Characteristics Of Born Global Firms In Technology Essay.

The purpose of an article review is to provide a summary and evaluation of a piece of  writing. When a lecturer reads an article review written by a student, they want to see  evidence that the student has not only understood the topic of the article, but is able to  evaluate the article in relation to their own knowledge of the topic and other relevant  knowledge in the field. The annotated example below provides useful guidance on how to  organise information within your article review and how to select and use language strategies which help make your writing more evaluative.

Characteristics of Born Global Firms

The main idea of this article is to provide insight about the firms that are “born global”. This paper elaborates the characteristics of born-global firms in the technology sector. The author aims at describing the characteristics specific to the born global company and narrows it down to the company operating in technology sector.

The concept of born global companies originated way back in 1993 with Michael Rennie who was then studying the companies established to compete and co-ordinate resources internationally. Since then, the concept has been going through various definitions and characteristics defining the term. Being international has become an important phenomenon for companies to grow globally and increase their operations. In international business literature, companies that go multinational in early years of their operations are labeled as global startups. However, these firms, including the once intended to target global markets with few years of their start up, do not fit in the definition of born global (Efrat and Shoham 2012). The companies which serve and operate in global market from day one are considered to be born global in true sense. These companies are meant and designed to be global and this policy does not merely emerge as a growth policy for these companies. These companies can be useful for other companies who aim to achieve similar objectives and thus it becomes essential to study the strategies of such companies (Cavusgil and Knight 2015).

There are certain characteristics particular to born global firms. First of them is their high level of activities in international markets. These activities start right from the foundation of the business activities of the firm. The findings of the research vary from area to area. The findings from Denmark-Australia states that born global companies may not necessarily have the vision on internationalization at their foundation phase but it depends upon the technology developed by the firm and its systematic strategy of going global. Whereas, the finding from Norway-France indicates that born global companies intend to go global at the early phases of their decisions and plans. Similarly, Sweden-Finland findings also state that going global decision is made right at the time of incorporating the firm. These companies tend to be small sized with fewer resources compared to the huge companies who trade globally (Hagen and Zucchella 2014).

Second finding states that these companies are not only prevalent in Technology sector but also in others. In Denmark, Madsen, and Servais there are global companies in processed food, furniture, and metal and consumer goods industries as well. The management of such companies posses’ strong international outlook and entrepreneurial skills. They treat all the markets as their core markets. They can take higher risks and tend to be more innovative in order to compete in international market. The findings from major countries states the importance of these manager’s creativity, managerial skills and resourcefulness in making the company operate successfully in international market. The top management has been found to have exceptional knowledge based skills (Isenberg 2012).

Success Attributes

Additionally, the companies tend to work on differentiation strategy. They develop highly distinct products which targets niche market only. They focus on customer loyalty rather can on mass markets. They also ensure that the product quality offered by them is top notch. In a niche market, the companies need to maintain quality and precision in order to maintain customer loyalty. They tend to develop new technology, products and services to offer exclusivity to their clients. These companies also leverage on latest information and communication technology in order to communicate efficiently with their partner firms and consumers and reduce risk of communication loss. Most of the companies export through direct sales or associate with local intermediaries abroad. This helps them withdraw from markets easily as per the situation. The experienced ones adopt strategies such as joint ventures (Karra 2016).                

The study based on 12 technology firms brought forward a number of conditions relevant to born global technology companies and their going global at initial stage itself. The market in domestic company being small to support the operations scale of the firm. The potential clientele lies in foreign market and their product usage also lies overseas. They offer advanced technology which is capable of competing internationally. The value of the product has value higher than that of its transportation and logistics. The product has uniform demand and has first mover advantage in market. The firms have efficient management and competitive advancements (Liu 2017).   

There are a number of success attributes found relevant in these firms. They are found to have three types of ecosystems. First revolves around institutions working in same industry. Being part of this ecosystem helps in flow of technological and managerial knowledge, experience and helps generate contacts with local experts. This helps in developing global competitive advantage. Second ecosystem revolves around strengthening of link between offering of firm and their foreign subsidiaries and delivering agents. These foreign subsidiaries provide important information on international demands (Mort, Weerawardena and Liesch, 2012). This helps link the clients and the firm and thus help ensuring customer loyalty. Third ecosystem involves around foreign subsidiaries and the local clients. This ecosystem helps to ensure product development as per customers demand from time to time. This helps firm acquire more clients and keep the existing ones satisfied with new innovation and technology (Zhang and Sarker, 2012).

For future research and development, there are a number of questions that shall be addressed in this context. The questions include the inhibitions faced by technology firms from going global and the factors helping these born global companies in initial stage of their operations. What are the advantages of going international at early stage and how they can be developed? The role of ecosystem needs to be studied in launch and growth of these firms and the network connections most beneficial for these firms. The study shall also be conducted on the success of these firms and other courses these are forced into to adapt in competitive environment (Gerschewski, Rose and Lindsay 2015).    

Future Research and Development

The article aimed at discussing the characteristics of born global firm. There are a variety of born global firms which do not suffice to link research of such firms and the entrepreneurship theory. This leads to the need for future study. The higher probability of success of born global technology firms makes it the focus of study. The companies shall learn their design principles and strategies adopted by them and amalgamate them with theories of entrepreneurship to ensure successful business for new start ups (Tanev, 2012).

The author aims at describing the characteristics specific to the born global company and narrows it down to the company operating in technology sector. The article aims at setting a base for further research on born global companies. The author has done a good job at achieving the aim of the article. The characteristics have been well defined and the rationales for establishing such companies have also been well identified. This shall help companies to realize the need and scope of being global right from the time of inception. This text adds to the theory of entrepreneurship, going international and start ups. This shall help the people at managerial and top level to understand the benefits and strategies revolving around being global and adapt to them accordingly (Almor 2013). The startup entrepreneurs shall be able to identify their needs and requirements, access the benefits of the born global company, the requirements and thus choose the path suitable to them accordingly. The text can be further helpful to identify the key areas of study in this context and conduct researches and studies to add to the knowledge further (Glaister et al. 2014).

The text links and compares the work of prior scholars and researchers and articulates them on the same context. It supports the existing work and combines them to summarize them in a relevant topic. The article also contributes to the existing entrepreneurial theories and aims to enhance them. However, the challenges faced by these firms are not stated in the article which should have given an idea of the hindrances one might face while setting up such business (Almor, Tarba and Margalit 2014).             

The methodology adopted to conduct this research is more of qualitative as the author does not specify the exact data of the findings stated by them. The author has also reviewed the work of other scholars to articulate the data for the article. The approach of the article seems to be slightly biased towards the objective (Maxwell 2013). The author fails to depict the negative side of going global and is particularly focused at describing the positive attributes of the strategy. However, the results of the article are valid and true to the utmost capacity of the article. The content is not molded in any way to affect to reliability of the given data (Cavusgil and Knight 2015).

The article has been academically written with all relevant citations and references for further study. The language used by the author is easy to understand and comprehend. It is an expert writing, which is suited to the target audience of the article. The people at various levels such as institutes, organizations and aspiring entrepreneurs can easily understand the content and derive what they intend to from the article. The article is well organized in the sections, which makes it easy to browse through. Each section is well laid and pointers have been used to highlight key points. The article is thus successful at achieving its aim (Clifford 2013).

In summary, the article reviewed the work of other scholars to articulate the data for the article. The author aims at setting a base for further research on born global companies.

This article shall help the people at managerial and top level to understand the benefits and strategies revolving around being global and adapt to them accordingly. The text can be further helpful to identify the key areas of study in this context and conduct researches and studies to add to the knowledge further.

References:

Almor, T. (2013). Conceptualizing Paths of Growth for Technology-Based Born-Global Firms Originating in a Small-Population Advanced Economy. International Studies of Management and Organization, 43(2), pp.56-78.

Almor, T., Tarba, S. and Margalit, A. (2014). Maturing, Technology-Based, Born-Global Companies: Surviving Through Mergers and Acquisitions. Management International Review, 54(4), pp.421-444.

Cavusgil, S. and Knight, G. (2015). The born global firm: An entrepreneurial and capabilities perspective on early and rapid internationalization. Journal of International Business Studies, 46(1), pp.3-16.

Clifford, V. (2013). Stylish academic writing. Higher Education Research & Development, 32(5), pp.866-867.

Efrat, K. and Shoham, A. (2012). Born global firms: The differences between their short- and long-term performance drivers. Journal of World Business, 47(4), pp.675-685.

Gerschewski, S., Rose, E. and Lindsay, V. (2015). Understanding the drivers of international performance for born global firms: An integrated perspective. Journal of World Business, 50(3), pp.558-575.

Glaister, A., Liu, Y., Sahadev, S. and Gomes, E. (2014). Externalizing, Internalizing and Fostering Commitment: The Case of Born-Global Firms in Emerging Economies. Management International Review, 54(4), pp.473-496.

Hagen, B. and Zucchella, A. (2014). Born Global or Born to Run? The Long-Term Growth of Born Global Firms. Management International Review, 54(4), pp.497-525.

Isenberg, D. (2012). The Global Entrepreneur. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2008/12/the-global-entrepreneur [Accessed 23 Jul. 2017].

Karra, N. (2016). Understanding the born global firm. 1st ed. New York: Routledge.

Liu, Y. (2017). Born global firms’ growth and collaborative entry mode: the role of transnational entrepreneurs. International Marketing Review, 34(1), pp.46-67.

Maxwell, J. (2013). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. 3rd ed. London: Sage Publication.

Mort, G., Weerawardena, J. and Liesch, P. (2012). Advancing entrepreneurial marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 46(3/4), pp.542-561.

Tanev, S. (2012). Global from the Start: The Characteristics of Born-Global Firms in the Technology Sector.. Technology Innovation Management Review. Denmark: University of Southern Denmark, pp.5-8.

Zhang, M., Sarker, S. and Sarker, S. (2012). Drivers and export performance impacts of IT capability in ‘born-global’ firms: a cross-national study. Information Systems Journal, 23(5), pp.419-443.