Abstract
Recent theory development within small firm internationalization emerges from a group of firms whose internationalization behavior has been said to differ considerably from that of traditional firms (McDougall and Oviatt, 2000; McDougall, Shane, and Oviatt, 1994). These firms have been addressed using different titles, some of these being: ‘born globals’ (Knight and Cavusgil, 2004; Madsen and Servais, 1997; Rasmussan, Madsen, and Evangelista, 2001; Rennie, 1993), ‘international new ventures (INVs)’ (McDougall, Shane, and Oviatt, 1994; Oviatt and McDougall, 2005a), ‘technology based start-ups’ (Autio, Yli-Renko, and Salonen, 1997), ‘global start-ups’ (Oviatt and McDougall, 1994), ‘international entrepreneurs’ (Jones and Coviello, 2005), and ‘micro-multinationals’ (Ibeh et al., 2004). These firms have been found to have a common set of core characteristics, which differentiate them from traditional firms: some of them start international operations before or simultaneously with domestic operations (McDougall, Shane, and Oviatt, 1994; Rennie, 1993), and they have accelerated growth within global markets and develop visions and missions from inception based mainly on global markets and customers (Luostarinen and Gabrielsson, 2002). Where traditional small firms have internationalized by way of a predetermined, gradual sequential pattern of internationalization (Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975), these firms have been found to exhibit an array of internationalization patterns.
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
Alvarez, S.A. and Barney, J.B. (2007). Discovery and creation: Alternative theories of entrepreneurial action, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 1: 11–26.
Ardichvili, A., Cardozo, R. and Ray, S. (2003). A theory of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and development, Journal of Business Venturing, 18: 105–123.
Autio, E. (2005). Creative tension: The significance of Ben Oviatt and Patricia McDougal’s article: Towards a theory of international new ventures, Journal of International Business Studies, 36: 9–19.
Autio, E., Yli-Renko, H. and Salonen, A. (1997). International growth of young technology-based firms: A resource-based network model, Journal of Enterprising Culture, 5(1): 57–73.
Baker, T., Gedajlovic, E. and Lubatkin, M. (2005). A framework for comparing entrepreneurship processes across nations, Journal of International Business Studies, 36(5): 492–504.
Casson, M. (1982). The Entrepreneur: An Economic Theoty. Oxford: Robertson.
Casson, M. (2005). The individual-opportunity nexus: A review of Scott Shane: A general theory of entrepreneurship, Small Business Economics, 24: 423–430.
Casulli, L. (2009). Exploring opportunity creation in internationalising SMEs: Evidence from Scottish firms, in M.V. Jones, P. Dimitratos, M. Fletcher and S. Young (eds) Internationalisation, Entrepreneurship and the Smaller Firm: Evidence from Around the World. London: Edward Elgar, pp. 20–36.
Chandra, Y., Styles, C. and Wilkinson, I. (2009). The recognition of first time international entrepreneurial opportunities: Evidence from firms in knowledge-based industries, International Marketing Review, 26(1): 30–61.
Coviello, N.E. and Munro, H.J. (1997). Network relationships and the internationalisation process of small software firms, International Business Review, 6(4): 361–386.
Covin, J.G. and Slevin, D. (1989). Strategic management of small firms in hostile and benign environments, Strategic Management Journal, 10(1): 75–87.
Covin, J.G. and Slevin, D. (1993). A response to Zahra’s ‘critic and extension’ of the Covin Slevin entrepreneurship model, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 17(4): 23–28.
Fontes, M. and Coombs, R. (2001). Contribution of new technology-based firms to the strengthening of technological capabilities in intermediate economies, Research Policy, 30(1): 79–86.
Han, M. (2006). Developing social capital to achieve superior internationalization: A conceptual model, Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 4: 99–112.
Hansen, D., Shrader, R. and Monllor, J. (2011). Defragmenting definitions of entrepreneurial opportunities, Journal of Small Business Management, 49(2): 283–304.
Hayek, F.A. (1945). The use of knowledge in society, American Economic Review, 35(4): 519–530.
Holcombe, R. (2003). The origins of entrepreneurial opportunities, Review of Australian Economics, 16(1): 25–43.
Hornaday, R.W. (1992). Thinking about entrepreneurship: A fussy set approach, Journal of Small Business Management, 30(4): 12–23.
Ibeh, K. (2003). Toward a contingency framework of export entrepreneurship: Conceptualisation and empirical evidence, Small Business Economics, 20(1): 49–68.
Ibeh, K., Johnson, J.E., Dimitratos, P. and Slow, J. (2004). Micromultinationals: Some preliminary evidence on an emergent ‘star’ of the international entrepreneurship field, Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 2(4): 289–303.
Johanson, J. and Vahlne, J.E. (2006). Commitment and opportunity development in the internationalisation process: A note on the Uppsala internationalisation process model, Management International Review, 46(2): 165–178.
Johanson, J. and Vahlne, J.E. (2009). The Uppsala internationalization process model revisited: From liability of foreignness to liability of outsidership, Journal of International Business Studies, 40(9): 1411–1431.
Johanson, J. and Wiedersheim-Paul, F. (1975). The internationalisation of the firm-four Swedish case studies, Journal of Management Studies, 12(3): 305–322.
Jones, M.V. (1999). The internationalisation of small high technology firms, Journal of International Marketing, 7(4): 15–41.
Jones, M.V. and Coviello, N.E. (2005). Internationalisation: Conceptualising an entrepreneurial process of behaviour in time, Journal of International Business Studies, 36(3): 284–303.
Kirzner, I.M. (1973). Competition and Entrepreneurship. Chicago: University of Chicago.
Knight, G.A. and Cavusgil, S.T. (2004). Innovation, organisational capabilities and the born-global firm, Journal of International Business Studies, 35: 124–141.
Kuemmerle, W. (2002). Home base and knowledge management in international ventures, Journal of Business Venturing, 17: 99–122.
Luostarinen, R. and Gabrielsson, M. (2002). Born globals of small and open economies (SMOPECs)-globalisation and marketing strategies. Proceedings of the 28th annual conference of European International Business Academy (EIBA), Athens, 8–10 December 2002.
Madsen, T.K. and Servais, P. (1997). The internationalisation of born globals: An evolutionary process, International Business Review, 6(6): 561–583.
Matthews, J.A. and Zander, I. (2007). The international entrepreneurial dynamics of accelerated internationalisation, Journal of International Business Studies, 38: 387–403.
McDougall, P. (1989). International versus domestic entrepreneurship: New venture strategic behaviour and industry structure, Journal of Business Venturing, 4: 387–400.
McDougall, P. and Oviatt, B.M. (2000). International entrepreneurship: The intersection of two research paths, Academy of Management Journal, 43: 902–908.
McDougall, P., Shane, S. and Oviatt, B.M. (1994). Explaining the formation of international new ventures: The limits of theories from international business research, Journal of Business Venturing, 9: 469–487.
Miller, D. (1983). The correlates of entrepreneurship in three types of firms, Manage-ment Science, 29: 770–791.
Oviatt, B.M. and McDougall, P. (1994). Toward a theory of international new ventures, Journal of International Business Studies, 25(1): 45–64.
Oviatt, B.M. and McDougall, P. (2005a). Toward a theory of international new ventures, Journal of International Business Studies, 36: 29–41.
Oviatt, B.M. and McDougall, P. (2005b). Defining international entrepreneurship and modelling the speed of internationalisation, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(5): 537–553.
Oviatt, B.M. and McDougall, P. (2005c). The internationalization of entrepreneurship, Journal of International Business Studies, 36(1): 2–8.
Oxford English Dictionary (1989). Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press, available at http://www.dictionary.oed.com/. Accessed 10 January 2012.
Oyson, M.J. and Whittaker, D.H. (2010). Creativity and exploring opportunities for international entrepreneurship, Acta Technica Corviniensis-Bulletin of Engineering, 121–128.
Rasmussan, E.S., Madsen, T.K. and Evangelista, F. (2001). The founding of the born global company in Denmark and Australia: Sensemaking and networking, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 13(3): 75–107.
Renko, A.M. (2008). The role of market knowledge in recognising and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities in technology intensive firms. Unpublished doctoral dis-sertation. Florida: Florida International University.
Rennie, M. (1993). Born global, McKinsey Quarterly, 4: 45–52.
Saravathy, S.D., Venkataraman, S., Dew, N. and Velamuri, R. (2003). Three views of entrepreneurial opportunity, in Z.I. Acs and D.B. Audretsch (eds) Handbook of Entrepreneurship Research: An Interdisciplinaty Survey and Introduction. New York: Springer Science, 141–160.
Shane, S. (2000). Prior knowledge and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities, Organisation Science, 11(4): 448–469.
Shane, S. (2003). A General Theory of Entrepreneurship: The Individual-Opportunity Nexus. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Shane, S. and Venkataraman, S. (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research, Academy of Management Review, 25(1): 217–226.
Shane, S. and Venkataraman, S. (2001). Entrepreneurship as a field of research: A response to Zahra and Dess, Singh, and Erikson, Academy of Management Review, 26(1): 13–16.
Singh, R. (2001). A comment on developing the field of entrepreneurship through the study of opportunity recognition and exploitation, Academy of Management Review, 26(1): 10.
Venkataraman, S. (1997). The distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research: An editor’s perspective, in I. Katz and R. Brockhaus (eds) Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth. Fairfield County, CT: Greenwich, 119–138.
Yamakawa, Y., Peng, M. and Deeds, D. (2008). What drives new ventures to internationalise from emerging to developed economies? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 32(1): 59–82.
Yli-Renko, H., Autio, E. and Tontti, V. (2002). Social capital, knowledge, and the inter-national growth of technology-based new firms, International Business Review, 11: 279–304.
Zahra, S.A. (1993). A conceptual model of entrepreneurship as firm behaviour: A critique and extension, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 17(4): 5–21.
Zahra, S.A. and Dess, G.G. (2001). Entrepreneurship as a field of research: Encouraging dialogue and debate, Academy Management Review, 26(1): 8–10.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2012 Shingairai Grace Masango and Svetla T. Marinova
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Masango, S.G., Marinova, S.T. (2012). Development of International Entrepreneurial Opportunities by South African Early and Rapidly Internationalizing Small Firms. In: Marinov, M.A., Marinova, S.T. (eds) Impacts of Emerging Economies and Firms on International Business. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137032546_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137032546_14
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-44114-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-03254-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)