Internationalization and Organizational Growth: The Impact of Internet Usage and Technology Involvement Among Entrepreneur-led Family Businesses

Abstract

For many years, large, multinational corporations were thought to dominate international business. It was recently recognized that a number of entrepreneurial and family firms are active in the international arena (Oviatt & McDougall, 1994). Using data from a U.S. survey of entrepreneur-led family businesses, this paper examines the extent to which certain entrepreneurial characteristics, Internet usage, and investments in information technology influence internationalization and organizational growth among such firms. The results of regression analyses identify variables leading to success in the emerging global economy and their differential impact on these performance outcomes.