International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research-
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-09-2024-0993
Bridging the experience gap: cognitive biases and heuristics in the internationalization of small firms
Anisur R. Faroque, Lucrezia Casulli, Olli Kuivalainen, Sanna Sundqvist
This conceptual paper develops a cognition-based decision framework that explains how cognitive biases influence pre- and initial entry decisions, and evolve in response to post-entry negative events. It introduces the “experience gap paradox”- a misalignment between personal experience and required international market experience – as a key driver of biased judgment. The framework links non-contextualized pre-entry experience with post-entry decision-making, offering testable propositions on the dynamic interplay between biases, heuristics, and internationalization decisions. This article contributes by exploring how cognitive heuristics and biases evolve in decision-making across the pre-entry and post-entry stages of internationalization, with a focus on smaller firms-particularly International New Ventures (INVs). It provides a comprehensive understanding of the “experience gap paradox” and its influence on entrepreneurial internationalization, offering insights relevant to small firms’ adaptive decision-making and survival.
International Business Review-
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2025.102428
Innovate or exploit? Unveiling the international entrepreneurial odyssey through the lens of status quo bias
Anisur R. Faroque a, Anwar Sadat Shimul, Hangjun Xu, Olli Kuivalainen, Feisal Murshed, Sanna Sundqvist
We contribute novel insights into how status quo bias may play a part in identifying and capitalizing on international opportunities, thus addressing a previously overlooked aspect of cognitive perspective in international entrepreneurship research. First, from an entrepreneurial process perspective, we assert that internationalizing firms can attain a performance advantage by adopting Kirznerian and Schumpeterian types of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) with the mediation of opportunity recognition and exploitation. Building on cognitive bias theory, we further posit that status quo bias plays a significant role in shaping the relationship between EO and opportunity recognition and exploitation. We test our hypotheses using survey data collected from 275 internationalizing firms. The empirical results suggest that EO variants exhibit distinct influences and are influenced in unique ways by international opportunity recognition, exploitation and status quo bias. Specifically, we find that a higher level of status quo bias strengthens the relationship between Schumpeterian EO and opportunity recognition, whereas a lower level strengthens the association between Schumpeterian EO and opportunity exploitation. However, no significant effect of status quo bias is found in Kirznerian firms. The study offers both theoretical and practical implications, and provides valuable recommendations for future research.