External environment and internal dynamics of “born global”: strategic and operational firm performance

Abstract

Purpose“Born global firms” are those organizations which, from their inception and by nature, adopt an essentially global-scale entrepreneurial functional and attitudinal strategy for growth. They seek to gain significant competitive advantage by utilizing their internal resources while leveraging external environment potentialities, to sell their outputs internationally. The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of the external business environment and the dynamic capabilities of born global firms, on their strategic and operational performance, as well as the role of leadership vision on their internationalization performance.Design/methodology/approachInitially and resting on extant literature with pertinent foci, including the absorptive capacity and the dynamic capability view theories, a conceptual model is proposed. Subsequently, the model is validated through the partial least square structural equation modeling technique, based on 417 respondents from Indian firms.FindingsThe study concludes that the external business environment and internal dynamic capabilities of born global firms have a significant and positive impact on their strategic, as well as operational performance; with leadership vision playing a significant moderating role to this relationship. The study finally presents the executive implications of the findings and identifies the avenues for further scientific research.Originality/valueThis is a unique study on the topic, both in relation to resources/capabilities versus performance and with regards to the leadership vision's role. It moreover focuses on a primary business force, India, which comprises prime examples of global entrepreneurship. The research constituting a significant contribution to knowledge, as research on how small firms can strategically grow so rapidly and effectively, is still far from conclusive, particularly under the present evolutions that incessantly redefine the contextual business forces upon which strategy is drawn.