The Internationalization of Internet-Enabled Entrepreneurial Firms: Evidence from Europe and North America

The main focus of this paper is the internationalization strategies of Internet start-ups. Much of the extant literature focuses on the Internet's potential to enable smaller firms to improve their international activities and performance by reducing problems associated with distance, size, and scale. However, there is also growing evidence that many new firms are embracing Internet technologies from the outset and adopting an e-business format to be global from inception. This suggests that the Internet can be employed not simply as a tool to improve international performance, but, in many cases, as a core capability that underpins the firms'overall international strategy. Empirical research, involving a case study methodology and thematic analyses, investigates a cross-national sample of Internet start-ups, and identifies their chosen internationalization pathways firms. We explore the patterns, pace, and drivers of internationalization and the processes involved in order to determine the extent to which the Internet has influenced the firms' international activities, behaviour, and overall strategy.