The Internationalization of Digital Born Global Firms
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The internationalization of digital born global firms Contextual factors and behavioral implications Master’s Thesis in the Master’s Programme Management and Economics of Innovation ANNA STRANDBERG Department of Technology Management and Economics Division of: Entrepreneurship and Strategy CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Gothenburg, Sweden 2018 Report No. E 2017:123 REPORT NO. E2017:123 The internationalization of digital born global firms Contextual factors and behavioral implications ANNA A.M. STRANDBERG Department of Technology Management and Economics CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Gothenburg, Sweden 2017 The internationalization of digital born global firms Contextual factors and behavioral implications ANNA A.M. STRANDBERG © ANNA A.M. STRANDBERG, 2017 Master thesis E2017:123 Department of Technology Management and Economics Division of: Entrepreneurship and Strategy Chalmers University of Technology SE-412 96 Gothenburg,Sweden Telephone + 46 (0)31-772 1000 Chalmers Reproservice Gothenburg, Sweden 2018 Acknowledgements Covering 30 credits, this thesis concludes the Master of Science program Management and Economics of Innovation at Chalmers University of Technology. It was written during the autumn of 2017, an effort that required both the support and encouragement from several people, who are hereby acknowledged. First, I would like to thank all company representatives who managed to set aside time to partake in the study. You are all truly inspirational and competent people, it was amazing to get to learn from you! I am especially thankful to Andreas Lehner and Sam Manaberi at TRINE, who were key people when initiating and providing general advice throughout the thesis! I would also like to thank Associate Professor Henrik Berglund, my supervisor at Chalmers University of Technology, for help to shape and conduct the research and academic part of the thesis. Through valuable advice and insights, he contributed to advancing and finalizing the study. Finally, I would like to thank family and friends for their valuable comments, linguistic support and patience (you know who you are). Anna Strandberg, Gothenburg 3/1 2018 Abstract Digital startups are becoming increasingly important in the global economy and are undertaking internationalization at an exceptional speed. While doing so they are using new types of internationalization strategies, some of them seem very effective to reach growth using scarce resources. Due to their novelty, the internationalization behavior of digital startups has mainly been described in general terms, without taking the firms’ different contexts and characteristics into account. However, on the basis of ten case studies, this thesis demonstrates the importance of the firm’s context as an influencer of a firm’s internationalization. These case firms follow different patterns both inline and in contrast to internationalization theory, showing that current internationalization theory is insufficient when understanding these young digital firms whom internationalize early, so called born global firms. This study identifies seven external and internal contextual factors that seem to influence the internationalization behavior, they are: a firm’s market, firm characteristics, its business model, value proposition, product characteristics, product availability and type of customers. Overall, the thesis suggests how these contextual characteristics influence the internationalization of these ten digital startup firms. In addition, the thesis proposes a practical checklist for any digital startup looking to internationalize. Key words: Born global firms, internationalization, digital firms, contextual factors, lean global startups, internationalization process, international new venture, international entrepreneurship, internationalization framework Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 2 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................................... 5 2.1 THE STAGE MODELS .............................................................................................................................. 5 2.2 THE BORN GLOBAL FIRM AND ITS INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESS .................................................. 6 2.2.1 Definition and differences from other companies ......................................................................... 6 2.2.2 Previous research .......................................................................................................................... 7 2.2.3 The phase theory ............................................................................................................................ 7 2.3 NETWORK MODELS ................................................................................................................................ 8 2.4 THE DIGITAL FIRM AND ITS INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESS ............................................................. 8 2.4.1 The digital firm .............................................................................................................................. 8 2.4.2 Internationalization patterns ......................................................................................................... 9 2.5 THE LEAN GLOBAL STARTUP AND ITS INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESS .......................................... 10 2.6 THE INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP MODEL .............................................................................. 11 3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................. 13 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................................................... 13 3.2 RESEARCH FLOW .................................................................................................................................. 13 3.2.1 Literature review ......................................................................................................................... 13 3.2.2 Data collection ............................................................................................................................. 14 3.2.3 Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 19 3.2.4 Coupling of result/Development of framework and check-list .................................................... 19 3.3 DELIMITATIONS AND LIMITATIONS ...................................................................................................... 20 3.3.1 Trustworthiness ............................................................................................................................ 20 3.3.2 Credibility .................................................................................................................................... 20 3.3.3 Transferability ............................................................................................................................. 20 3.3.4 Confirmability .............................................................................................................................. 20 3.3.5 Dependability ............................................................................................................................... 21 4. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS .................................................................................................................. 22 4.1 CASE COMPANY: ALPHA ...................................................................................................................... 24 4.1.1 Background and context .............................................................................................................. 24 4.1.2 Internationalization status ........................................................................................................... 24 4.1.3 Internationalization strategy ....................................................................................................... 24 4.1.4 Internationalization process ........................................................................................................ 24 4.2 CASE COMPANY: BRAVO ...................................................................................................................... 24 4.2.1 Background and context .............................................................................................................. 24 4.2.2 Internationalization status ........................................................................................................... 25 4.2.3 Internationalization strategy ....................................................................................................... 25 4.2.4 Internationalization process ........................................................................................................ 25 4.3 CASE COMPANY: CHARLIE ................................................................................................................... 26 4.3.1 Background and context .............................................................................................................. 26 4.3.2 Internationalization status ........................................................................................................... 26 4.3.3 Internationalization