International Entrepreneurship Research

This assignment delves into the field of international entrepreneurship research. It requires a critical understanding of the subject's history, development, and current trends. Students are expected to analyze various research perspectives, identify key debates and emerging areas within the field, and propose potential future research directions.

INTERNATIONAL
ENTREPRENEURSHIP

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
CROSS BORDER RESEARCH PATH..........................................................................................2
Economic-based View.................................................................................................................2
Behavioural-Based View.............................................................................................................3
ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESEARCH PATH................................................................................4
Entrepreneurial Cognition...........................................................................................................4
Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO)................................................................................................5
METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES.....................................................................................................5
INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: International Entrepreneurship.........................................................................................2
Figure 2: Process of Start-up and Adolescence...............................................................................7

ABSTRACT
The below research is based on the currently existent literature of international entrepreneurship
focused on the methodological problems as well as theoretical foundations. The below report has
suggested that the resource based theory (RBT) has contributed in the development of the
international entrepreneurship on a large scale. The cross border operations are represented with
the help of entrepreneurial orientation as well as entrepreneurial cognition. The report has also
on the basis of research presented an improved definition of international entrepreneurship in
detail.
INTRODUCTION
International entrepreneurship can be defined as the mixture of risk, practicality, innovations and
aggression in competition that helps to cross the borders of the home country and supports the
organisation in the development of a new value. The below report is based on international
entrepreneurship based n the available literature on the subject matter. The below research
represents international entrepreneurship with the help of cross border research path with the
help of behavioural based view and economics based view. These theoretical views are further
explained with the help of the schools of thought involved in them which are International
Production Theory, Transaction Cost Theory and Resource Based Theory (RBT) for economics
based view.
Stage Approach, International New Venture Approach and Network Approach in behavioural
based view. Then the report has presented the entrepreneur research path with the help of
entrepreneurial cognition and entrepreneurial orientation. Furthermore the report explains the
methodological issues in international entrepreneurship by explaining the differentiation among
start up businesses and adolescent businesses and ensuring the removal of ambiguity from the
definition of a firm’s age. And lastly the report presents an improved definition of international
entrepreneurship.
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Figure 1: International Entrepreneurship
(Source: International Entrepreneurship, 2017)
CROSS BORDER RESEARCH PATH
There are two theoretical views in International Entrepreneurship and they are economics based
view as well as behavioural based view. In both of the views the schools of thought recognized
are three in number (Sarasvathy et al. 2014). The explanation of the theoretical views and their
respective schools of thought are as follows:
Economic-based View
Resource Based Theory (RBT)
The resource based theory suggests that the success of a business depends upon the immobility
and heterogeneousness of its resources as it helps the business gain competitive advantage. The
RBT has a significant influence on research regarding international entrepreneurship. This theory
has a lot of contribution in the development of international entrepreneurship. The contribution
of RBT in international entrepreneurship also matches with the consolidation of RBT in the
researches related to entrepreneurship. But particularly in international entrepreneurship RBT is
one of the chief contributors in terms of research (Zahra et al. 2014). The intensity of the greater
knowledge in business and the constant hunt for segregation along with the ability of resources
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to be imitated are interlinked with the speed of growth on an international level and the degree of
internationalization.
Transaction Cost Theory
The businesses tend to reduce the expenses of business transactions with the help of market
governance structures in the open market or with the help of hierarchy governance structures
inside the organisation. This theory explains that the small businesses have choices of choosing
between the economically beneficial ways of business or the expensive ways like exporting with
the help of intermediaries or direct export (Terjesen et al 2016.). It is also stated by experts that
the firms that deal with innovative products have to spend more so as to maintain the privacy
regarding the implicit knowledge of the product. In such situations it is recommended that the
firms should not go for collaborations as the implicit knowledge is sensitive as well as costly in
transferring to external partners.
International Production Theory
The theory of international production focuses on internalisation, ownership and location of a
business. This theory analyses the impacts of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) and FDI strategies
on the functioning of small businesses. The electric paradigm of international production also
known as OLI (Ownership Location Internalisation) evaluates the FDI in accordance with small
businesses.
Behavioural-Based View
Stage Approach
According to the stage approach in the internationalisation of business every stage of business
operations conducted at a global level provides the entrepreneur certain amount of experience
(Coviello et al. 2015). Also the commitment towards the international business operations
elevates with every stage and the international business is the result of the experience acquired at
these stages of business operations as the experience results in the knowledge of specific markets
as well as the risk involved in functioning at an international level. This approach highlights the
positivity of the relationship in the knowledge of the foreign markets and the growth of the
business in a foreign market. It states that more the knowledge of foreign market more is the
growth of business in that market.
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International New Venture Approach
The international new ventures can be defined as the ventures that right from the beginning tend
to gain a good deal of competitive advantages by spreading the business into more than one
country (Zucchella, and Magnani, 2016). This approach focuses on two major factors of
internationalisation of a business and they are:
 Time Rate
 Time Span
Time rate refers to the rate at which the business has experienced growth in the international
market consequently. On the other hand, time span refers to the time gap in between the
commencement of business and the first international business operation of the firm. Both of
these factors are distinct yet related with each other.
Network Approach
The network approach is mainly based on the reciprocity, rootedness and connections and these
factors are based on the supposition that the business is dependent on other businesses. A
business can go international with the help of penetration, international extension as well as
integration. The entry modes as well as the selection of a foreign market hugely rely on
opportunities created by the contacts within the network of an entrepreneur and not only the
tactical decision making of the entrepreneurs (Al‐Aali, and Teece, 2014). The rootedness of the
networks of a business determines the potential of the business with respect to the capacity of the
business in acquiring the external resources that are required for the internationalisation of the
business.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESEARCH PATH
In the entrepreneurship path to interlinked enquiry levels have been highlighted that are
connected even after being very distinct from each other. These enquiries are focussed on the
international behaviour of the business that can be known as entrepreneurial orientation and
entrepreneurial cognition.
Entrepreneurial Cognition
The researches that are conducted on human cognition have suggested that the cognition is not
rational and the thinking process of humans is barred by a lot of errors and sources of possible
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prejudice. The decision making procedure of a person is conducted by the complexity as well as
uncertainty in the environment (Zahra, et al.2005). The business confidence and attitude of the
entrepreneur determine the decision of him/her as per the expansion on an international level.
Other factors that affect the decisions of the entrepreneurs are possibilities of market entry,
foreign markets, expenses of expansion as well as the risks involved. It can also be said that the
international activities of a business are a result of entrepreneurial cognition. The knowledge and
the capabilities to learn of an entrepreneur are related to the decision making of him/her
regarding international business activities.
Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO)
The process that replicates the decision making, practices as well as methods of managers and
entrepreneurs are known as entrepreneurial orientation. There is a strong influence of
entrepreneurial orientation on the productivity of the business. There is also an increased
significance of the EO on the international business of the firm. Some researches regarding the
EO of international entrepreneurs have suggested that the firms with high export potentials are
relatively more innovative in nature with respect to development of exporting; consist of more
practical motivation as per exporting and also less unfavourable in terms of exporting risks. The
export success of a business is related to the more use of conservative orientation that is in turn
associated with the strength of practical orientation.
The entrepreneurs with a strong EO can be seen as the ones that tend to pay more attention to
power of marketing activities in order to introduce new products so that the product can handle
new and complicated markets (McDougall‐Covin et al. 2014). The degree of internationalisation
with respect to entrepreneurial orientation is based on three main factors:
 Attitude of entrepreneur towards international expansion
 Practicality in product differentiation
 Geocentric mindset of the entrepreneur.
METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
The methodological issues are mainly based on the age of the business as well as cut off periods
of maturity of the business in order to ensure development in international entrepreneurship. It is
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based on mainly the representativeness in terms of the research criteria. As far as the age of the
business is concerned most researchers and scholars have suggested that the focus of studying
the age should be internationalisation of new businesses. Some researchers have argued in
reflection to the above statements that this approach limits the research on international
entrepreneurship and they should be focussed on the business operations that are in progress over
a period of time (Coviello, and Jones, 2004). Other researchers have stated inconsistent
definitions of the age of a firm with respect to international entrepreneurship. All these varying
statements have created sense of ambiguity in the definition of a firm’s age. The development of
a straightforward definition will result in the making of a sampling criterion with the help of
generalised results.
For the maturity of the definition of the firms age it is necessary that the researchers explicit all
of their argument and focus on the lasting time of start-up instead of the time when it started.
This will result in a different as well a common course of research that will not see a business as
a point in the time but as the procedure in time which will in turn give generalised results
regarding the subject matter due to common path of research (Jones, and Casulli, 2014). The
researchers can also focus on the comparison among adolescent businesses and start-ups. This
comparison can be based on two factors:
 Creation area of new business activities
 Creation area of new business venture
The comparison based on the above factors will result in the differentiation among the new and
adolescent firms on the basis of new business and new business operation. This will result in a
fundamental innovation on an international level and define entrepreneurship as new business
activity rather than limiting it to a new business venture (Oviatt, and McDougall, 2005). Also the
growth and development of a business can be defined as the forceful quantification of change in
the business over a period of time; therefore it becomes essential to differentiate between the
adolescent businesses and start ups.
It can also be said that the new business start-ups are not in a steady position; they are
continuously evolving by execution of a certain strategy and trying to reach a steady position in
business. The start-up cliché can change to the title of adolescent business once the venture has
reached the state of steadiness this is popularly known as strategic experimentation construct and
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it concentrates completely on the development of a coherent competitive approach in the
business once. It is important to study the phase of transition of a business from a start-up to an
adolescent venture on the basis of planning as well as adaptations so as to study the above theory
thoroughly and make justified assumptions. The major basis of such a study can be the fact that a
majority of businesses fail within the time period of 3-10 years of establishment.
Figure 2: Process of Start-up and Adolescence
(Source: Process of Start-up and Adolescence, 2017)
The start up behaviour of a business can be differentiated from the adolescent behaviour on the
basis of the time taken in the growth in the business. The gradual growth of business displays
adolescent firm behaviour whereas the early growth displays a start up behaviour. The early
growth of a business is applicable to a new business venture but the organic growth in business is
applicable to existing business ventures s per the above given definition of entrepreneurship
(McDougall, and Oviatt, 2000). The growth of a business brings challenges as well as
consequences along with it and for a successful transformation from a start up to an adolescent
business it is required that the entrepreneur gathers and positions the available resources in order
to minimise the built up tension due to the transformation. Therefore the adolescence of a firm
will depend on the behaviour of the business as well as entrepreneurial cognition and
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entrepreneurial orientation. With the change in the learning curve the attitude of an entrepreneur
regarding the failure, risk, commitment as well as availability of resources also tends to change.
Concluding the above assumptions and definitions, it can be derived that the procedure of a start
up is the development of a new business venture in which the initial growth is gained with the
help of strategic experimentation and if the strategic experimentation turns out to be successful
the firm becomes adolescent. This further defines the procedure of adolescence as the
development of new business operation with the help of strategic change as well as organic
growth. The firms mostly complete the process of strategic experimentation within a time frame
of 5 years and the firms older than five years are mostly adolescent firms.
INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
International entrepreneurship (IE) is define on the basis of three constituting elements
 Entrepreneur orientation (EO)
 Cross border aspect and
 The value creation in organisation
Entrepreneur orientation involves the factors such as innovations, risk management strategies
and other pro activeness factors. To accomplish the objectives it is also necessary to plan and
implements the internal as well as external operational activities across both sides of the
international boundaries (Wright, et al. 2007). The third aspect of the international
entrepreneurship creates the role of strategic planning’s and actions in organisation. The IE also
includes the nature of competitive aggressiveness to evaluate the different dimensions and
impacts of competitive factors for the international entrepreneurship. The concept of the IE
establishes an interrelationship between the entrepreneurship and international boundaries. It
suggests the appropriate strategies for expanding the scope and path of entrepreneurship
irrespective of the geographical boundaries. The IE is also defines as the process which discover
and exploit opportunities in creative and innovative manner across the domestic regions in order
to increase the scope and operational activities of the entrepreneur.
The concept of IE gives entrepreneurial cognition at international boundaries. This approach also
provides a vast competitive advantage by providing the most advance versions of planning and
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development techniques. It also emphasises on the acquisition and leveraging of resources.
International entrepreneurship can also define as the enactment and exploitation of opportunities
by crossing the domestic geographical boundaries. It creates the exchange of the goods and
services along with the knowledge and information assets throughout the world. The concept of
international entrepreneurship is getting complex with its increasing attributes and scope for the
future. Entrepreneurs are trying to mark the global territories and to target the different customer
all over the world (Zahra, and George, 2002). However, it is a great challenge for the
entrepreneurs to introduce the innovations and creativity with strict competition from the
domestic market and other legal, political and cultural boundaries from different nations.
The international entrepreneurship also focuses on the technical innovations and support as well
as on the impact of government policies on different ventures of the entrepreneurship. The IE
provides an opportunity to identify the global ventures, which provides services to customers,
which belongs to different political, historical, economical and social boundaries. It is also
necessary for the international entrepreneurs to identify and analyse the challenges and risks
factors, which are associated with the expansion of the entrepreneurship with the global scope.
The International entrepreneurship is capable to introduce the innovations and opportunities by
analysing the needs, requirements of the different target groups and availability of the resources.
It is of great important characteristic of the international entrepreneurs to create the new market
opportunity for marking the great level of success.
The International entrepreneurship defines the international venture development from their
initial planning stage to the analysis of their operational domain structure. It can also be consider
as the recovery and backup strategy for the entrepreneurs. When entrepreneurs feel that the
project scope is limited or restricted in their domestic area then they can expand it to the
international boundaries. Thus, the product in maturity cycle of the domestic market can lead to
the new growth levels in the international market. The International entrepreneurship concept
can also consider as an alternative to reduce the operational cost for the operational activities.
The difference arises mainly due to the availability and nature of the required resources.
The International entrepreneurship is also one of the effective tools for making the brand image
because usually the entrepreneurs with larger operational scope are consider as the supportive
and efficient in terms of customer relation management (Fernhaber, et al. 2008). It also enables
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the entrepreneurs to focus on quality of the services because a minor ignorance in quality can
influence the entrepreneur at international level. Hence, this approach is also beneficial for the
customers who are always in search of best quality of the product.
CONCLUSION
The above report has highlighted the aspects of international entrepreneurship with the help of
the available literature on the topic. The above report started with an explanation of international
entrepreneurship with the help of cross border research path that involves economics based view
and behavioural based view along with their respective schools of thoughts. Furthermore the
report has discussed the entrepreneur research path and explained international entrepreneurship
on the basis of it considering entrepreneurial cognition and entrepreneurial orientation. Then the
report focused on the methodological issues in international entrepreneurship and highlighted the
process and need of differentiation among start-ups and adolescent business. Lastly the report
has presented an improved definition of international entrepreneurship based on the study.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Al‐Aali, A. and Teece, D.J., (2014). International entrepreneurship and the theory of the (long‐
lived) international firm: a capabilities perspective. Entrepreneurship Theory and
Practice, 38(1), pp.95-116.
Coviello, N.E. and Jones, M.V., (2004). Methodological issues in international entrepreneurship
research. Journal of Business Venturing, 19(4), pp.485-508.
Coviello, N.E., Jones, M.V. and McDougall-Covin, P.P., (2015). Is international
entrepreneurship research a viable spin-off from its parent disciplines. Rethinking
entrepreneurship: debating research orientations, pp.78-100.
Fernhaber, S.A., Gilbert, B.A. and McDougall, P.P., (2008). International entrepreneurship and
geographic location: an empirical examination of new venture internationalization. Journal of
International Business Studies, 39(2), pp.267-290.
Jones, M.V. and Casulli, L., (2014). International entrepreneurship: exploring the logic and
utility of individual experience through comparative reasoning approaches. Entrepreneurship
Theory and Practice, 38(1), pp.45-69.
McDougall, P.P. and Oviatt, B.M., (2000). International entrepreneurship: the intersection of two
research paths. Academy of management Journal, 43(5), pp.902-906.
McDougall‐Covin, P., Jones, M.V. and Serapio, M.G., (2014). High‐potential concepts,
phenomena, and theories for the advancement of international entrepreneurship
research. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 38(1), pp.1-10.
Oviatt, B.M. and McDougall, P.P., (2005). Defining international entrepreneurship and modeling
the speed of internationalization. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 29(5), pp.537-554.
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Sarasvathy, S., Kumar, K., York, J.G. and Bhagavatula, S., (2014). An effectual approach to
international entrepreneurship: overlaps, challenges, and provocative
possibilities. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 38(1), pp.71-93.
Terjesen, S., Hessels, J. and Li, D., (2016). Comparative international entrepreneurship: A
review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 42(1), pp.299-344.
Wright, M., Westhead, P. and Ucbasaran, D., (2007). Internationalization of small and medium-
sized enterprises (SMEs) and international entrepreneurship: A critique and policy
implications. Regional Studies, 41(7), pp.1013-1030.
Zahra, S.A. and George, G., (2002). International entrepreneurship: The current status of the
field and future research agenda. Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating a new mindset, pp.255-
288.
Zahra, S.A., Korri, J.S. and Yu, J., (2005). Cognition and international entrepreneurship:
implications for research on international opportunity recognition and exploitation. International
business review, 14(2), pp.129-146.
Zahra, S.A., Newey, L.R. and Li, Y., (2014). On the frontiers: The implications of social
entrepreneurship for international entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and
Practice, 38(1), pp.137-158.
Zucchella, A. and Magnani, G., (2016). International entrepreneurship: theoretical foundations
and practices. Springer.
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