Abstract
The first study of fast internationalizing small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was conducted by Rennie (1993). He identified a ‘new breed’ of Australian firms which were ‘born-global’. According to this study, born-global firms tended to be small with, for example, average sales of less than US$16 million and to be relatively young in age (for instance with an average age of 14 years). They should have begun exporting, on average, two years after their establishment and have generated three-quarters of their total sales via exporting. Such companies were found in all industries, but they all applied new technologies to developing unique products or a new way of doing business and, according to Junkkari (2000), as a result were strikingly competitive against established large players. Born-global firms or international new ventures (INVs) are firms that are international and entrepreneurial in their business dealings. Wright and Ricks (1994) highlighted international entrepreneurship (IE) as a newly emerging research arena and they defined internationalization speed as: time between discovery of an opportunity and first foreign entry, speed with which country scope is increased (market selection and spreading), and speed of international commitment (mode of entry versus export share). Oviatt and McDougall (1994) found that many of the firms they studied were not truly global and thus decided to call INVs these new fast internationalizing SMEs instead of born globals or global start-ups.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alahuhta, M. (1990). Global Growth Strategies for High Technology Challengers, PhD Thesis, Helsinki: Helsinki University of Technology.
Andersen, O. (1993). On the internationalisation process of firms: a critical analysis. Journal of International Business Studies, 24 (2), 209–31.
Andersen, O. and Buvik. A. (2002). Firms’ internationalization and alternative approaches to the international customer/market selection. International Business Review, 11 (3), 347–63.
Aulakh, P.S. and Kotabe, M. (1997). Antecedents and performance implications of channel integration in foreign markets, Journal of International Business Studies, 28 (1), 145–175.
Autio, E. (2005). Creative tension: the significance of Ben Oviatt’s and Patricia McDougall’s article ‘Toward a theory of international new ventures’. Journal of International Business Studies, 36, 9–19.
Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (1989). Managing across Borders: The Transnational Solution. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Bell, J. and Young, S. (1996). Towards an integrative framework of the internationalisation of the firm. Proceedings of the Academy of International Business Conference, 24–25 March.
Bloodgood, J.M., Sapienza, H.J. and Almeida, J.G. (1996). The internationalization of new high-potential U.S. ventures: antecedents and outcomes. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 20, 61–76.
Boisot, M. and Meyer, M. (2008). Which way through the open door? Reflections on the internationalization of Chinese firms. Management and Organization Review, 4 (3), 349–65.
Buckley, P.J. (1991). The analysis of international corporate strategy: an integrated framework and research agenda, in H. Vestergaard (ed.) An Enlarged Europe in the Global Economy, Proceedings of the 17th Annual European International Business Academy Conference, Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press, Volume 1, 541–575.
Burgel, O. and Murray, GC. (2000). An integrated market entry choice of start-up companies in high technology industries, Journal of International Marketing, 8 (2), 33–62.
Calof, J.L. and Beamish, P.W. (1995). Adapting to foreign markets: explaining internationalization. International Business Review, 4 (2), 115–31.
Cardoza, G. and Fornes, G. (2009). The internationalisation of SMEs from China: the case of Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Asia Pacific Journal of Manage ment, 1–23 October.; http://www.springerlink.com/content/ah2h53630660372g/fulltext.pdf.
Casson, M. (1987). The Firm and the Market. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.
Chetty, S. (1999) Dimensions of internationalisation of firms in the apparel industry. European Journal of Marketing, 33 (1and2), 121–142.
Chetty, S. and Campbell-Hunt, C. (2004). Internationalisation strategy and its impact on learning during the process,. Journal of Asia Pacific Marketing, 3 (2), 37–51.
Child, J. and Rodrigues, S.B. (2005). The internationalization of Chinese firms: a case for theoretical extension? Management and Organization Review, 1 (3), 381–410.
Coviello, N.E. (2006). The network dynamics of international new ventures. Journal of International Business Studies, 37, 713–31.
Cyert, R. and March, J.G. (1964). A Behavioral Theory of the Firm. London: Blackwell.
Deng, P. (2004). Outward investment by Chinese MNCs: motivations and implications. Business Horizons, 47, 3, 8–16.
Dunning, J.H. (1995). Reappraising the eclectic paradigm in an age of alliance capitalism. Journal of International Business Studies, 26 (3), 461–91.
Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989). Building theories from case study research, The Academy of Management Review, 14 (4), 532–550.
Ellis, P. (2000). Social ties and foreign market entry. Journal of International Business Studies, 31 (3) 443–69.
Eriksson, K., Johanson, J., Majkgård, A. and Sharma, D. D. (2000). Effects of knowledge accumulation in the internationalization process, International Studies of Management and Organization, 30 (1), 26–40.
Errammili, M.K. (1991). The experience factor in foreign market entry behavior of service firms, Journal of International Business Studies, 21 (3), 479–501.
Fishman, T. (2006). China Inc.: The Relentless Rise of the Next Great Power. London: Simon & Schuster.
Fletcher, D. (2004). International entrepreneurship and the small business. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 16, 289–305.
Freeman, S. and Cavusgil S.T. (2007). Toward a typology of commitment states among managers of born-global firms: a study of accelerated internationalization. Journal of International Marketing, 15 (4), 1–40.
Gabrielsson. M and Kirpalani, V.H.M. (2004). Born-globals: how to reach new business space rapidly. International Business Review, 13 (5), 555–71.
Gabrielsson, M., Sasi, V. and Darling, J. (2004). Finance strategies of rapidly-growing Finnish SMEs: born internationals and born-globals. European Business Review, 16 (6), 590–604.
Hamel, G. and Prahalad, C.K. (1985). Do you really have a global strategy? Harvard Business Review, July–August, 139–48.
Harris, S. and Wheeler, C. (2005). Export market development activities: entrepreneur relationships as exchange based activities, International Business Review, 14 (2), 187–207.
Harveston, P. (2000) Synoptic versus Incremental Internationalization: An Examination of “Born Global” and “Gradual Globalizing” Firms, PhD Thesis, Memphis, University of Memphis.
Hite, J.M. and Hesterly, W.S. (2001). The evolution of firm networks: from emergence to early growth of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 22 (3), 274–86.
Johanson, J. and Mattsson, L.-G. (1988). Internationalisation in industrial systems: a network approach, in N. Hood and J.E. Vahlne (eds), Strategies in Global Competition. New York, NY: Croom Helm, pp. 283–305.
Johanson, J. and Vahlne, J.-E. (1977). The internationalisation process of the firm. Journal of International Business Studies, 8, 23–32
Johanson, J. and Vahlne, J.-E. (1990). The mechanisms of internationalisation. International Marketing Review, 7 (4), 11–24.
Johanson, J. and Vahlne, J.-E. (2003). Business relationship commitment and learning in the internationalization process. Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 1, 83–101.
Jones, M.V. (1999). The internationalisation of small high technology firms. Journal of International Marketing, 7 (4), 15–41.
Jones, M.V. and Coviello, N.E. (2005). Internationalisation: conceptualising an entrepreneurial process of behaviour in time. Journal of International Business Studies, 36, 284–303.
Junkkari, J.M. (2000). Born-global: The Globalization Strategies of Small and Medium-sized High Technology Manufacturers. Master’s Thesis, Helsinki School of Economics.
Kirpalani, V.H.M., Gabrielsson, M., Dimitratos, P., Solberg, C.A. and Zucchella, A. (2008). Conceptualization to advance born-global definition: a research note. Global Business Review, 9 (1), 45–50.
Knight, G. and Cavusgil, S.T. (1996). The born-global: a challenge to traditional internationalization theory. Advances in International Marketing, 8, 11–26.
Knight, G. and Cavusgil, S.T. (2004). Innovation, organizational capabilities, and the born-global firm. Journal of International Business Studies, 35 (2), 124–41.
Knight, G. and Cavusgil, S.T. (2005). A Taxonomy of born-global firms. Management International Review, 45 (3), 15–35.
Knight, G., Madsen, T.K. and Servais, P. (2004). An inquiry into European and American born-global firms. International Marketing Review, 21 (6), 645–65.
Levitt, T. (1983). The globalization of markets. Harvard Business Review, May–June, 92–102.
Lindquist, M. (1991). Infant Multinationals: The Internationalization of Young, Technology-based Swedish Firms, PhD Thesis, Stockholm: Stockholm School of Economics.
Liu, X., Xiao, W. and Huang, X. (2008). Bounded entrepreneurship and internationalisation of indigenous Chinese private-owned firms. International Business Review, 17, 488–508.
Lumpkin, G.T. and Dess, G.G. (1996). Clarifying the entrepreneurial orientation construct and linking it to performance, Academy of Management Review, 21 (1), 135–172.
Luostarinen, R. and Gabrielsson, M. (2002). Globalization and global marketing strategies of born-globals in SMOPECs. Paper presented at EIBA Conference in Athens, Greece, December.
Madsen, T.K. and Servais, P. (1997). The internationalization of born-globals: an evolutionary process. International Business Review, 6 (6), 561–83.
Madsen, T.K., Rasmussen, E. and Servais, P. (2000). Differences and similarities between born-globals and other types of exporters. Advances in International Marketing, 10, 247–65.
Matsuno, K., Mentzer, J.T. and Özsomer, A. (2002). The effects of entrepreneurial proclivity and market orientation on business performance. Journal of Marketing, 66, 16–32.
McDougall, P. and Oviatt, B. (1996). New venture internationalization, strategic change, and performance: a follow-up study, Journal of Business Venturing, 11 (1), 23–40.
McDougall, P.P. and Oviatt, B.M. (2000). International entrepreneurship: the intersection of two research paths. Academy of Management Journal, 43 (5), 902–6.
McGaughey, S., Welch, D. and Welch, L. (1997). Managerial influences and SME internationalization, in I. Bjørkman and M. Forsgren (eds), The Nature of the International Firm. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School, pp. 165–88.
Morrow, J.F. (1988). International entrepreneurship: a new growth opportunity. New Management, 3, 59–61.
National Bureau of Statistics (2007). National Economy Kept Steady and Fast Growth, Beijing, National Bureau of Statistics.
Ohmae, K. (1989). Managing in a borderless world. Harvard Business Review, 67, 152–61.
Oviatt, B.M. and McDougall. P.P. (1994). Toward a theory of international new ventures. Journal of International Business Studies, 25 (1), 45–64.
Oviatt, B.M. and McDougall. P.P. (1995). Global start-ups: entrepreneurs on a worldwide stage. Academy of Management Executive, 19 (2), 30–43.
Oviatt, B.M. and McDougall. P.P. (1999). A framework for understanding accelerated international entrepreneurship, in A. Rugman and R. Wright (eds), Global Strategic Management: International Entrepreneurship. Stamford, CT: JAI Press, pp. 23–40.
Oviatt, B.M. and McDougall. P.P. (2005a). Defining international entrepreneurship and modelling the speed of internationalization. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 25, 537–53.
Oviatt, B.M. and McDougall. P.P. (2005b). The internationalization of entrepreneurship. Journal of International Business Studies, 36, 2–8.
Pedersen, T. and Petersen, B. (1998). Explaining gradually increasing resource commitment to a foreign market. International Business Review, 7 (5), 483–501.
Penrose, E. (1959). The Theory of the Growth of the Firm. London: Basil Blackwell.
Rennie, M.W. (1993). Global competitiveness. The McKinsey Quarterly, 4, 45–52.
Toyne, B. and Walters, P.G.P. (1993). Global Marketing Management: A Strategic Perspective, 2nd edn. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Reuber, A.R. and Fischer, E. (1997). The influence of the management team’s international experience on the internationalization behavior of SMEs, Journal of International Business Studies, 28 (4), 807–825.
Welch, L.S. and Luostarinen, R. (1988). Internationalisation: evolution of a concept. Journal of General Management, 14 (2), 34–64.
Wright, R.W. and Ricks, D.A. (1994). Trends in international business research: twenty-five years later. Journal of International Business Studies, 687–701.
Yin, R. K. (2003). Case Study Research, Design and Methods, Third Edition, Newbury Park: Sage Publications.
Yip, G. S. (1992). Total Global Strategy: Managing for Worldwide Competitive Advantage. London: Prentice-Hall.
Yiu, D.W., Lau, C.M. and Bruton, G.D. (2007). International venturing by emerging economy firms: the effects of firm capabilities, home country networks, and corporate entrepreneurship. Journal of International Business Studies, 38, 519–40.
Zeng, M. and Williamson, P.J. (2003). The hidden dragons. Harvard Business Review, 81(10), 92–99, 137.
Zhou, L. (2007). The effects of entrepreneurial proclivity and foreign market knowledge on early internationalisation. Journal of World Business, 42, 281–93.
Zhou, L, Wu, W.P. and Luo, X. (2007). Internationalisation and the performance of born-global SMEs: the mediating role of social networks. Journal of International Business Studies, 38, 673–90.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2012 Siv Marina Flø Karlsen, Youzhen Zhao and Randi Lunnan
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Karlsen, S.M.F., Zhao, Y., Lunnan, R. (2012). Born-Global Firms from China and Norway: A Comparison. In: Marinov, M., Marinova, S. (eds) Internationalization of Emerging Economies and Firms. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230363663_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230363663_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-34555-7
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-36366-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)