Conceptualizing international new ventures as the nexus of entrepreneurship and international business

Abstract

We propose a typology that captures the heterogeneity of international new ventures’ (INVs’) entrepreneurial behavior and their commitment to foreign markets. The typology identifies four types of INVs, highlighting the dynamic interplay between the degree of radicalness of their entrepreneurial behavior and the level of their foreign market commitment. By integrating theories from both international business and entrepreneurship, we illustrate how the diverse underlying capabilities and networks of different INV types provide strategic advantages. Moreover, we argue that changes in the degree of radicalness in INVs’ entrepreneurial behavior over time reveal important temporal dynamics with strategic and performance implications. Our typology addresses a limitation in international entrepreneurship research by emphasizing the INVs’ entrepreneurial essence, which has often been overlooked. Prior conceptualizations of INVs have primarily focused on aspects such as the degree and mode of internationalization, neglecting the diversity of their entrepreneurial approaches. Consequently, our understanding of the sources of INVs’ competitive advantage and resilience in international markets has been limited. Our typology offers an array of novel research questions that merit thorough empirical and theoretical explorations.