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From global start-ups to the borderless firm: Why and how to build a worldwide value system

Journal of International Entrepreneurship volume 15, pages 121–144 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Although the original concept of international new ventures included the geographic configuration of value activities, the subsequent development of the literature has gradually abandoned the concern about the geographic configuration of both input sourcing and output marketing to concentrate almost exclusively on the latter. Therefore, this paper argues that there is a need to re-focus the research so as to figure out how and why some companies are borderless. Borderless firms are defined as the result of the combination, early on, of geographically dispersed resources and capabilities, defying the home-base logic. A borderless firm presents the following characteristics (or a combination of them) from inception (or shortly thereafter): (i) value-added activities dispersed across different countries and regions; (ii) entrepreneurs not bounded by a home base; (iii) multinational founders and/or management teams; and (iv) a multinational workforce. To enquiry into this issue, the study uses five case studies of borderless firms. The results advance the understanding of the motives and processes behind the development, early on, of a borderless configuration of value activities.

Aunque el concepto original de los nuevos desarrollos internacionales haya incluido la configuración geográfica de las actividades de valor, el desarrollo posterior de la literatura ha abandonado gradualmente la preocupación por la configuración geográfica tanto de la obtención de insumos cuanto de la comercialización de productos, centrándose casi exclusivamente en este último. Por lo tanto, existe una necesidad de volver a centrar la investigación en cómo y por qué algunas empresas no tienen fronteras. Empresas sin fronteras se definen como el resultado de la combinación, desde sus primeras actividades, de recursos y capacidades dispersos geográficamente, desafiando la lógica de una base doméstica. Una empresa sin fronteras presenta las siguientes características (o una combinación de ellas) desde el inicio (o poco después): (i) actividades de valor añadido dispersas en diferentes países y regiones; (i) empresarios no limitados por una base doméstica de operaciones; (iii) fundadores y/o equipos de gestión de distintos orígenes nacionales; y (iv) una fuerza de trabajo multinacional. Para investigar esta cuestión, el trabajo utiliza cinco estudios de caso de empresas sin fronteras. Los resultados permiten avanzar en la comprensión de los motivos y procesos detrás del desarrollo, desde sus primeras actividades, de una configuración de las actividades de valor que no toma en cuenta los límites geográficos.

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Notes

  1. We thank one of the anonymous reviewers for calling our attention to this issue.

  2. These two cases were originally published as teaching cases (Fernandes et al. 2012; Coelho et al. 2014) with other co-authors.

  3. A Harvard Business School case was later identified that studied the same company (Isenberg 2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Pacheco Leão 646 casa 7–Jardim Botânico, Rio de Janeiro–RJ, 22460-030, Brazil

    Angela da Rocha

  2. ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua do Quelhas 6, 1200-781, Lisbon, Portugal

    Vítor Corado Simões

  3. Coppead/Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Rainha Guilhermina, 187 apto. 404, Rio de Janeiro–RJ, 22441-120, Brazil

    Renato Cotta de Mello

  4. Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Dezenove de Fevereiro, 127/201, Rio de Janeiro–RJ, 22280-030, Brazil

    Jorge Carneiro

Authors
  1. Angela da Rocha
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  2. Vítor Corado Simões
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  3. Renato Cotta de Mello
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  4. Jorge Carneiro
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Correspondence to Angela da Rocha.

Additional information

The authors are grateful to Dr. Nicole Coviello for her insightful comments to a previous version of this manuscript, and to the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions to improve this paper.

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da Rocha, A., Simões, V.C., de Mello, R.C. et al. From global start-ups to the borderless firm: Why and how to build a worldwide value system. J Int Entrep 15, 121–144 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-017-0200-9

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