Abstract
During internationalisation, international new ventures in the life sciences industry face distinct challenges. For example, high product development costs push companies into early internationalisation to increase sales turnover and recover investments. At the same time, financial and managerial resource limitations and the demand to adjust to local regulations render internationalisation difficult. To date, relatively little is known about how different industry contexts influence new venture internationalisation processes. This paper presents an in-depth case study of the internationalisation process of a Swedish new venture from the life sciences industry to fill this gap. The findings outline factors in the industry context that affect the internationalisation process, with specific emphasis on entrepreneurs and their networks, leading to several propositions and a model of life sciences new venture internationalisation.
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Notes
A medical device refers to “any instrument, apparatus, appliance, software, material or other article, whether used alone or in combination, including the software intended by its manufacturer to be used specifically for diagnostic and/or therapeutic purposes and necessary for its proper application, intended by the manufacturer to be used for human beings” (http://www.eucomed.org/medical-technology).
Biotechnology refers to “the application of science and technology to living organisms, as well as parts, products and models thereof, to alter living or nonliving materials for the production of knowledge, goods and services” (http://www.oecd.org/science/inno/36760212.pdf).
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their helpful comments and suggestions for improving this paper. We are also grateful to the informants of the case company for their valuable experiences and time. This paper is part of a larger research project, and we acknowledge the financial support from the Swedish Research Council.
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Laurell, H., Andersson, S. & Achtenhagen, L. The importance of industry context for new venture internationalisation: A case study from the life sciences. J Int Entrep 11, 297–319 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-013-0116-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-013-0116-y