IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/intman/v7y2001i3p173-189.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

'Born-again global' firms: An extension to the 'born global' phenomenon

Author

Listed:
  • Bell, Jim
  • McNaughton, Rod
  • Young, Stephen

Abstract

Firm internationalisation has for long been regarded as an incremental process, wherein firms gravitate towards 'psychologically close' markets and increase commitment to international markets in a gradual, stepwise manner through a series of evolutionary 'stages.' However, much of the recent literature provides clear evidence of rapid and dedicated internationalisation by 'born global' firms. Typically, these are smaller entrepreneurial firms that internationalise from inception or begin shortly thereafter. Their main source of competitive advantage is often related to a more sophisticated knowledge base that they use to exploit the dynamics of an increasingly global market environment. This contribution posits that there is growing evidence of another phenomenon, that of the emergence of 'born-again' global firms. These are firms that have been well established in their domestic markets, with apparently no great motivation to internationalise, but which have suddenly embraced rapid and dedicated internationalisation. The underlying motivations and triggers leading to such a strategy are explored and illustrated through a number of case studies. Research and public policy implications of the 'born-again' global phenomenon are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Bell, Jim & McNaughton, Rod & Young, Stephen, 2001. "'Born-again global' firms: An extension to the 'born global' phenomenon," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 173-189.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intman:v:7:y:2001:i:3:p:173-189
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1075425301000436
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    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. Warren J Bilkey & George Tesar, 1977. "The Export Behavior of Smaller-Sized Wisconsin Manufacturing Firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 8(1), pages 93-98, March.
    2. Leonidas C Leonidou & Constatine S Katsikeas, 1996. "The Export Development Process: An Integrative Review of Empirical Models," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(3), pages 517-551, September.
    3. Madsen, Tage Koed & Servais, Per, 1997. "The internationalization of Born Globals: An evolutionary process?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 6(6), pages 561-583, December.
    4. Otto Andersen, 1993. "On the Internationalization Process of Firms: A Critical Analysis," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 24(2), pages 209-231, June.
    5. Andrea Bonaccorsi, 1992. "On the Relationship Between Firm Size and Export Intensity," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 23(4), pages 605-635, December.
    6. Fletcher, Richard, 2001. "A holistic approach to internationalisation," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 25-49, February.
    7. M Krishna Erramilli, 1991. "The Experience Factor in Foreign Market Entry Behavior of Service Firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 22(3), pages 479-501, September.
    8. Coviello, Nicole & Munro, Hugh, 1997. "Network relationships and the internationalisation process of small software firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 361-386, August.
    9. Boter, Hakan & Holmquist, Carin, 1996. "Industry characteristics and internationalization processes in small firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(6), pages 471-487, November.
    10. Phillips McDougall, Patricia & Shane, Scott & Oviatt, Benjamin M., 1994. "Explaining the formation of international new ventures: The limits of theories from international business research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(6), pages 469-487, November.
    11. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:7:y:2001:i:3:p:173-189. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

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

    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 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.

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.