Global Entrepreneurship: Assessment and Challenges

Advances in technology, and especially the optimization of the Internet, ushered in tectonic shifts in our economic structures, including innovations in management, governance, regulations, and international trade. These new developments then gave rise to and reinforced concepts such as “global village,” “borderless world,” and “worldwide society.” From a business perspective, this is most noticeable in the expansion in the number and reach of multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, we suddenly also noticed a relatively new phenomenon: startups that operate internationally – in fact globally – from day one. Scholars and practitioners describe these startups as, “international startups,” “global ventures,” “born global,” and “global entrepreneurs” (Knight, 2001; McDougall & Oviatt, 2000; McDougall, Shane, & Oviatt, 1994; Oviatt & McDougall, 1994, 2005; Rennie, 1993). This consequently led to a rising research agenda on the topic that seeks to describe, understand, and explain these firms and their founding and formation processes (Rialp, Rialp, & Knight, 2005), go-to-market strategies and internationalization patterns (e.g., Chetty & Campbell-Hunt, 2004; Hashai & Almor, 2004) and the role of networks, alliances, joint ventures, and partnerships (e.g., Loane & Bell, 2006; Sharma & Blomstermo, 2003).