The international entrepreneurial firm's social networks

This paper investigates theoretically the importance and impact of the international entrepreneurial firms’ (IEFs) social networks on selected firms’ strategies. We focus specifically on some core attributes of IEFs and the impact of social networks on such strategies as the choice of the foreign markets to operate and the foreign entry modes. The social networks are a major driver of the internationalization from inception and help in overcoming a variety of physical and social resource limitations as well as transactional hazards. We conclude that it is likely that both some fundamental characteristics of the IEFs and those of the foreign markets entered account for these firms reliance on their social networks

Global delivery models: the role of talent, speed and time zones in the global outsourcing industry

Global delivery models (GDMs) are transforming the global IT and business process outsourcing industry. GDMs are a new form of client-specific investment promoting service integration with clients by combining client proximity with time-zone spread for 24/7 service operations. We investigate antecedents and contingencies of setting up GDM structures. Based on comprehensive data we show that providers are likely to establish GDM location configurations when clients value access to globally distributed talent and speed of service delivery, in particular when services are highly commoditized. Findings imply that coordination across time zones increasingly affects international operations in business-to-business and born-global industries

Exporters in Services: new Evidence from Italian Firms

This paper provides new evidence on the determinants of the export performance of firms in services based on a cross-section of Italian firms in the NACE Sections G, I and K for the year 2003. The empirical analysis of the determinants of the export status and intensity shows that the success of service firms in foreign markets is specifically related to their experience in the national market, their belonging to national and international networks and to their relationship with large industrial firms. A higher level of productivity and a higher skill intensity only seem to matter when exporting to more distant industrial countries