-country policies in post-offshoring relocation decisions

This paper investigates whether and how Industry 4.0 innovation intensity, which is developed through patenting and which provides a firm-specific ownership advantage, relates to “relocation of second degree” (RSD) of manufacturing activities, i.e. the movement of previously offshored activities to either the home country (RHC) or a third country (RTC), thus representing a reconfiguration of the firm’s extant international exposure. Moreover, we analyse the role of Industry 4.0 policies adopted in the home country, which offers a location advantage that can possibly moderate this relationship. Our findings, based on a sample of 118 RSDs implemented by European companies, reveal that both Industry 4.0 innovation intensity (at the firm level) and policies (at home-country level) have an impact, with the former pushing firms towards RTC, unless the latter are in place at the home country, thus showing the pivotal role of Industry 4.0 policies in re-attracting Industry 4.0 innovative companies in their country of origin.     

Netnomics – A new branch in economics

NETNOMICS: Economic Research and Electronic Networking -     

The convention of lomé — Towards a new international cooperation?

The relations between 46 developing countries and the EC had to be reviewed and revised after the expiry of the EC association agreements with the 19 Yaoundé states and the three Arousha states and also because of the accession of Great Britain to the EC which made it necessary to include also the LDCs of the Commonwealth.     

A new model with old problems?

The stabilization of export earnings from primary commodities within the framework of the Convention of Lomé was eulogized as a “historic event”, “a gleam of common sense in this world” and an approach to a general solution. How is this agreement to be judged?     

How should managers treat ethics in international business?

Business ethics concern the consideration of moral in corporate decision making. International managers may be confronted with a variety of ethical dilemmas, usually due to differences among national markets in what constitutes legal or acceptable practice. Beliefs about what constitutes ethical business behavior commonly stem from one of four moral philosophies: teleology, deontology, the theory of justice, and cultural relativism. A framework incorporating all four is presented here which should provide a useful decision tool for international managers. An application of the framework and the complexities associated with it are presented next. We conclude that an effective integration of the company's perspective on ethics and the business behavior of the employees is critical and that it depends on top management, and the entire organization, demonstrating that they are serious about ethical business behavior on an ongoing basis. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Business in space: The new frontier?

Space exploration and development may be for the twenty-first century what aviation, electronics, and computers, taken together, represent for the century nearing completion. What are the opportunities and obstacles in space commercialization? And what are the marketing implications of this new frontier?     

How far can China''''s motors driue in the international market?

On July 8, the General Manager of Sundiro Honda MotorCo., Ltd., Zhao Xuhong, officially declared to the public: "theexports to Japan of the Today 50 CC peddler made by Sun-diro Honda has exceeded the threshold of 100,000. It is esti-mated that by the end of July,this model will accomplish thegoal of occupying 1/8 of the Japanese motor market." Al-though China' motor industry has kept up a good develop-ment momentum in the past six months, this news still greatlyexcites insiders.     

Where do international board members come from? Country-level antecedents of international board member selection in European boards

In this paper, it is argued that boards internationalize by recruiting international directors in order to increase companies’ performance. However, increasing nationality diversity on a board can be costly considering that it potentially creates cooperative problems on a board due to fault-lines and separation processes. As a result, boards will prefer international candidates who are more similar to themselves on a variety of ‘distances’. Based on data collected regarding 5683 board members of 361 companies from 15 countries in 2005–2007, we discover that the greater the distance (cultural, institutional and geographical) between the candidates’ and the companies’ country-of-origin, the lower the fraction of board members of that nationality on boards. Subsequently, it is argued that historical ties between countries play a ‘distance compressing’ role and partially compensate for the effects of distance. A colonial tie between countries will make recruitment of these particular nationalities more likely than others.     

Opportunity recognition and international new venture creation in university spin-offs—Cases from Denmark and Ireland

Extant research suggests that the founder’s activities and interactions are considered pivotal in driving the opportunity recognition process leading to international new venture emergence. This paper aims to explore the opportunity recognition process and international new venture emergence in the context of university high-technology spin-offs that are internationally market driven from inception. University spin-offs (USOs) are defined as ‘new firms created to exploit commercially some knowledge, technology or research results developed within a university’ (Pirnay et al., Small Bus Econ 21:355–369, 2003). To address this inquiry, this study imports theory from the entrepreneurship literature on organizational emergence, opportunity recognition, effectuation and the principle of individual self-efficacy. Drawing on empirical case data from four case USOs from Denmark and Ireland, this paper finds that the inventor-founders are typically engaged in opportunity recognition processes that are characterized as creative, driven by scientific innovations. It is indicated that the process of USO emergence and continuous development involves activities and interactions similar to typical international new ventures. The scientific knowledge that created opportunities for the emergence of INV-USOs across our cases endorses the view that innovation and internationalization are strongly correlated. Insights are provided on inventor-founders’ entrepreneurial intention demonstrated through activities and interactions in the on-going processes of creating the USO. Findings further highlight that self-efficacy of the inventor-founder(s) and access to specific resources (means at hand) are salient determinants for international new ventures to materialize. The study concludes with a proposed conceptual framework for further research on the creation of INV-university spin-offs. Conclusions and implications are drawn at the end of the article.     

Is the more always better? A comparative study of internal and external integration practices in new product and new service development

This study investigates the relationship between internal and external integration practices and innovation success of new products and new services. Building on the idea that key success drivers in new product and new service development may have implementing costs besides their obvious benefits, this article examines the possibility that a nonlinear relationship in the shape of an inverted U exists between innovation success and the antecedents examined in this research. The present study also addresses scholars' call for research to investigate differences in the drivers of new product and new service success. The findings suggest that differences exist in the nature of the relationship—that is, linear versus nonlinear—between cross-functional integration, customer integration, and interfirm collaboration and innovation success in a new product versus new service setting.     

The international diversification-performance link in Spain: Does firm size really matter?

This study provides new insights into the link between international diversification and firm performance in a sample of large manufacturing firms and SMEs based in Spain for the 1994–2008 period. Specifically, the focus is on how the nature and shape of this relationship may vary over time with firm size. The results show the existence of a horizontal-S curve when the whole sample of firms is considered in the empirical analysis. However, major differences are found between SMEs and large firms, and even within the actual group of SMEs. Strong support is found in large firms for the existence of a horizontal-S curve. Within the group of SMEs, there are small firms with a linear and negative relationship, whereas medium-sized firms record a U-shaped form. These findings suggest that as the international diversification-performance link is size-dependent, future research should explicitly consider firm size in order to better understand the nature of this relationship.