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The network dynamics of international new ventures

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Abstract

This study uses multi-site case research to advance a set of propositions regarding the network dynamics of early-stage international new ventures. The investigative approach builds on arguments that network theory and analysis are fundamental to international entrepreneurship. In the spirit of cross-disciplinary research, perspectives from the entrepreneurship literature are embraced to help inform our understanding of international new venture networks.

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Notes

  1. Many INV studies incorporate networks (e.g., Coviello and Martin, 1999; Andersson and Wictor, 2003; Hadley and Wilson, 2003); however, this is not their primary focus. For recent reviews of the broader international entrepreneurship and INV literature, see Zahra and George (2002), Coviello and Jones (2004) and Rialp et al. (2005).

  2. Oviatt and McDougall (1994) identify four different types of INV. The cases in this study fit the definition of the ‘global start-up’.

  3. Although the literature includes various stage models of internationalization (e.g., Johanson and Vahlne, 1977; Reid, 1981; Cavusgil, 1984), they were considered less relevant for this study, given that the focus is on INV network evolution rather than international market development activities. Also, the INV literature has found that the traditional stage models do not fully reflect INV internationalization (Bell, 1995; Coviello and Munro, 1997; Jones, 1999).

  4. Longer-term ties include those that were ongoing at time of data collection, even if recently established, unless they were established for a one-off (short-term) task or specific medium-term activity.

  5. The term ‘actor’ in this analysis refers to either an organization or an individual, because the distinction between entrepreneurship at the firm level and at the individual level is often blurred (Larson and Starr, 1993; Hoang and Antoncic, 2003).

  6. Closeness centrality is the normalized reciprocal of ‘farness’ divided by the minimum possible farness, where farness is the total graph-theoretic distance from the INV to all other actors in the network (Borgatti et al., 2002).

  7. Each case firm is disguised, as are the actors in their network.

  8. The notion of linearity refers to network evolution and not the pattern of internationalization, which, as discussed by Welch and Welch (1996), Jones (1999) and Bell et al. (2003), may well be non-linear.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks Heather Wilson, Greg Brush and Richard Joseph for their comments on earlier versions of this work, Renée Fehsenfeld for her research assistance, and Sheryn Canter, Maggie Suen, Selina Suen, Tatum Savage, Brad Robinson, Greg Arnold, Emily Laurence, Debbie Wharfe and Caroline Fountaine (all graduate students at the University of Auckland) for their assistance in data collection. This research is also indebted to residents of the ICEHOUSE, and has benefited from the feedback of Rod McNaughton, two anonymous JIBS reviewers and the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Arie Y Lewin.

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  1. Department of Marketing, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Nicole E Coviello

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Accepted by Arie Y Lewin, Editor-in-Chief, 17 May 2006. This paper has been with the author for two revisions.

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Coviello, N. The network dynamics of international new ventures. J Int Bus Stud 37, 713–731 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400219

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