Entrepreneurial Level Factors of Early Internationalization: A Cross Country Comparison

Abstract

International new ventures proved to contribute positively to national economies they derive from. This article analyses the entrepreneurial level factors of success at the startup stage of international new ventures (INVs) in the context of three Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in transition: Hungary, Lithuania and Poland. Based on multiple case study approach, the study provides important insights into the international entrepreneurship theory by examining the still underexplored transition in CEE countries' context. An in-depth qualitative analysis has been performed based on 9 case studies, 3 INVs from each country. Lots of similarities emerge between INVs in three CEE countries, however their cultural and historical backgrounds are different enough to justify scholarly interest in potential idiosyncratic features. Findings suggest that there is significant diversity in the entrepreneurial level factors behind the early success of local INVs in international markets across these countries, especially in terms of direct foreign market experience, entrepreneurial orientation and existing network membership. Nevertheless, the findings reveal that in the sample focused on ITC businesses, solid industry experience of the founders proved to be key in the success of INVs' internationalisation.

Internationalisation motives and the multinationality-performance relationship: The case of Polish firms

“…This perspective resonates with the arguments of Powell (2014) in that both insufficient and excessive levels of multinationality can be negatively related to performance. We should also note that newly internationalised firms do not expand out of necessity but rather managerial choice, as in the case of the studied empirical context the home market is large enough to offer early development opportunities, at least in some industries (Sekliuckiene, Jarosiński, & Kozma, 2019).…”

A systematic literature review of startup survival and future research agenda

“…A few studies have focused on more than one country (four studies, e.g. Hay et al , 1993; Gelderen et al , 2005; Abatecola and Uli, 2016; Sekliuckiene et al , 2019). Researchers avoid multi-country studies due to global disparities in accounting, economic, cultural, legal and political systems worldwide.…”

“…Another study by Gelderen et al (2005) examined the impact of the individual, the process, the organisation and the environment in explaining pre-startup success in the context of The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the USA. Sekliuckiene et al (2019) investigated the entrepreneurial-level factors that contributed to the success of new international ventures at the startup stage in Hungary, Lithuania and Poland. Thus, there is a need to conduct cross-country studies in future research due to limited studies in the past.…”

Edtech Startups: Determining the factors involved in internationalisation

“…The study method has a mixed approach, corroborating the validity of networking as one of the main success factors for a company that wants to have a presence abroad. Sekliuckiene (2019) from Kaunas University of Technology conducted research with the aim of analysing success factors at the start-up stage in international companies. It uses an in-depth qualitative research approach and a multiple case study with 9 cases.…”