Born Global: a debate on organizational forms and processes

Abstract

The phenomenon of Born Global firms, which refers to those companies that pursue a fast internationalization process shortly after their foundation, is widely examined in the field of international entrepreneurship. In this work, the characteristics of Italian Born Globals located in the Northern Italy are examined through a multiple case-study approach. The work is composed of three parts. In the first part, the non-validity of the old internationalization models is discussed and the various definitions of fast internationalizing companies are analyzed; on the basis of the analysis done, a possible definition of Born Global firm is provided at the end of the chapter. In the second part, the following features of Born Global companies are deeply examined: entrepreneur’s characteristics and background, marketing and business strategy, network configuration of activities, human and financial resources. In the third part, three Born Global firms located in the North of Italy are studied in order to test the validity of the propositions made in the second chapter and to investigate how firms of this geographical area can exploit international opportunities very soon in their existence. Finally, the various traits of Italian Born Globals are summarized and the implications for companies located in the North of Italy willing to operate on a worldwide basis from inception are outlined.