In previous research, it is stated that founders/top managers have an impact on the born global firms, meaning firms that become international directly from start or short time after establishment. The purpose of our thesis is to understand how the characteristics of founders/top managers and entrepreneurial orientation have an impact on the born global firm’s innovation and outcome. Based on foundations in earlier studies we identified a research gap that this thesis aims to fill. This thesis will contribute to the importance of a better understanding of how entrepreneurial orientation affects a born global firm’s innovation and outcome. Therefore, we outline the following research question; “How have the characteristics of the founder/top manager and entrepreneurial orientation an impact on the born global firm’s innovation and outcome?” In order to answer this question we review previous literature and construct a conceptual framework suitable for our study.      When it comes to methodology, we apply an abductive approach, meaning that we start with a deductive approach and create a conceptual framework. Then along the way we move more towards an inductive approach since we want to develop existing theories and address theory implications for further studies. We use a qualitative research design and in-depth multiple case studies in order to get a deeper understanding of our research topic.              Our empirical findings consist of three interviews with founders/top managers from three different born global firms in Umeå and Skellefteå. From these interviews, we conclude that all the three founders/top managers have an impact on the born global firm’s innovation and outcome. Consequently, we managed to perceive a link between the age of the firm and the level of entrepreneurial orientation. The implication was that the characteristics of the founder/top manager had a bigger impact on the youngest firm. The two other firms had more of a firm level behavior in terms of entrepreneurial orientation as they have been in operations for many years and have been established by two founders, unlike the younger firm. We could also find that number of founders, relations, brand image/position, and networking should be taken into consideration when it comes to characteristics of the founder/top manager and entrepreneurial orientation. The research gap we discovered within entrepreneurial orientation is complex and cannot be fully met by this thesis. As such, we recommend further research into this area. We suggest including employees from different departments within the born global firms when investigating the level of entrepreneurial orientation and how it affects innovation and outcome. / Centre for Inter-organizational Innovation Research

Internationalization is a key concept in today’s globalized world. Globalization has brought about a major shift in the way firms internationalize. Previously, large firms were thought to follow an incremental internationalization process. However, as a result of the rise of international new ventures, the internationalization process has seen a dramatic shift in the internationalization process of firms. Firms no longer follow the traditional models of internationalization. Instead, there are three general phases an international new venture may pass through which are identified by Leonidou and Katsikeas (1996, p. 524): namely: pre-engagement, initial, and advanced.   The change in the internationalization process of firms has led firms access networks to internationalize. The use of networks have been shown to help international new ventures to skip the traditional phases of internationalization  and expand rapidly by linking themselves to established networks (Coviello & Munro, 1995, p. 53). Participation in networks, among other benefits, includes acquiring the necessary knowledge for international operations.   Several important network forms have been identified by different authors. This raises the question what effect these network forms have at the phases of the internationalization process. Three major networks were identified, namely, social, business and intermediaries where each form has its own benefits in the internationalization process of an Small-to-Medium-Size Enterprise (SME). The forms of networks are often described as positive drivers for internationalization. We, however, think that there might also be negative aspects concerning the use of network for internationalization. This study sets out to find what the benefits of each form of network is and also how the networks are used in the internationalization process of an SME. We take into account the perspective of the entrepreneurs as to how they perceive network forms affecting SMEs’ performance at each phase of the internationalization process.  Along with that, we also aim to find out how the forms of networks interact with each other and how they evolve from one network to the other.   We use qualitative methods, in our study, by interviewing six SMEs located in northern Sweden. Multiple case studies were developed, in order to analyse the collected data from the semi-structured interviews. The collected data was transcribed and categorized in order to find the phases of internationalization, benefits of networks, interaction between networks and the negative aspects of networks. It was then analysed using the three predefined forms of networks: social, business and intermediaries.   The findings of the study show that business networks were the most widely used network form throughout the phases of the internationalization process. Social networks and intermediaries were used equally. However, social networks had a greater influence than intermediaries. Our research also identified three phases in the internationalization process. Networks were found to influence each other at all the phases of internationalization and therefore cannot be seperated from each other.

This study is an introduction to the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and TripleBottom Line (TBL) utilization in Swedish born global firms. The purpose of this study was toexplore how born globals utilize CSR and TBL and thus contribute to the research field withnew knowledge. The knowledge gap found by the researchers was the lack of foundationalknowledge of the field born globals, CSR and TBL together. The research questionsconcerned the utilization of CSR and TBL, what negative aspects of CSR and TBL were seenby the companies and what parts of CSR and TBL were most important. This study wasconducted on Swedish born global firms utilizing sustainability practices. A conceptualframework was generated by the concepts born global, CSR and TBL to visualize theirconnection. The purpose and the questions were fulfilled and answered by conductingsemi-structured interviews with four Swedish born global companies of different sizes andindustries. To further develop the analysis, Archie B Carroll's input was added. What could beconcluded from this study was that the companies had different ways of utilizing CSR.Furthermore, the negative aspects of working sustainably with CSR and TBL was seen aseconomical and time consuming. The positive aspects were the other values gained for thefirms externally which overweighted the negative costs. Thus has this research contributed tomanagers within born global firms as well as the theoretical research field of born globals andCSR.

ABSTRACT This master thesis examined the impact of digitalization on the speed of internationalization and explores the various foreign market entry options for a company that would like to expand from a developed market to an emerging market as part of its internationalization.  The case study analyzed in this paper is Arctic Space Technologies, a unique satellite operator company offering an all-in-one solution for sustainable satellite data handling and processing. The firm’s founders have a niche market (satellite operators) and have established business in Sweden and would like to enter an emerging market (South Africa). The firm can be classified under the high-tech industry and the study obtained valuable information that could be useful to other similar firms. The nature of technology for adoption is easily transferable for such firms regardless of geographical location. Digitalization is instrumental in facilitating earlier and faster internationalization through digitalized knowledge, network creation and decision-making processes (Coviello et al., 2017). The digitalization of new foreign market development helps such firms to efficiently identify new market opportunities in global markets and with this approach, they save resources while developing the most attractive markets (Neubert, 2018a). Qualitative research was applied through a company case study, where primary interviews and a survey were used to collect data. A case study was employed to further understand and practically apply adaptations a firm can make to increase its chances of success in a foreign market environment. The researcher also obtained information from desktop and literature review. The study findings suggested that business networking, business models, culture and geographical distance, market size are key factors that influence the choice of foreign market entry mode for a high-tech firm internationalization process from a developed market to an emerging market. In addition, the main challenges faced by born-global firm in entering an emerging market includes, lack of financial resources, management transitions and lack of proper market information for the internationalization process. The firm may need to identify information related to the market size, competitors, financial costs and entry barriers of the emerging market.  The study insight was that despite the born global firms’ nature of technology enabling faster adoption in terms of digitalization being instrumental in facilitating their internationalization process through the digitalized knowledge, network creation and decision-making processes, they still face the challenges of entry into unfamiliar emerging markets. The researcher identified the institutional voids faced, liability of foreignness and noted that it would be crucial for the firm to conduct a proper environmental analysis. This may include political and legal forces, economic forces, social-cultural forces and technological forces.  Arctic Space Technologies may need to create relevant business networks and the study identified that the ideal foreign market entry mode would be Joint venture/Partnership.  Since the South African government is keen on foreign investors/entrepreneurs entering into their market through partnership with a local business entity. The firm could establish a good network with South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and other space firms in the country. SANSA is keen on fostering international partnerships to enable unlock opportunities for the national space sector.   Further studies could investigate the time frames for high-tech firms internationalization processes. Further research is needed to analyze connections between software firms’ business models and selected entry modes by using a quantitative research method. The study could also be extended to other emerging countries in Africa and new business opportunities in the global markets for high-tech firms especially with the changing dynamics of international business in the wake of the current pandemic.

The evolution of globalization and technology have changed the playground for international business and made it possible for smaller businesses to compete internationally among large and capital intensive companies. Markets become increasingly alike with converging product preferences and changing the world into one large integrated marketplace easily accessible for firms of all sizes. Recent research in the field of International Business has shed light on small firms that rapidly become international market players, called “born globals” (BGs). These firms’ behavior contradicting traditional theory, such as the Uppsala Model, which propose that internationalization is an incremental process where firms must gain market knowledge and psychical distance to markets to internationalize. The Uppsala Model describes internationalization as a relatively resource-demanding process. However, the BGs most often have scarce resources, but still manages to enter several markets simultaneously. Previous studies have focused on manufacturing exporting BGs when investigate this relatively new phenomenon. Yet, little light is shed on BG service firms and their internationalization. The purpose of this study is to investigate the facilitating factors of resource-scarce Internet-based service BGs’ internationalization and barriers connected to it. Thus, this study aims to fill the research field of BG Internet-based service firms with more empirical data. The research questions are formulated as followed: RQ1: What important factors enable internationalization for Swedish born global Internet-based service firms? RQ2: Do the perceived barriers to internationalization for SMEs apply to Swedish born global Internet-based service firms, or are there other barriers present in their internationalization? As a theoretical framework, the researchers have combined three main theories, explicitly the Resource-Based View, Dynamic Capabilities and Business Models. Further, SMEs’ perceived barriers to internationalization are included in the theoretical framework as a sub-theory, to investigate if those barriers apply to BG Internet-based service firms. The researchers have performed a qualitative exploratory multiple-case study including six Swedish companies. The empirical data acquired is presented in a case-by-case structure relating back to the theoretical framework. The data has further been analyzed in a thematic way based on theories using the cross-case analysis technique. From the study, the researchers have found that the most important factors enabling internationalization for Swedish BG Internet-based service firms are an internationally standardized business model, human capital, and the level of dynamic capabilities. Regarding SME’s perceived barriers to internationalization, no clear pattern was found regarding the sample firms’ perceived barriers to internationalization. Which implies that more research is needed in this area.