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Does it transfer? The effects of pre-internationalization experience on post-entry organizational learning in entrepreneurial Chinese firms

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Abstract

Although organizational learning plays a critical role in the internationalization of firms, researchers have largely focused on learning that occurs after a firm’s international entry (“learning by doing”). Few studies have discussed how a firm’s experiences prior to international entry affect its organizational learning after entry. Using a sample of Chinese internationalizers, we argue that pre-entry characteristics will influence organizational learning after international entry. We argue and show that prior experience with international companies in the domestic market is transferable and does affect an organization’s post-entry learning through a mechanism called analogical reasoning or “learning by analogy.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA, 92182-8238, USA

    Congcong Zheng

  2. Department of Management, University of Texas at Arlington, 701 S. West Street Room 231, Arlington, TX, 76019-0467, USA

    Susanna Khavul

  3. Department of Management, College of Business Administration, Northeastern State University, 607 N. Grand, Tahlequah, OK, 74464-2302, USA

    Dilene Crockett

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  1. Congcong Zheng
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  2. Susanna Khavul
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  3. Dilene Crockett
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Correspondence to Susanna Khavul.

Additional information

This research was funded through a grant to Susanna Khavul from the UK Department for International Development and the Centre for New and Emerging Markets at the London Business School. The authors are grateful to Hamid Etemad, the editor, and three anonymous reviewers for developmental and insightful guidance. The authors thank Eric Wood, Raul Velarde, and Srinivas Prakhya, Simon Commander, and Saul Estrin.

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Zheng, C., Khavul, S. & Crockett, D. Does it transfer? The effects of pre-internationalization experience on post-entry organizational learning in entrepreneurial Chinese firms. J Int Entrep 10, 232–254 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-012-0090-9

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