Innovation in times of crisis: The relevance of digitalization and early internationalization strategies

Using the resource-based view, we examine the roles of international and digital orientations as determinants of the digitalization and the early internationalization strategies of international new ventures (INVs). We also examine the effect of implementing those strategies on the innovation performance of INVs during the COVID-19 pandemic. We tested this conceptual framework by using structural equation modeling (AMOS) on a database of 213 INVs. The results indicate that international orientation is a fundamental determinant of both strategies, while digital orientation only fosters a digitalization strategy. Moreover, both strategies were critical to increase innovation performance during the pandemic. This study expands the literature in the field of international entrepreneurship in three different ways: i) it highlights the relevance of innovation performance for INVs during the pandemic; ii) it underlines the relevance of both the early internationalization and the digitization strategies to promote innovation performance; and iii) it reinforces the importance of international and digital orientations as critical resources for defining strategy.