Journal of World Business – 56(3), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2020.101164
Social media firm specific advantages as enablers of network embeddedness of international entrepreneurial ventures
Fraccastoro, S., Gabrielsson, M., & Chetty, S.
Combining internalisation theory and internationalisation networking literature we study how international entrepreneurial ventures use social media to internationalise. Our qualitative study reveals the governance mechanisms and learning that are part of a dynamic process. We explain how firms leverage their own social-media capabilities and bundle them with the capabilities of foreign partners, which they leverage to create new social-media capabilities to grow internationally. Firms leverage social-media capabilities to become embedded within emerging and strategic networks, a position that is central for firms to mitigate threats of opportunism and bounded reliability and to overcome liabilities connected to smallness, newness, and foreignness.
Journal of Business Research – DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.005
International Entrepreneurial Orientation (IEO): A bibliometric overview of scholarly research
Rakesh Gupta, Ritesh Pandey, V.J.Sebastian
This study reviews the current state of research on international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO). Using a bibliometric and network analysis of 86 scientific documents on IEO collected from the Scopus database for the period of 2001–2020, the authors created a road map of extant knowledge in this field. Co-citation networks of references, journals, and authors was done and important clusters that emerge from these networks are described. The findings reveal, inter alia, publication trends in the field of IEO and identify the influential papers, productive authors, journals, institutions and countries in this field. The paper uncovers the main research topics and current theoretical foundations of this emerging field. Finally, we identify future research opportunities in IEO.
International Business Review – DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.101776
The integrated use of social media, digital, and traditional communication tools in the B2B sales process of international SMEs
Fraccastoro, S., Gabrielsson, M., & Pullins, E.B.
Social media and digital tools are gradually changing the way firms market themselves. Understanding how these communication tools are used by sales functions within business-to-business (B2B) markets could clarify the dynamics underpinning the sales process in an increasingly technology-mediated world. This paper explores how social media, digital, and traditional sales communication tools are leveraged during the three main phases of the B2B sales process within international SMEs. The article’s grounded-theory approach illustrates that social media can be particularly helpful in engaging international prospects. Digital communication tools seem to be most prevalent in the persuasion phase, whereas more traditional communication tools still prevail in customer relationship management. However, there seem to be some important potential boundary conditions, including relationship culture, location proximity, technology innovation/resources, and strategic importance of the customer that affect the way international SMEs use different communication tools during a sales process. We develop a framework for understanding the B2B sales process flow with sales communication tools included for international SMEs.
Journal of International Entrepreneurship – Volume 18, pg. 473–491
The influence of additive manufacturing on early internationalization: considerations into potential avenues of IE research
Martin Hannibal
Novel technologies are key enablers for early internationalization. Researchers and experts imply that industry 4.0 (i4.0) technologies will be exploited by existing firms and new ventures to develop radical business models and market revolutionizing products and services, leading to the disruption of global markets. Additive manufacturing (AM) is currently emerging as one of many disruptive i4.0 technologies. This paper provides the first stepping stone for research into the influence of AM on internationalization in the context of new venturing. Reflecting on current technological trends in the global industrial ecosystem, this paper proposes four themes of particular relevance in guiding future research into the influence of AM on new venture internationalization. Firstly, we indicate that research is needed into the emergence of expert AM service providers and the consequent lurking disruption of the current global value chain. Secondly, we suggest research focused on the role of AM in facilitating increased customer interaction and how this impacts networking, which is a key to early internationalization. Thirdly, we highlight the need for research that acknowledges the current challenges to established legislation and institutions to provide insights into how AM technologies influence international new ventures in the age of i4.0. Fourthly, we propose that research is needed into how AM technologies are used by INVs to overcome and capitalize on regional difference in developing products and services. The paper proceeds to conclude on and summarize these themes. Lastly, further less developed avenues of research are explored.
Journal of International Entrepreneurship – Volume 18, pg. 419–443
Founder ethnic composition, early internationalization, and new venture performance
Guohua Jiang, Masaaki Kotabe & Feng Zhang
This study empirically examines the role of founder ethnic composition in international new venture (INV) strategy choice and performance. We find that new ventures with more immigrant entrepreneurs on the founding team have an advantage of pursuing an INV strategy to generate higher revenues. Moreover, new ventures with an ethnically diversified founding team tend to achieve higher revenues and profits. Our findings suggest that immigrant entrepreneurs can align available immigrant resources with their new ventures’ international strategy to increase venture performance. This study contributes to both immigrant and international entrepreneurship literature. Managerial and policy implications are also discussed.