IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/intman/v28y2022i4s1075425322000138.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Financial performance and global start-ups: the impact of knowledge management practices

Author

Listed:
  • Battisti, Enrico
  • Alfiero, Simona
  • Quaglia, Roberto
  • Yahiaoui, Dorra

Abstract

This paper investigates how knowledge management (KM) practices improve the financial performance of global start-ups (GSs). Using a database of 114 global innovative Italian start-ups, this study is based on the principal component analysis – data envelopment analysis (PCA-DEA) method. In particular, a survey was conducted to investigate KM practices and secondary data was used to evaluate financial performance. This research highlights that the adoption of different knowledge management practices (i.e., acquisition, documentation, creation, transfer and application) has a positive impact on the financial performance of global start-ups. The study contributes to the literature on international entrepreneurship, shedding light on the consequences of KM practices for global start-ups' financial performance, and provides guidelines for business owners, enabling them to understand better how knowledge management can facilitate the achievement of high levels of financial efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Battisti, Enrico & Alfiero, Simona & Quaglia, Roberto & Yahiaoui, Dorra, 2022. "Financial performance and global start-ups: the impact of knowledge management practices," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(4).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intman:v:28:y:2022:i:4:s1075425322000138
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intman.2022.100938
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1075425322000138
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intman.2022.100938?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William R. Kerr & Josh Lerner & Antoinette Schoar, 2014. "The Consequences of Entrepreneurial Finance: Evidence from Angel Financings," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 20-55, January.
    2. Oe, Akitsu & Mitsuhashi, Hitoshi, 2013. "Founders' experiences for startups' fast break-even," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2193-2201.
    3. Love, James H. & Ganotakis, Panagiotis, 2013. "Learning by exporting: Lessons from high-technology SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 1-17.
    4. Adler, Nicole & Golany, Boaz, 2001. "Evaluation of deregulated airline networks using data envelopment analysis combined with principal component analysis with an application to Western Europe," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(2), pages 260-273, July.
    5. Gary A Knight & S Tamar Cavusgil, 2004. "Innovation, organizational capabilities, and the born-global firm," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 35(2), pages 124-141, March.
    6. Ikujiro Nonaka, 1994. "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 14-37, February.
    7. G. Page West & Terry W. Noel, 2009. "The Impact of Knowledge Resources on New Venture Performance," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 1-22, January.
    8. Douglas Holtz-Eakin & David Joulfaian & Harvey S. Rosen, 1994. "Entrepreneurial Decisions and Liquidity Constraints," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 25(2), pages 334-347, Summer.
    9. Silviano Esteve-Pérez & Diego Rodríguez, 2013. "The dynamics of exports and R&D in SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 219-240, June.
    10. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    11. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    12. Stine Øyna & Ilan Alon, 2018. "A Review of Born globals," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 157-180, February.
    13. S Tamer Cavusgil & Gary Knight, 2015. "The born global firm: An entrepreneurial and capabilities perspective on early and rapid internationalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(1), pages 3-16, January.
    14. William W. Cooper & Lawrence M. Seiford & Joe Zhu, 2011. "Data Envelopment Analysis: History, Models, and Interpretations," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: William W. Cooper & Lawrence M. Seiford & Joe Zhu (ed.), Handbook on Data Envelopment Analysis, chapter 0, pages 1-39, Springer.
    15. Scuotto, Veronica & Garcia-Perez, Alexeis & Nespoli, Chiara & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2020. "A repositioning organizational knowledge dynamics by functional upgrading and downgrading strategy in global value chain," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(4).
    16. Buckley, Peter J. & Carter, Martin J., 2002. "Process and structure in knowledge management practices of British and US multinational enterprises," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 29-48.
    17. McDougall, Patricia P., 1989. "International versus domestic entrepreneurship: New venture strategic behavior and industry structure," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 4(6), pages 387-400, November.
    18. Panzeri, Daniele & Caroli, Paolo & Haack, Barry, 2013. "Sagarmatha Park (Mt Everest) porter survey and analysis," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 26-34.
    19. N Adler & B Golany, 2002. "Including principal component weights to improve discrimination in data envelopment analysis," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 53(9), pages 985-991, September.
    20. Sewak, Mayank & Sharma, Anurag, 2020. "Performance implications of MNE subsidiary federation: Evidence from India," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(1).
    21. Leonidou, Leonidas C., 2000. "Barriers to export management: an organizational and internationalization analysis," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 121-148.
    22. Lin, Wen-Ting & Liu, Yunshi & Cheng, Kuei-Yang, 2011. "The internationalization and performance of a firm: Moderating effect of a firm's behavior," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 83-95, March.
    23. Santoro, Gabriele & Vrontis, Demetris & Thrassou, Alkis & Dezi, Luca, 2018. "The Internet of Things: Building a knowledge management system for open innovation and knowledge management capacity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 347-354.
    24. Brennan, L. & Garvey, D., 2009. "The role of knowledge in internationalization," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 120-133, June.
    25. Elena Golovko & Giovanni Valentini, 2011. "Exploring the complementarity between innovation and export for SMEs’ growth," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(3), pages 362-380, April.
    26. Matthias Baum & Christian Schwens & Rüdiger Kabst, 2011. "A Typology of International New Ventures: Empirical Evidence from High‐Technology Industries," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(3), pages 305-330, July.
    27. Thanassoulis, E. & Boussofiane, A. & Dyson, R. G., 1996. "A comparison of data envelopment analysis and ratio analysis as tools for performance assessment," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 229-244, June.
    28. Weerawardena, Jay & Mort, Gillian Sullivan & Liesch, Peter W. & Knight, Gary, 2007. "Conceptualizing accelerated internationalization in the born global firm: A dynamic capabilities perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 294-306, September.
    29. Wen-Ting Lin & Kuei-Yang Cheng, 2013. "The effect of upper echelons’ compensation on firm internationalization," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 73-90, March.
    30. Reid, Gavin C & Smith, Julia A, 2000. "What Makes a New Business Start-Up Successful?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 165-182, May.
    31. R. D. Banker & A. Charnes & W. W. Cooper, 1984. "Some Models for Estimating Technical and Scale Inefficiencies in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(9), pages 1078-1092, September.
    32. Gary A Knight & S Tamer Cavusgil, 2004. "Innovation, organizational capabilities, and the born-global firm," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 35(4), pages 334-334, July.
    33. Sarra, Annalina & Di Zio, Simone & Cappucci, Marianna, 2015. "A quantitative valuation of tourist experience in Lisbon," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-16.
    34. Gabrielsson, Mika & Manek Kirpalani, V. H., 2004. "Born globals: how to reach new business space rapidly," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 555-571, October.
    35. Cook, Wade D. & Ramón, Nuria & Ruiz, José L. & Sirvent, Inmaculada & Zhu, Joe, 2019. "DEA-based benchmarking for performance evaluation in pay-for-performance incentive plans," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 45-54.
    36. Cooper, Arnold C. & Gimeno-Gascon, F. Javier & Woo, Carolyn Y., 1994. "Initial human and financial capital as predictors of new venture performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 371-395, September.
    37. Piera Centobelli & Roberto Cerchione & Emilio Esposito, 2017. "Knowledge Management in Startups: Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-19, March.
    38. Benjamin M Oviatt & Patricia Phillips McDougall, 1994. "Toward a Theory of International New ventures," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 25(1), pages 45-64, March.
    39. Fethi, Meryem Duygun & Pasiouras, Fotios, 2010. "Assessing bank efficiency and performance with operational research and artificial intelligence techniques: A survey," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 204(2), pages 189-198, July.
    40. Wu, Lei-Yu, 2007. "Entrepreneurial resources, dynamic capabilities and start-up performance of Taiwan's high-tech firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 549-555, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chatterjee, Sheshadri & Chaudhuri, Ranjan & Grandhi, Balakrishna & Galati, Antonino, 2023. "Evolution of strategy for global value creation in MNEs: Role of knowledge management, technology adoption, and financial investment," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jiang, Guohua & Kotabe, Masaaki & Zhang, Feng & Hao, Andy W. & Paul, Justin & Wang, Cheng Lu, 2020. "The determinants and performance of early internationalizing firms: A literature review and research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    2. Sascha Kraus & Alexander Brem & Miriam Schuessler & Felix Schuessler & Thomas Niemand, 2019. "Innovative Born Globals: Investigating the Influence of Their Business Models on International Performance," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Alexander Brem & Joe Tidd & Tugrul Daim (ed.), Managing Innovation Internationalization of Innovation, chapter 11, pages 275-328, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Dzikowski, Piotr, 2018. "A bibliometric analysis of born global firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 281-294.
    4. Ahsan, Mujtaba & Fernhaber, Stephanie A., 2019. "Multinational Enterprises: Leveraging a Corporate International Entrepreneurship Lens for New Insights Into Subsidiary Initiatives," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 51-65.
    5. Elena Pawęta, 2015. "Entrepreneur-related constructs explaining the emergence of born global firms: A Systematic Literature Review," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 3(4), pages 11-36.
    6. Bembom, Michael & Schwens, Christian, 2018. "The role of networks in early internationalizing firms: A systematic review and future research agenda," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 679-694.
    7. Yoruk, Deniz E. & Bunduchi, Raluca & Yoruk, Esin & Crișan-Mitra, Catalina & Salanță, Irina-Iulia & Crișan, Emil Lucian, 2021. "Pathways to innovation in Romanian software SMEs: Exploring the impact of interdependencies between internationalisation and knowledge sources," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(4).
    8. Oliva, Fábio Lotti & Teberga, Pedro Marins Freire & Testi, Lucas Israel Oliveira & Kotabe, Masaaki & Giudice, Manlio Del & Kelle, Peter & Cunha, Miguel Pina, 2022. "Risks and critical success factors in the internationalization of born global startups of industry 4.0: A social, environmental, economic, and institutional analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    9. Quan Anh Nguyen & Gillian Sullivan Mort, 0. "Conceptualising organisational-level and microfoundational capabilities: an integrated view of born-globals’ internationalisation," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-23.
    10. Miguel A. Hernandez, 2019. "Unveiling International New Ventures’ Success: Employee’s Entrepreneurial Behavior," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-32, August.
    11. Khan, Zaheer & Lew, Yong Kyu, 2018. "Post-entry survival of developing economy international new ventures: A dynamic capability perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 149-160.
    12. Farhad Uddin Ahmed & Louis Brennan, 2019. "The impact of Founder’s human capital on firms’ extent of early internationalisation: Evidence from a least-developed country," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 615-659, September.
    13. Baum, Matthias & Schwens, Christian & Kabst, Ruediger, 2015. "A latent class analysis of small firms’ internationalization patterns," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 754-768.
    14. Buccieri, Dominic & Javalgi, Raj G. & Cavusgil, Erin, 2020. "International new venture performance: Role of international entrepreneurial culture, ambidextrous innovation, and dynamic marketing capabilities," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
    15. Rubina Romanello & Maria Chiarvesio, 2019. "Early internationalizing firms: 2004–2018," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 172-219, June.
    16. Jones, Marian V. & Coviello, Nicole & Tang, Yee Kwan, 2011. "International Entrepreneurship research (1989–2009): A domain ontology and thematic analysis," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 632-659.
    17. Knight, Gary A. & Liesch, Peter W., 2016. "Internationalization: From incremental to born global," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 93-102.
    18. Love, James H. & Roper, Stephen & Zhou, Ying, 2016. "Experience, age and exporting performance in UK SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 806-819.
    19. Quan Anh Nguyen & Gillian Sullivan Mort, 2021. "Conceptualising organisational-level and microfoundational capabilities: an integrated view of born-globals’ internationalisation," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1781-1803, December.
    20. Rubina Romanello, 2017. "Alla ricerca dell?internazionalizzazione precoce e rapida fra le PMI italiane: uno studio esplorativo," ECONOMIA E SOCIET? REGIONALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(1), pages 99-121.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:intman:v:28:y:2022:i:4:s1075425322000138. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/601266/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.