Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Question: What are your key areas of research?
Becky Reuber: Much of my research has focused on the internationalization of young and small
firms; in particular, the challenges they encounter and the tactics they use. At first, my research
was predominantly quantitative involving hypothesis testing and large samples. For example, my
first paper in Journal of International Business Studies (with Eileen Fischer, in 1997) examined
the role of the top management team’s experience in the internationalization of small software
firms. This orientation has evolved over time, and now my research is almost exclusively
qualitative and based on small samples. For example, a recent paper in Global Strategy Journal
(with Esther Tippmann and Sinéad Monaghan, in 2022) examines how young software firms are
able to navigate tensions among strategic demands while growing quickly. I like that qualitative
methods can encourage you to discover new theoretical insights about phenomena that are not
well represented in the scholarly literature, such as the process of scaling to become a
multinational enterprise.

Question: What are you currently working on?
Becky Reuber: Pretty much all of my research has been on technology-based firms, and on
explanatory factors for success at the firm level. Noemi Sinkovics and I wrote a paper reviewing
the migrant entrepreneurship literature (Journal of World Business, 2021), and this sparked my
interest in microenterprises, and the international entrepreneurs who start them. I’m currently
thinking about this in the context of refugee entrepreneurship.

Question: What are a few of your personal hobbies?
Becky Reuber: For me, time away from work is best spent socializing with friends and family. I
have four small grandchildren who are a delight to be with. I love to travel, and of course a
benefit of being an academic is being able to see far-flung friends from other countries on a
regular basis at conferences.

Question: What is on your bucket list?
Becky Reuber: Becoming less attentive to my iPhone.