International entrepreneurship is a prominent phenomenon in contemporary research, because of the ease of internationalisation for companies. Start-up hubs in Europe are booming and especially web-based tech companies internationalise quickly. This new type of company, which internationalises almost immediately after foundation, is called born global. Research showed that despite the interest in born global tech start-ups, there is no representative model visualising the process of their internationalisation. Therefore, secondary research is conducted, as well as empirical research in the form of qualitative interviews with three representative, successfully internationalised tech start-ups from Europe. These companies are the music streaming service Spotify, social marketing SaaS Facelift and business management SaaS Ivy. The internationalisation factors resulting from this research can be divided into a preparation phase, possible strategy development and an implementation phase. Within these phases, factors are separated into company- internal and external influences. Based on these findings, a new model on the internationalisation process of web- based tech start-ups is developed. / Internationell entreprenörskap är ett framstående fenomen inom modern forskning eftersom det blir enklare för företag att expandera över nationsgränserna. Startup-hubbar växer fram överallt i Europa och framförallt webbaserade techbolag är snabba med sin internationaliseringsprocess. Det handlar huvudsakligen om en viss typ av företag som kallas för born global, vilket innebär att bolaget börjar sälja sina produkter eller tjänster internationellt direkt efter grundandet. Forskning kring ämnet visar att det finns ett stort intresse för denna typ av företag men inga representativa modeller som visualiserar processen bakom deras internationalisering. Därför genomfördes sekundär forskning samt empirisk forskning i form av tre kvalitativa intervjuer med representanter från framgångsrika och internationella tech startups från Europa. Undersökningen ledde till upptäckten av olika faktorer som påverkar internationaliseringsprocessen. Dessa faktorer kategoriseras som interna eller externa påverkningar på företaget. Internationaliseringsfaktorerna kan delas in i tre faser - förberedelse, möjlig utveckling av strategi och implementering. Baserat på dessa resultat har en modell om internationaliseringsprocessen för born global tech startups utvecklats.

This research study concerns entrepreneurial startups that converted into internationalization by implementing an export business strategy. MASApparel and Dilma Tea companies in Sri Lanka, two leading companies, were selected to illustrate the export strategy for business expansion in foreign markets. The research focuses on how both companies achieved their foreign markets and their continuous successful presence in the industry even now by doing. The study begins with a comprehensive discussion of the theory of competitive advantage, business strategy, and entrepreneurial internationalization. The terms examine both conventional and contemporary views of business strategies implemented to gain a competitive advantage to expand in the international market. A review of the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and internationalization proceeds with a detailed review of the literature on the competitive advantage of the business strategy. Various local and global influences are identified in the export strategy for the internationalization process. The selected two case's findings are presented, and the evidence is based on considering implementing an export business strategy for business internationalization.

The purpose of this study was to investigate internationalisation of Ethiopian SMEs by examining internal and external factors that motivate or restrict internationalization process and the impact of internal and external barriers on SMEs export performance. The small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) sector in Ethiopia is a significant group within the economy in terms of firm numbers and total employment. However, the SMEs sector’s share of exports is disproportionately small, which raised considerable research concerns. Firm export propensity and export performance were the dependent variables and export stimuli and barrier factors were used as explanatory variables. The study was conducted through mixed research design. A questionnaire was administered to 90(36 exporting and 54 nonexporting) SMEs in Leather and Leather Products Industry in Addis Ababa selected through stratified random sampling. In order to complement survey results nine (4 exporting and 5 non-exporting) SMEs were selected through critical case purposive sampling and an in-depth interviews were conducted. Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS 20) was used to analyse the quantitative data whereas, qualitative data were analysed manually. Analytical techniques used were, Chisquare test of independence, Spearman rank order correlation, factor analysis, binary logistic regression analysis and multiple regression analysis. The statistical results of binary logistic regression analysis and chi-square tests indicated that managerial factors, internal marketing factors and foreign government related factors, firm ownership and size are the most significant motivators of SMEs internationalisation in Ethiopia. On the contrary the result showed that, logistics problem, insufficient finance, functional barriers, lack of export knowledge and information, procedural barriers and international trade barriers are the factors hindering it. Further analysis was conducted to examine the impact of export barriers on performance of firms. The result of multiple regression analysis indicated that, export barriers significantly and negatively affect export performance. The overall results revealed that explanatory variables used in the analysis significantly predict the dependent variable at 95% confidence level. Considering these results numerous implications for theory, practice, and future research were recommended. Finally, the study concluded that internationalisation of SMEs has to be encouraged by mitigating both internal and external barriers identified in this study. / Business Management / D. Admin. (Business Management)

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate how Start-Ups from Switzerland pattern their expansion to foreign markets and how prevalent traditional internationalization models are among Start-Ups. In order to conduct the research, the term Start-Up has been defined in comparison to other forms of enterprises. The first part of the literature review has been conducted regarding key concepts within the field of international business such as psychic distance or the choice of the right entry mode. The second part of the literature review has been conducted regarding relevant traditional internationalization theories as well as the international entrepreneurship theory, as counterpart to traditional internationalization theories. The theories have resulted in a conceptual framework that reveals the relations between the different theories. The thesis is built on a qualitative approach on the basis of a multiple case study by means of three interviews with Swiss Start-Ups. Further the thesis has followed a deductive approach to first build a profound knowledge about the internationalization process of Start-Ups. The authors of this thesis consider a good pre understanding of the research area as relevant to observe a pattern from the empirical observations. In the analysis chapter the differences and similarities between the theory and the empirical findings were discussed. The structure of both chapters, empirical findings and analysis, are structured in accordance with the conceptual framework. On the basis of the analysis, the conclusion chapter presents the responses of three research questions. Further the final chapter consists of theoretical and practical implications and recommendations as well as limitations and ends with proposals for a further research.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-13T14:10:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mariana Cristina Betti Cury Lorca.pdf: 2160500 bytes, checksum: c4d88cd957481f7770aaded2a7d0ed15 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-29 / Research has shown that International Entrepreneurship (EI) and International Entrepreneurial Orientation (OEI) are present in behaviors that lead to the internationalization of companies. Private organizations, not-for-profit, belonging to the third sector of the society, have played an important role in the international development agenda, contributing directly or indirectly to the implementation of environmental and humanitarian actions, reduction of poverty and the defense of rights and social equality. Nevertheless, research on EI and OEI in this type of organization are still incipient. Additionally there is a lack of research to understand the Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies. This research contributes to overcoming this gaps by analyzing whether and how three central constructs of EI and OEI - proactiveness, innovativeness and risk-taking - are related to fundraising by these organizations. Through a multiple cases study it was found, at an exploratory level, that these constructs are related to fundraising and that they explain performance differences among organization with respect to this goal. The research contributes to the theory of EI and OEI by expanding the field in which the validity of core constructs of these theoretical perspectives have been checked. It contributes to the management of these organizations by indicating what entrepreneurial behaviors can increase fundraising . / Pesquisas têm mostrado que o Empreendedorismo Internacional (EI) e a Orientação Empreendedora Internacional (OEI) estão presentes em comportamentos que levam à internacionalização de empresas. Organizações privadas sem fins lucrativos, pertencentes ao Terceiro Setor da sociedade, têm desempenhado importante papel na agenda de desenvolvimento internacional, colaborando direta ou indiretamente para a execução de ações socioambientais, humanitárias, em prol da defesa de direitos e igualdade social. Pesquisas sobre EI e OEI nessas organizações são ainda incipientes. Alia-se a isso o fato de que estudos também indicam carência de pesquisas para o entendimento do Empreendedorismo em Economias Emergentes. Esta pesquisa contribui para a superação dessas lacunas pela análise de se e como três construtos centrais da EI e da OEI pró-atividade, inovatividade e assunção de riscos relacionam-se com a captação de recursos internacionais das organizações do Terceiro Setor no Brasil. Por meio de um estudo de casos múltiplos, verificou-se, em nível exploratório, que esses construtos estão relacionados com a captação e explicam as diferenças de desempenho entre as organizações em relação a essa captação. A pesquisa contribui para a teoria de EI e OEI por intermédio da expansão do domínio em que a validade de construtos centrais para essas perspectivas foram verificadas e para a prática da captação, por essas organizações, por meio da indicação de quais comportamentos empreendedores podem contribuir para a melhora do desempenho na captação.

La presente investigación supone una contribución significativa a la corriente del international entrepreneurship. A partir de una revisión de las principales teorías sobre la internacionalización de la empresa se identifican ciertos factores determinantes de la competitividad de las nuevas empresas internacionales. Concretamente, se plantea un modelo conciliador centrado en la interrelación existente entre una serie de variables asociadas a la gestión del conocimiento reflejadas en los constructos de la orientación al mercado de la red y las capacidades dinámicas de adaptación, absorción e innovación. En este sentido, el hecho de identificar a la orientación al mercado de la red como factor fundamental en la competitividad de estas empresas contribuye a un entendimiento más completo de las dinámicas y mecanismos necesarios para tal fin, ya que el análisis efectuado no se centra exclusivamente en el contexto individual de la propia empresa, sino también en el ámbito de relaciones establecido por las mismas. Adicionalmente, al tener en cuenta la distinta naturaleza de exploración o explotación de las capacidades dinámicas consideradas, se profundiza en la interrelación existente entre las mismas y en su efecto sobre las ventajas competitivas logradas por estas empresas.

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.

Network approach is more appropriate measure to describe the early internationalization of born global firms. The focus of our research is to investigate the origin, structure and role of social networks in the early internationalization of born global firms. We intend to investigate the structure of networks which is considered pre-requisite to study the other dimensions of network ties. Many researchers directly jump to study the role networks play without paying any attention from where these ties originate. Furthermore, much of the literature has connected the born global firms with high technology sector however, there are many examples of born global firms in traditional sectors. Similarly, very little is known about how various national context influence the internationalization process of firms. Therefore, we also intend to investigate network ties in the context of different industrial sectors and different level of country's institutional development by comparing born global firms from France and Pakistan.Our results reveal that these small born global firms use their networks to overcome the constraints to rapid internationalization which has been supported by previous empirical findings. The results also reveal that origin of ties is in both business-social or non-business social settings. Both weak and strong ties are found to have positive impact on the early internationalization; however composition of ties is different in low-tech and high-tech firms. We also argue that instead of country's level of institutional development, composition of ties is moderated by the industrial sector in which firm is operating.

Despite significant research output in recent decades on international new ventures (INVs),little attention has been paid to understanding the processes and conditions under whichthe entrepreneur identifies and exploits an opportunity and subsequently creates valuewithin the firm. As a result, the dynamics involved in the role of the entrepreneur during theestablishment and internationalization of INVs remain in a black box. In order to understandthe context, interaction among players and other dynamics involved before, during, and afterthe establishment of the INV’s creation and development, a different approach is needed. Theaim of this dissertation is to describe and understand the role of entrepreneurs in the processof establishment and internationalization of international new ventures. Three longitudinal case studies were conducted between 1999 and 2008 with a total of 108interviews using snowball sampling. In addition, comprehensive secondary data have beencollected to enrich the empirical cases with thick descriptions, and to enhance content validityas well as the reliability of the research. This study offers a more nuanced picture of how entrepreneurs’ characteristics influencethe international development of their firms. For example, it appears that it was neitherthe previous foreign experience, the education, nor the previously developed internationalnetwork (as suggested by previous literature) that can be credited for the rapid and vastinternationalization of the case firms. Instead, it is suggested that an entrepreneur’schildhood and prior life story directly influences their behaviour in the INV. We proposethat different types of entrepreneurs are important factors to understanding firms’ differentinternationalization patterns. Depending on the backgrounds of the entrepreneurs, theydeveloped preferences, skills, and especially desires that would come to affect the totalbehaviour of their future organizations. This study also develops the notion of psychicdistance into three separate spaces - the physical, the mental and the social space. Forexample, the context and experience during childhood creates the foundations for theentrepreneurs’ mental and social space, which can separately, but also in relation toeach other, offer a more accurate and deeper understanding of the actions taken by theentrepreneurs in the INV. Furthermore, this study has shown that the role and characteristicsof the entrepreneur do change over time, which also determines the individual’s sensitivity toopportunities and the international behaviour of the company.

The purpose of this study was to investigate internationalisation of Ethiopian SMEs by examining internal and external factors that motivate or restrict internationalization process and the impact of internal and external barriers on SMEs export performance. The small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) sector in Ethiopia is a significant group within the economy in terms of firm numbers and total employment. However, the SMEs sector’s share of exports is disproportionately small, which raised considerable research concerns. Firm export propensity and export performance were the dependent variables and export stimuli and barrier factors were used as explanatory variables. The study was conducted through mixed research design. A questionnaire was administered to 90(36 exporting and 54 nonexporting) SMEs in Leather and Leather Products Industry in Addis Ababa selected through stratified random sampling. In order to complement survey results nine (4 exporting and 5 non-exporting) SMEs were selected through critical case purposive sampling and an in-depth interviews were conducted. Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS 20) was used to analyse the quantitative data whereas, qualitative data were analysed manually. Analytical techniques used were, Chisquare test of independence, Spearman rank order correlation, factor analysis, binary logistic regression analysis and multiple regression analysis. The statistical results of binary logistic regression analysis and chi-square tests indicated that managerial factors, internal marketing factors and foreign government related factors, firm ownership and size are the most significant motivators of SMEs internationalisation in Ethiopia. On the contrary the result showed that, logistics problem, insufficient finance, functional barriers, lack of export knowledge and information, procedural barriers and international trade barriers are the factors hindering it. Further analysis was conducted to examine the impact of export barriers on performance of firms. The result of multiple regression analysis indicated that, export barriers significantly and negatively affect export performance. The overall results revealed that explanatory variables used in the analysis significantly predict the dependent variable at 95% confidence level. Considering these results numerous implications for theory, practice, and future research were recommended. Finally, the study concluded that internationalisation of SMEs has to be encouraged by mitigating both internal and external barriers identified in this study. / Business Management / D. Admin. (Business Management)