The International Trade Administration reported that 70% of worldwide revenue for American businesses comes from consumers in emergent markets such as India, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. However, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a country that many American small business owners are not operating in and capitalizing on the financial opportunities that are available. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies American small business owners use in successful international entrepreneurship for increased revenue and operational longevity. The study population consisted of 5 American small business entrepreneurs who had succeeded operating in the UAE for at least 5 years. The resource-based view theory was the conceptual framework that grounded this study. Data collection included semistructured interviews and a review of company documents and government records. Data analysis involved coding, word clustering, and the use of qualitative data analytical software to identify patterns. Member checking of interview responses helped to strengthen the integrity of the findings. The use of methodical triangulation enabled a rich analysis and an enhanced trustworthiness of the results. The 4 key themes that emerged from the data analysis were strategic planning, understanding local culture, building relationships, and using digital platforms. Small business owners could use the key themes for the development of international entrepreneurial strategies. The findings from this study and the knowledge generated may influence positive social change by increasing local employment, improving economic conditions, and promoting the development of international business operations for American entrepreneurs.

The world market has during recent decades become an increasingly globalized arena, in which lowered trade barriers, enhanced technology, worldwide communication and containerization have made internationalization an easily obtainable option for companies. The once dominating multinational enterprises are present day challenged by small- and medium sized enterprises as global actors, and competitiveness is an ever-increasing factor, making the pursuit and exploitation of opportunities essential.   The International Entrepreneurship Theory has during the last two decades emerged as a theory explaining the phenomena of small- and medium sized enterprises internationalizing their operations at an early age; a theory comprehending entrepreneurial behavior, the ability to explore and take advantage of opportunities overlooked by others in order to create value in the organization.   The purpose of this thesis is to create an understanding of the emergence, definition and theoretical framework of the International Entrepreneurship Theory. By implementing a deductive research approach and a quantitative research method, empirical data is collected in order to confront the theoretical framework in the analysis. The analysis will further be the basis for conclusions and recommendations that will conclude our thesis.

Our master dissertation pursued the research question of what the internationalization process of a hybrid firm would look like. To do so, the authors performed an in-depth analysis of a Swedish SME which exhibited characteristics of a hybrid firm. These hybrid firms, as we have named them, use a mixed range of internationalization strategies. An abductive method of research was used in this thesis, as the authors took direction from previous literature and created their own new internationalization process model based on their findings. The main areas of this research focused on the drivers for internationalization and the barriers to internationalization, as well as the market selection and entry mode into foreign countries. This research found that the Swedish SME base their internationalization process on their human resources and the intuition of their management. These two key elements were the foundation for the new hybrid internationalization process model created by the authors.

L’intérêt croissant des différentes économies pour augmenter et promouvoir la participation de ces entreprises dans le commerce international, rend nécessaire une renaissance de la recherche sur les processus d’internationalisation des firmes, en particulier des petites et moyennes entreprises. L’objectif est de fournir un aperçu théorique étendu et complet sur les processus d’internationalisation des PME Languedociennes-Roussillonnaises et Andalouses, et donc par extension Françaises et Espagnoles; ainsi qu’une analyse comparative entre les deux régions. D’un point de vue empirique il s’agira de vérifier les facteurs déterminants des processus d’internationalisation que suivent ces PME, selon leurs structures organisationnelles et facteurs intangibles, mettre en évidence leurs concordances, leurs complémentarités et leurs divergences avec les différentes approches théoriques, aussi, déterminer si uniquement avec le développement et la gestion de certains facteurs présents dans les Born Globals (variables internes), les entreprises à bas intensité exportatrice peuvent d’augmenter leur performance internationale. L’intensité exportatrice associée à l’activité internationale prend tout son sens pour ces organisations. En effet, est devenue une option stratégique nécessaire pour combler la baisse de la demande dans les pays exportateurs. Par ailleurs, l’activité export constitue un enjeu de taille compte tenu de la concurrence ardue sur les marchés internationaux émanant de concurrents aux ressources incomparables et au comportement export très différent. / The growing interest of various economies in increasing and promoting the participation of their SMEs in international trade requires a renaissance of research into the internationalization processes of companies, especially those of small and medium enterprises. The objective is to provide an extensive and global theoretical overview of the processes of internationalization of SMEs in Languedoc-Roussillon and Andalusia and, by extension, of those of French and Spanish enterprises, together with a comparative analysis of the two regions. From an empirical standpoint, we will verify the factors that determine the internationalization process followed by these SMEs, according to their organizational structure and intangible considerations, in order to highlight their similarities to and differences from the various theoretical approaches. We will also determine whether firms with a low rate of exports may improve their international performance solely through the development and management of certain factors in the Born Globals (internal variables). The export rate associated with international activity makes sense for these organizations. In fact, it has become a necessary strategic option in order to offset the drop in demand in exporting countries. In addition, exporting is a major challenge given the stiff competition in international markets from competitors with huge resources and very different export behaviour.

[pt] O propósito desta pesquisa é investigar um tipo emergente de INV, a Borderless Firm, ao apresentar um estudo de caso sobre uma jovem e pequena empresa brasileira que se enquadra nas características que distinguem este tipo de empresa. Analisa-se detalhadamente como ocorreu o processo de estabelecimento de cada uma das atividades coordenadas internacionalmente, buscando entender as motivações da empresa e a relevância das redes de relacionamento nessa trajetória. Embora a pesquisa seja baseada em um estudo de caso único devido às limitações atuais de se identificar empreendimentos que apresentem a configuração da Borderless Firm, acredita-se que o caso da Zee.dog contribui para corroborar certos aspectos da incipiente teoria, como a diversidade de motivos que influenciam as decisões de internacionalização dessas empresas, a alternância entre as lógicas de previsão e controle que parecem guiar esse processo e a importância que as redes de relacionamento assumem não apenas para o reconhecimento de novas oportunidades, mas para diminuir barreiras ao aprofundamento da internacionalização, e como mecanismo alternativo de governança para evitar o oportunismo. Além disso, o estudo indica que a configuração global pautada na coordenação de atividades geograficamente dispersas e baseada em relacionamentos complexos com diversos atores internacionais pode vir a ser fonte de vantagens competitivas sustentáveis, que são necessárias para sobreviver no mercado global. / [en] The purpose of this research is to inquire about an emergent type of International New Venture, the Borderless Firm, by presenting a case study on a small and young Brazilian company that can be framed in this type of firm main characteristics. The analysis details how was the process of establishing internationally coordinated activities, also trying to understand the company s motivations and the relevance of international networks to this trajectory. Although the research is based on a single case study due to current limitations of identifying companies that present the Borderless Firm configuration, it is believed that the Zee.dog case contributes to corroborate certain aspects of the incipient theory, such as the diversity of reasons that influence the companies internationalization decisions, the alternance between the logics of causation and effectuation that seems to guide this process and the importance that networks relationships assume not only to the acknowledgement of new opportunities, but to diminish the barriers of broadening internationalization and as an alternative governance mechanism to avoid opportunism. Furthermore, this study indicates that the global configuration grounded by the coordination of geographically dispersed activities and based on complex relationships with multiple international actors may become source of sustainable competitive advantages that are required to survival in the global market.