Desenvolvimento de Competências Digitais e Internacionais em Startups via Aceleradoras de Negócios

Objetivo: Diagnosticar como as aceleradoras colaboram para o desenvolvimento de competências internacionais em startups e verificar quais as principais competências internacionais digitais e empreendedoras desenvolvidas no ambiente de aceleração de startups. Método: A abordagem é qualitativa. O método utilizado é a análise de conteúdo. Os dados foram coletados com gestores de aceleradoras de startups das regiões de São Paulo (SP) e Vitória (ES). Principais resultados: Os resultados mostram que as aceleradoras desenvolvem competências digitais internacionais e de Born Globals em startups. Observa-se que determinadas competências são mais refinadas que outras no processo de aceleração e estão concomitantemente ligadas aos pilares das aceleradoras. Relevância/originalidade: Traz três novas categorias emergentes para a literatura sobre startups: Contratos, Finanças e Big Data/Data Science. Contribuições teóricas: As aceleradoras de negócios são agentes antecessores ao processo de desenvolvimento de competências e capacidades internacionais, e seu papel no ecossistema de inovação é promover a inovação estratégica e o conhecimento organizacional. Contribuições para a gestão: Apresentam-se conhecimentos e competências necessárias para que uma empresa em fase inicial possa explorar mercados globais.

Where Do Born Globals Come from? A Neoconfigurational Institutional Theory

Born globals, recently established firms that obtain a substantial share of their revenue from foreign markets, can help strengthen countries’ economic vitality and increase innovation levels. The extent of born global formation varies considerably across countries, yet it is unclear why this is the case. Drawing on the neoconfigurational institutional perspective, we develop a typology of institutional contexts associated with high born global formation rates. We posit that high rates of born global formation occur where institutional features favorable to border-spanning activities complement institutional features conducive to entrepreneurial activity, thus forming an institutional configuration that enables, equips, and motivates more societal members to launch born globals. Accordingly, we hypothesize a primary institutional configuration where international transaction facilitators, entrepreneurial educational capital, and entrepreneurial norms combine to propel born global formation. Further, we draw on the internationalization literature to propose two alternative types of institutional configurations conducive to born global formation. These two types provide functional substitutes for the primary type and are distinctly propelled by (1) escapism from low-quality public governance institutions or (2) immigrant entrepreneurship. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis on data from 66 countries supports our typology and illustrates why born global activity may thrive even in contexts with institutional weaknesses. Our study develops a neoconfigurational model to advance a holistic understanding of the born global phenomenon’s theoretical drivers, contributing to research on comparative capitalism and international entrepreneurship.

Young aspiring globals (YAGs): early-stage strategies of knowledge-focused international entrepreneurs

Purpose This study aims to explore the intention–action relationship of small and medium-sized (SMEs) firms with knowledge capital that declare their intention to internationalize from their inception. Design/methodology/approach The authors apply the theory of planned behavior and hand-collect a database of Chinese born globals, purely domestic firms and traditional exporting firms. The authors’ hypothesis is that Chinese born globals [or young aspiring globals (YAGs)] will strive to acquire domestic and international patents at an early stage to institutionally protect their knowledge-capital via intellectual property rights as they enter the competitive global marketplace. Findings The results confirm that knowledge-focused YAGs apply for patents at an earlier stage than purely domestic and traditional exporting firms. However, in the long run, these firms are neither demonstrating increased knowledge capital by being more innovative nor producing more valuable innovations than their counterparts. Originality/value This study tests the intention–action relationship in the context of SMEs internationalization. It contributes to the internationalization literature by identifying the internationalization pattern of born globals (YAGs) from emerging markets and providing an explanation for what happens to these firms as they mature.

International opportunity development of born global firms: the role of institutions

Purpose The purpose of the study is to investigate the international opportunity development process of born global firms embedded in two different institutional contexts: China, an emerging economy and Italy, a developed country. Drawing on the entrepreneurial opportunity literature and institutional theory, this study explores and draws insights into how home country institutions of born globals can influence the international opportunity development process of the firms. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts a qualitative case study approach with in-depth, semi-structured interviews of six born global companies from China and Italy. In doing so, this study uses a flexible pattern matching design, which is consistent with the qualitative research design of the paper. Findings The findings of the study indicate that home institutions play an influential, yet differential role in the international opportunity development processes of Chinese and Italian born global firms. While the Italian firms shape their opportunities mainly through product innovation, their Chinese counterparts develop opportunities primarily through networks embedded in their home institutional context. Originality/value The key contributions of the paper relate to an integrated analysis of the international opportunity development process of born globals in China and Italy based on institutional theory, which has received limited attention in the international entrepreneurship literature. In addition, the study advances the similarities and differences in the international opportunity development process in two different countries, thus providing valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners to enter international markets successfully.

Impact of Institutional Support on Export Performance

This paper examines institutional support (financial and marketing support) on export-oriented firms’ performance or so-called born globals. We develop a model to address how financial and marketing support can help young entrepreneurial firms to overcome the liability of newness and smallness in gaining competitive capabilities. Using a quantitative method, data were collected from 217 manufacturers and service sectors in Malaysia, an emerging Southeast Asian market. The results suggest that government assistance in marketing leads to competitive capabilities and export performance; however, financial support neither contributes to competitive capabilities nor export performance. We found the significant role of competitive capabilities as a mediator in enhancing the relationship between marketing support and export performance. Practical implications drawn from this result can be offered as guidelines for the policymakers in supporting young entrepreneurs that lead to competitive capabilities and superior performance.

What’s so special about born globals, their entrepreneurs or their business model?

There is near unanimity among international business scholars that it takes more time to expand internationally than domestically. Hence, this is why some are puzzled by born globals (BGs), firms that make large foreign sales at birth or shortly afterwards. Explanations given for this “anomaly” are that BGs have exceptional resources—advanced technologies and a high international orientation on the part of their entrepreneurs, and that they rely on cheaper internationalization strategies like the Internet and networks. What is almost completely overlooked is the role of the BG’s business model (BM). We analyze the time it took for a sample of Italian SMEs to reach BG status (25% foreign over total sales) within a three-year time span. Entering both international entrepreneurship (IE) and BM variables, we find that, among the IE variables, a firm’s technological intensity, the number of years their founders studied abroad and their foreign language fluency, as well as their use of domestic networks, are statistically insignificant. Variables measuring a firm’s focus on a niche BM, on the other hand, are statistically significant, along with the international work experience of the founders, with the niche BM explaining a higher level of variance with greater accuracy.