Susan Freeman and S. Tamer Cavusgil
Executive Summary
One of the most remarkable developments of the current era of globalization has been the flourishing of born-global firms—young entrepreneurial firms that take on internationalization early in their evolution. In this article, Freeman and Cavusgil investigate the role of entrepreneurs in influencing the internationalization of smaller born-global firms. Using a multi-case-study research strategy, Freeman and Cavusgil find that senior managers move among four states of international commitment nonsequentially as they modify their strategic response to shifting environmental forces or following a change in strategic objectives. A state is a detailed descriptor of the type of decision-making process of top management for accelerated market entry and how and why that process unfolds.
These states are (1) the responder, who is characterized by an emerging interest in internationalization; (2) the opportunist, who actively gathers information about international opportunities and acts to exploit them for short-term gain with little awareness of the quality of his or her network contacts or the importance of building long-term relationships; (3) the experimentalist, who is in a state of international trial and is beginning to appreciate the importance of high-level network contacts in major global companies in key markets and the need to build long-term relationships founded on trust and commitment; and (4) the strategist who has linkages in multiple key markets with high-level managerial contacts in major global companies and behaves in ways designed to nurture these relationships and preserve them for the long run.
Any of the four attitudinal mind-sets facilitates internationalization, but the strategist state adopts a more benevolent, collaborative behavioral stance designed to preserve key relationships. The strategist also avoids the short-term orientation, competitiveness, and self-interest of the other states. Freeman and Cavusgil suggest that smaller organizations should not hesitate to enter lead markets and enter multiple markets simultaneously. A strong managerial commitment to internationalization is evident from the moment of inception among experimentalists and strategists. Soon after their inception, these entrepreneurs seek out foreign contacts in lead markets and regions. The quality of technological innovation is a critical success factor in their accelerated pace of internationalization, as are their foreign network contacts, who are located through conferences, work, school, former employees, and government-funded programs. To accelerate the pace of internationalization, the entrepreneur must ensure that the firm continually generates connections to foreign networks with high-level executives that are regional managers of large global companies.
Biography
Susan Freeman is a senior lecturer in the Department of Management at Monash University. She received her BEco from Monash University, her DipEd from Mercy College, her MEd from Monash University, and her PhD from Monash University. Her areas of marketing expertise and interest are in internationalization of the firm, international strategic alliances/joint ventures, and entry and expansion modes. She has worked in the airlines, high-tech software/hardware, and professional services industries. In addition to Journal of International Marketing, she has recently published in Journal of Services Marketing, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society, Journal of East-West Business, and European Business.
S. Tamer Cavusgil is University Distinguished Faculty and the John W. Byington Endowed Chair in Global Marketing at Michigan State University. He also serves as the Executive Director of MSU-CIBER. Professor Cavusgil specializes in international marketing strategy, early internationalization, and emerging markets. He is the author of several books and more than 150 refereed articles. Doing Business in Emerging Markets (Sage Publications 2002) is a recent contribution. He is also the author of several computer-aided diagnostic tools for managers, including CORE, COmpany Readiness to Export. He served as the inaugural editor in chief of Journal of International Marketing. Cavusgil is the editor of the Elsevier annual book series Advances in International Marketing.
Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 15, No. 4, December 2007
View Table of Contents.