Abstract
Deregulations in international trade and financial markets have lead to the global convergence and interdependence of economic spheres as well as of political, cultural, social and ecological activities (Behnam and Gilbert, 2002). Confronted with global competition and worldwide sources of supply and demand, local firms and markets have transformed, resulting in the homogenization of patterns of production and consumption as well as the convergence of cultures (Koch, 1999, 2001; Rugman, 1980). Above all, it is technological developments, especially in the field of communication and media, biotechnology and new materials, which have substantially lead to increased firm competition, new and dynamic market structures, economic growth and development of industrial nations (Zerdick et al., 2001, 2005).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
The term Network Economy, predominantly used in the USA, is used synonymously to the term Internet Economy (Zerdick et al., 2001, p. 146). In the literature these terms are often used interchangeably and the distinctions in the definitions are blurred. The term New Economy, with the counterpart Old Economy, prevailed during the rapid rise in new firms and business models-predominantly over the internet-of the 1990s. This era is also referred to as the ‘Dot-Com-Boom’ phase. Porter (2001) postulates that the term New Economy is not adequate and misleading and refers to the distinct strategies, competitive behavior, competitive advantage based on IT and ICT technologies, which are not unfamiliar in industry economics and therefore not new. Furthermore, because the execution of economic opportunities via digitized networks is classified as E-Business, these firms are often synonymously referred to as E-Business firms, depending on the function and the actors of the economic transaction. The term New Economy was coined by the sociologist Manuel Castell (Vahlne and Johanson, 2002, p. 209). In the following, for reasons of brevity, the term Net Economy will be used, with the concept of the network at its core. In the literature the term real economy is applied to firms operating in the industry economy as an antipole to the digitized economy (Weiber and Kollmann, 1998).
Originally initiated by the foreign policy conflicts with the USSR the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was initiated in the 1960s for military institutions in the USA and served as the forerunner of the internet, whose basic principle is interconnecting computers into a network for knowledge-sharing (Flichy, 2007). In the 1980s the network was applied by governmental and educational institutions and in 1994 non-profit organizations lost sole access to established web sites (Brynjolfsson and Kahin, 2000). With the development of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP) also known as TCP/IP, the first two networking protocols for data file transfer enabled linking decentralized computer networks and transporting multimedia applications (Brynjolfsson and Kahin, 2000). This development paved the way for the diffusion and the commercialization of innovations over the worldwide digital network.
Terms such as Internet Start-ups (Loane and Bell, 2002) or Dot-Coms (Barnes et al., 2004) form a subgroup of E-Ventures, since business models which create value over other types of digitized networks are literally omitted in the terms. However, the internet remains the most widespread global digital network and the sphere in which E-Ventures are most active.
For studies which analyze the impact of the internet on the newspaper industry see Baer (1998), Dans and Pauwels (2001) and Geyskens et al. (2002). Kollmann and Herr (2005) analyzed different possibilities of trust-building in German E-Ventures. They conclude their research by determining process-related factors of online offers as the most trust-building on the customer side.
‘Born Global’ or ‘instant international’ does not necessarily imply engaging in international business activities from the first day of founding, but more so, engaging in the internationalization process from the formative stages of business development (Preece et al., 1998).
Witt and Rode (2005) expound on the challenges and the changed conditions of brand-building within a short time frame, which small firms dispose of upon inception. Kollmann and Suckow (2006) analyzed the brand-building process of E-Ventures also considering the significance of the domain name for market entry.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Gabler | GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
(2008). Introduction. In: Antecedents of Venture Firms’ Internationalization. Gabler. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8349-9821-7_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8349-9821-7_1
Publisher Name: Gabler
Print ISBN: 978-3-8349-1115-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-8349-9821-7
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)