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Broadening the Concept of International Entrepreneurship: Internationalisation, Networks and Politics

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Abstract

In this article, the situation where a company internationalises over an extended period without changing operation mode is explored. The focus of the empirical research is the Australian company CSR and its large-scale sugar exporting operations, which developed over a period of about 75 years. Because of the highly politicised nature of the sugar industry in many countries, CSR was called upon to make extensive investments in political networks in order to achieve its global sugar exporting operations. Overall the CSR experience demonstrates that it is possible to stretch the use of a given mode, although this may demand considerable creativity in market, network and policy responses of a kind which illustrate that international entrepreneurship may come in many guises, and may need to be viewed in a broader way.

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Welch, C.L., Welch, L.S. Broadening the Concept of International Entrepreneurship: Internationalisation, Networks and Politics. Journal of International Entrepreneurship 2, 217–237 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JIEN.0000032774.01082.41

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