Dynamic improvisation capabilities as a learning mechanism in early internationalizing firms

Our study addresses an inconsistency in the literature on whether a lack of knowledge in early internationalizing firms is an obstacle or an advantage. We integrate learning, capabilities, and improvisation literature to reveal how case firms from New Zealand and Finland internationalize early under uncertainty and time pressure. We develop a process model and propositions to show how firms develop improvisation capabilities and subsequently rapidly acquire the international business knowledge that can explain early internationalization. Improvisation and the associated rapid learning complement the learning advantage of newness with an alternative explanation for early internationalization.© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Effects of Social Media Usage on the Speed of International Growth of an International New Venture

The introduction of social media tools in entrepreneurial ventures has had a strong impact on their ability to access international networks, increase their competitiveness in foreign markets and improve their performance. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, studies capturing the impact of social media usage on the internationalization process of International New Ventures (INVs) are lacking. We empirically analyze how social media usage influences the speed of the international growth of INVs in different phases of growth. Our results reveal that during the company’s introductory phase, social media has a primary role in heightening the speed of internationalization. However, in more mature phases, the need for direct sales personnel and personal relationships increases. This ensures the company’s insider position in international large account networks and guarantees a sustainable speed of international growth. Managerial implications are discussed as well as avenues for future research

The role of marketing in new ventures: How marketing activities should be organized in firms’ infancy

Although marketing activities are vital for new ventures (NVs) to ensure growth and survival, previous research is silent on how to organize them in firms’ infancy. The entrepreneurship literature focuses on which marketing activities to perform in NVs but not on how to organize these activities, whereas the marketing literature concentrates on how to organize marketing activities in established firms but not in NVs, which face specific opportunities and challenges in their early stage of development. This article aims to tackle this research gap by examining marketing’s role within NVs’ organization. Drawing on in-depth interviews with managers, we identify two key organizational dimensions: marketing’s dispersion (related to the proliferation and, thus, wide anchoring of marketing responsibilities) and marketing’s structuration (related to the manifestation and, thus, deep anchoring of marketing responsibilities). Through a field survey and archival data, we show that marketing’s dispersion enhances NV profitability, while marketing’s structuration decreases it, and that with increasing marketing influence (i.e., power of marketing actors) in NVs and NV maturity (i.e., age and size), this diametrical pattern of effects becomes less pronounced. Overall, the findings provide novel theoretical and practical insights into the organizational design of marketing in firms’ infancy.© The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Rapid internationalisation enabled by the Internet: The case of a knowledge intensive company

In this paper we will show how knowledge intensive firms can quicken their internationalisation by using the Internet as a sales channel. When properly applied the Internet can provide a way to decrease the effects of liability of foreignness and resource scarcity, and herewith contribute to an increased speed of internationalisation. The focus of the empirical research is on a Finnish knowledge intensive company and the development of its international operations and sales channels. The study applies the longitudinal case study method when examining in-depth the development of Futuremark Corporation for a period of five year

Characteristics of digital artifacts in international endeavors of digital-based international new ventures

Research Summary Current research on digital artifacts and international business reveals that digitalization is changing how firms enter international markets and operate within them. The unbounded nature of digital artifacts provides opportunities for entrepreneur-driven firms to rapidly launch and develop digital platforms for international markets. However, extant literature provides little guidance on leveraging the specific characteristics of digital artifacts and what entrepreneurs should do to facilitate internationalization. We conducted an extensive longitudinal case study spanning more than 10 years to garner data on digital-based INV pursuing internationalization. We aimed to conceptualize a theoretical model explaining the role of entrepreneurs in integrating, building, and reconfiguring their capabilities to leverage the characteristics of digital artifacts for platform development. Managerial Summary What actions should entrepreneurs take to leverage the characteristics of digital artifacts to support their firm's internationalization? This study offers entrepreneurs a model to pinpoint those actions and possible avenues for digital platform development in the international market context. The model demonstrates how firms can apply digital artifact characteristics during the phases of internationalization and how those characteristics can facilitate and accelerate the international development of a digital platform. The findings also reveal how different entrepreneurial resources and capabilities should be integrated, built, and reconfigured throughout the process.© 2023 The Authors. Global Strategy Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Strategic Management Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Technical, Strategic, and Cultural Bottlenecks of Born-Global-Digital Firms

A born-global-digital firm belongs to the group of firms that apply and develop digital technologies to achieve early internationalization. However, there might be different types of bottlenecks related to foreign market entries and the development of digital services affecting those markets that limit such firms’ global activities. In this work, we divide these bottlenecks into technical, strategic, and cultural forms. This multi-case study examines the impact of those bottlenecks and how that might be overcome. We provide practical and theoretical alternatives to bypass the impediments created by the bottlenecks

Internationalization of indoor positioning platform firms : Insights from loose coupling theory

Indoor positioning platforms are gaining popularity in various indoor environments, serving multiple purposes such as navigation, asset tracking, proximity marketing, and indoor analytics. However, the diversity of potential use cases and technical complexity makes these platforms challenging to internationalize across different markets and customer segments. Drawing on the characteristics of digitalization framework and the loose coupling theory, we analyze and explain the phenomenon in an indoor positioning platform firm. Our findings reveal that platforms’ openness and digital affordances played a pivotal role in its internationalization by enabling customization of the service to meet the needs of foreign markets and industry segments. Both loose and tight couplings were essential for the platform's global expansion. We also revealed the dynamic nature of couplings in the firm's internationalization journey.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed