Knowledge of how entrepreneurial marketing is conducted in industrial markets is currently rather weak. This study explores the marketing decision-making process of entrepreneurs undertaking ...entrepreneurial marketing in international new ventures (INVs) operating in high-tech business-to-business markets. A qualitative study conducted with entrepreneurs from four case firms reveals that due to the iterative, incremental, and co-creative nature of the process, marketing decision making in high-tech business-to-business INVs that is more effectual than causal results in more entrepreneurial marketing. A novel finding is that entrepreneurs alternate causal and effectual marketing forms as a result of their ambidextrous entrepreneurialism, and variations in the internal uncertainty, technological uncertainty, and any market turbulence faced by the firm. We develop a dynamic model presenting the alternation between effectual and causal processes, and the feedback loop of entrepreneurial marketing. The research offers implications for the management of organizations operating under conditions of uncertainty on how their decision-making processes can optimize entrepreneurial marketing, how to create new markets, and how to reduce the perceived uncertainty in industrial markets.
•Explores the marketing decision-making process to produce entrepreneurial marketing in high-tech international new ventures.•Examines how the effectual decision-making process results in marketing that is more entrepreneurial.•The alternation of the causal and effectual marketing forms is a result of the ambidexterity, and variations in uncertainty.•A greater degree of entrepreneurial marketing leads to a pronounced reduction in the uncertainty perceived by entrepreneurs.•Implications on how entrepreneurs could amend their decision-making processes to optimize entrepreneurial marketing.
The growth and survival of international new ventures (INVs) has not been the subject of extensive in-depth qualitative study and our understanding of their decision-making is deficient. On the basis ...of empirical analyses in a small and open economy, a dynamic model was developed that explains the growth phases through which INVs pass as they mature in the high-technology business-to-business field. The model also recognizes rapid advancement, survival crises, and retrenchment. Propositions were devised regarding the impact of opportunities, resources and capabilities, entrepreneurial orientation, and learning on growth phases and survival. A novel finding is that the decision-making logic moderates the impact of these factors. These findings have important implications for industrial marketing scholars and practitioners.
•A dynamic model explaining the growth and survival of INVs was developed.•The model explains the growth phases through which INVs pass as they mature.•It covers the rapid advancement, survival crises, retrenchment, and decision-making logic.•The impact of opportunities, capabilities, entrepreneurial orientation, and learning on growth phases and survival is postulated.•A novel finding is that the decision-making logic moderates the impact of these factors.
There is no intensive review available of research at the interface of international marketing and entrepreneurship. This article systematically logs and organizes the subject matter and provides ...research suggestions. An organizing framework with three main dimensions—international marketing, the nature of marketing, and entrepreneurship—guides the literature review, which relies on a full search of articles relevant to international marketing and entrepreneurship published in academic journals over the past two decades (1997–2016). The study adopts a qualitative research approach to analyze 169 articles that meet the definitions of both international marketing and entrepreneurship research. Nine research types emerge at the intersection of international marketing and entrepreneurship research, and the study examines the theoretical and empirical trends of each type. A promising avenue for future studies would be cross-cultural comparative research on the individual–opportunity nexus in marketing across countries. More mixed-method and longitudinal research designs are also welcomed. The authors conclude by offering suggestions for future interdisciplinary research.
•Reveal how firms internationalize early under uncertainty and time pressure.•Unveil dynamic improvisation capabilities acting as a learning mechanism.•Show how firms develop improvisation ...capabilities and gain knowledge rapidly.•Improvisation and the associated rapid learning complement the LAN.
Our study addresses an inconsistency in the literature on whether a lack of knowledge in early internationalizing firms is an obstacle or an advantage. We integrate learning, capabilities, and improvisation literature to reveal how case firms from New Zealand and Finland internationalize early under uncertainty and time pressure. We develop a process model and propositions to show how firms develop improvisation capabilities and subsequently rapidly acquire the international business knowledge that can explain early internationalization. Improvisation and the associated rapid learning complement the learning advantage of newness with an alternative explanation for early internationalization.
Research is limited on how accumulated international experience and decision-making style propel internationalising SMEs toward brand orientation. Our study builds a model of the process on classical ...and entrepreneurial brand management principles plus the firm's applied experience and decision-making logics. An online survey of 235 internationalising SMEs found that adopted decision-making logic mediated the relationship between cumulative international experience and international brand orientation. We conclude that managers and planners must select the most appropriate approach to international brand management permitted by available international firm-specific experience if they are to achieve strong international brand orientation and superior financial performance.
Recent changes in the technological environment have had a significant impact on the available sales channel alternatives. At the forefront of this development are the born global firms, which have ...been relatively quick to adopt Internet-based channels. Interestingly, many of these firms have relied not only on Internet-based channels, but also used combinations of conventional channels and the Internet. This study describes and analyzes the structure and development from single towards multiple sales channels. It develops a framework consisting of three independent factors: (1) the globalization process, (2) market structure and Internet suitability, and (3) long-term channel relations. These are examined in a multiple case study consisting of 35 cases. The Internet-based multiple sales channels proved to be more common in born globals that had reached a higher globalization degree than in those which were still at a preliminary stage. A novel finding was that relationship development with small local channels and MNCs also remains important when Internet sales channels are used. These results contribute to a relatively under-researched area focusing on international Internet-based sales channels and use of multiple channels.
•Investigates brand identity development of International New Ventures (INVs) that has been researched scarcely.•Brand values, brand personality, and brand relationships are critical brand identity ...dimensions manifesting in three states.•Unearths the importance of the selected decision-making logic to INVs to progress toward the advanced brand identity states.•Shows how uncertainty owing to psychic distance moderates the impact of decision-making logic on brand identity development.
While many models describe efforts to build brand identity, none specifies the brand identity development for small firms facing uncertainty, such as rapidly internationalizing international new ventures. By examining four such case firms informed by interviews and archival data spanning five years, this study identifies three brand identity development states: unbranded, sporadically branded, and focused branded international new ventures. Brand values, brand personality, and brand relationships are critical brand identity dimensions that manifest in the three states. A related model and propositions help explicate how uncertainty owing to psychic distance moderates the impact of decision-making logics on brand identity development. We show how the role of decision-making logic affects the prominence given to different dimensions of brand identity in the developmental states. Moreover, we reveal the associated change and state mechanism allowing for the rapid advancement of brand identity states in international new ventures.
A premise in the international new venture (INV) literature is that a strong entrepreneurial orientation distinguishes an INV's behaviour over time. Employing the concept of international ...entrepreneurial culture (IEC), which provides a holistic operationalisation of international entrepreneurship, we provide evidence from a longitudinal case study of four Finnish INVs as they grow over time. The findings suggest that various IEC dimensions affect the growth of INVs across their different phases. Although international motivation, innovation propensity, risk attitude, market orientation and proactiveness positively affect advancement through the early INV growth phases, their effect is negative in the later phases. International learning and networking positively affect INV growth throughout all its phases. The motivation of INVs towards the global rather than the international marketplace largely dictates a born global instead of a born international path. The contribution of the study is that it suggests that the nature and intensity of the "entrepreneurialness" of INVs change during their growth. The findings challenge the implicit rationale in the literature, according to which INVs consistently exhibit a strong entrepreneurial orientation. It is advisable to harness most aspects of entrepreneurialness during the later phases of born global firms.
► Key dimensions of international entrepreneurial marketing strategies in INVs are innovativeness and adaptation. ► Marketing strategy innovativeness and adaptation decrease during the global growth ...of INVs. ► Other contextual factors also influence the international entrepreneurial marketing strategy development. ► We illustrate the importance of strategic fit in the marketing performance of INVs. ► We develop a model and propositions for future research.
This research provides new knowledge on the development of marketing strategies in international new ventures (INVs) by applying the concept of entrepreneurial marketing to these early internationalizing firms. Using a qualitative approach, the authors identify the key dimensions of this concept in INVs, namely innovativeness and adaptation, and elaborate on both the defining elements and the development of these dimensions. They suggest that the innovativeness and adaptation of marketing strategies decrease during the global growth of INVs. Other contextual issues also underlie the development of international entrepreneurial marketing strategies; in particular, they appear to reflect the turbulence and global diversity of the environment and the market orientation of the INV. The marketing performance of INVs is determined by the fit between international entrepreneurial marketing strategies and the internal and external contingencies of the firm. Propositions for future research and managerial implications are provided.
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