The Accidental Internationalists: A Theory of Born Globals
April 2, 2014 Leave a comment
The Accidental Internationalists: A Theory of Born Globals
Jean-François Hennart
Tilburg University – Center and Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
January 2014
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol. 38, Issue 1, pp. 117-135, 2014
Abstract:
The distinguishing characteristic of international new ventures/born globals (INVs/BGs) is that they have foreign sales from the outset, or very quickly afterward. I argue that this is due to their business model. INVs/BGs sell to spatially dispersed customers distinctive niche products that incur low communication, transportation, and adaptation costs. In contrast to the firms described by the Uppsala model, selling to foreign customers does not require additional time or effort for INVs/BGs. Thus INVs/BGs can be seen as accidental internationalists.