European Management Journal (2010) 28, 108– 123

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/emj

A configuration-holistic approach to born-global firmsÕ

strategy formation process
Alex Rialp-Criado a,*, Inmaculada Galván-Sánchez b,
Sonia Ma Suárez-Ortega b

a
Business Economics Department, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain
b
Department of Business Economics and Management, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,
35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

KEYWORDS Summary This paper attempts to offer a deeper conceptual understanding of the early
Internationalization; and rapid internationalization process of born-global firms by applying the lens of the
Born-global firms; strategy-making process. In other words, it offers an integrated strategic management
Strategy-making perspective to explain the so-called born-global phenomenon. We argue that born-global
process; firmsÕ strategy-making processes can be aligned with different schools of strategic thought
Theoretical integration depending mostly upon the nature of the specific factor/s triggering their particular inter-
national strategic behavior and also the specific phase in which they may find themselves
along their international development process from inception. The most relevant aca-
demic implication to be obtained from this study is to stimulate more creative and inte-
grative thinking on investigating the born-global phenomenon. In addition, both managers
of these firms and policy-makers can also benefit from this conceptual research by gaining
more knowledge regarding the way in which strategy-making processes can be reconciled
from different perspectives and approaches.
ª 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction
According to Mintzberg (1978, 1987), strategy formation
within a firm is mostly about changing perspectives and/or
competitive positions. Accordingly, firm internationaliza-
tion, generally understood as the process of increasing
involvement in international operations across borders
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 93 581 22 68; fax: +34 93 581 25
55.
E-mail address: Alex.Rialp@uab.es (A. Rialp-Criado).
(Welch and Luostarinen, 1988) and of adapting firmÕs opera-
tions to such international environments (Calof and Beam-
ish, 1995) can be considered as a major issue of the
strategy-driven process of many contemporary businesses
(Welch and Welch, 1996).
The internationalization of the firm has received a lot of
academic interest in the last three decades (Rialp and Rialp,
2001; Werner, 2002). For a long time, a large portion of sci-
entific research on SMEsÕ internationalization processes had
been focused on empirically testing the behavioral-based

0263-2373/$ - see front matter ª 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.emj.2009.05.001
A configuration-holistic approach to born-global firmsÕ strategy formation process
(Cyert and March, 1963) sequential or gradualist approach
earlier postulated by the Internationalization Process Model
or Uppsala-Model (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977, 1990). This
model views internationalization as a lengthy process that
develops in stages, assuming that market knowledge is ac-
quired primarily through experience from current business
activities in the particular foreign market (Petersen and
Pedersen, 1997).
However, mostly in the last decade, International Entre-
preneurship has emerged as a distinctive and interdisciplin-
ary stream of research challenging conventional wisdom in
this field by being primarily, but not only, focused on study-
ing the early and accelerated internationalization process of
some new or young and highly entrepreneurial small ven-
tures (Dimitratos and Jones, 2005; Oviatt and McDougall,
1994, 2005; Rialp et al., 2005a). Several terms have been
used to refer to these firms: international new ventures
(McDougall et al., 1994; Oviatt and McDougall, 1995), born
globals (Knight and Cavusgil, 1996; Madsen and Servais,
1997), born international SMEs (Kundu and Katz, 2003), or,
more generally, early internationalizing firms (Rialp et al.,
2005a). While such disparity in terminology actually reveals
that some differences might exist among these terms
(Svensson, 2006), they tend to be used interchangeably in
the literature as they all refer to the same phenomenon,
small start-ups internationalizing at inception or very
shortly thereafter. Thus, for brevity sake in this paper we
will collectively refer to such new businesses as born-global
firms (BGFs).
This BG phenomenon has being more or less explicitly
considered in some of the most comprehensive reviews of
the SME internationalization literature (Coviello and McAu-
ley, 1999; Fillis, 2001). Despite its growing significance as
a current research topic, some authors believe that truly
comprehensive explanations and causal models of this phe-
nomenon are still lacking (Knight and Cavusgil, 1996; Mad-
sen and Servais, 1997; Oviatt and McDougall, 1999). Also,
born-global firms are becoming more and more widespread
worldwide and they are critically challenging traditional
internationalization theories. Thus, in order to enrich our
current level of knowledge about the internationalization
process of the firm, more specifically oriented and system-
atic research concerning this type of businesses is needed
both at the theoretical and empirical levels (Zahra and
George, 2002; Coviello and Jones, 2004; Rialp et al.,
2005a; Melén and Rovira, 2009).
Under these circumstances, Axinn and Matthyssens
(2001, 2002) have explicitly challenged international busi-
ness scholars to develop further conceptual models and the-
oretical frameworks to explain and predict such new forms
of strategic behavior in the international context. In partic-
ular, several authors such as Bell et al. (2004) or Madsen
(2005) also encourage developing a continuing conceptual
refinement and ongoing discussion by taking into account
the interrelationships potentially existing between
entrepreneurship, strategy and/or organization theory and
internationalization theories. As a consequence, some con-
temporary conceptual contributions generally aimed at bet-
ter explaining rapid internationalization have been recently
published (Hurmerinta-Peltomäki, 2003; Jones and Coviello,
2005; Svensson, 2006; Coviello, 2006; Mathews and Zander,
2007; Weerawardena et al., 2007; Gabrielsson et al., 2008),
109
but they are based on other alternative disciplines and/or
analytic approaches as compared to the strategic focus
adopted in the present study.
We take this theoretical challenge on by means of estab-
lishing key conceptual relationships potentially existing be-
tween (international) entrepreneurship and strategic
management disciplines (Hitt et al., 2002; Ireland et al.,
2003) and, more specifically, the BG phenomenon and the
strategy-making process, the integration of which is under
explored to date (Andersen, 2004; Jantunen et al., 2008).
Accordingly, this conceptual paper is aimed at contributing
to fill this gap by providing a new theoretical explanation of
this phenomenon conceived as an entrepreneurial and strat-
egy-driven internationalization process. This objective chal-
lenges us not only to review, but also to integrate, two
previously unrelated disciplines and/or streams of research,
the process-oriented strategic management and the inter-
national entrepreneurship literatures, to obtain a more
holistic understanding of this challenging BG phenomenon.
To accomplish this research objective, we first review sev-
eral conceptual approaches focused on the firmÕs strategy-
making process [Theoretical approaches to strategy-making
process: schools of thought in strategic management]. Next,
we continue reviewing the international entrepreneurship
literature focused on the emergence and development of
the BG phenomenon [The born-global firm as a research do-
main: key driving forces and conceptual models]. In the sub-
sequent section, we relate BG-oriented research to the
different theoretical approaches on strategy formation pre-
viously reviewed, with the aim of establishing some theoret-
ical links underlying both fields of research, in the form of a
set of conceptual propositions designed to guide future inter-
disciplinary research [Strategy-making in born-global firms:
in the search for new research propositions]. Finally, some
concluding remarks and implications are outlined [Conclud-
ing remarks and implications].
Theoretical approaches to strategy-making
process: schools of thought in strategic
management
According to Ireland et al. (2003), Strategic Management
examines firmÕs efforts to develop sustainable competitive
advantages as a determinant to their ability to create
wealth, thus competition forming the common basis of
most strategic management perspectives. However, a ma-
jor focus can be placed either on the strategy content, for
instance at characterizing a certain type of competitive-
level strategy; or, alternatively, on the strategy process
(i.e. the type of process guiding strategy-making within
a firm), as in the case of this paper which is focused on
the internationalization process of born-global firms. For
other excellent reviews of the theoretical and empirical
developments followed by the strategic management
discipline also attending to this crucial distinction,
strategy content vs. process, see Mintzberg and Lampel
(1999), Hoskinsson et al. (1999), Herrmann (2005), Hut-
zschenreuter and Kleindienst (2006) and/or Furrer et al.
(2008).
According to our literature analysis, there are at least
four salient review papers in the field of strategic manage-
110 A. Rialp-Criado et al.

ment that have focused on classifying strategic schools of
thought adopting a strategy process-oriented perspective
(Chaffee, 1985; Mintzberg, 1990; Bailey and Johnson,
1992; Elfring and Volberda, 2001). These four resulting clas-
sifications of strategy-making approaches are reviewed and
systematically compared in Table 1.
Deeply examining these four typologies altogether, it
can be observed that they actually tend to show more
commonalities than differences. Thus, although acknowl-
edging that reaching a definite and generally accepted
clustering of perspectives on strategy process is a highly
difficult task, this section attempts to reconcile other pre-
vious contributions by developing a new integrative taxon-
omy that will be useful further on in this paper.
Accordingly, drawing mostly upon MintzbergÕs 10 schools
of strategic thought, probably the most popular classifica-
tion in this context (Mintzberg and Lampel, 1999; Volberda
and Elfring, 2001; Tsoukas and Knudsen, 2002), but also on
its comparison with the other three classifying contribu-
tions, we propose our own synthesizing taxonomy of theo-
retical approaches on firmÕs strategy formation process
(see last column in Table 1). A brief description of the
eight resulting combinative approaches towards strategy-
making follows (Rialp, 2003).
The planning-analytical approach
This perspective conceives the strategy-making process as a
highly deliberate, linear, and logical one, involving a ra-
tional, sequential, and analytical set of procedures and
techniques. Strategy formation is conceptually aimed at
achieving the essential fit between internal strengths and
weaknesses and external threats and opportunities by
means of a highly formal and systematic analysis of both
the internal organization and its competitive environment
(Andrews, 1971; Ansoff, 1965; Porter, 1980). Sophisticated
strategy decision-making process consists of integrated
decisions, programs, budgets and operating plans that will
set and achieve viable organizational goals. Thus, strate-
gists, senior managers and/or planners (analysts) of firms
strategically behaving this way, go through a rational and
highly analytical decision-making process (Hofer and Schen-
del, 1978; Chaffee, 1985). In this way, strategy formulation,
which is based on formal planning and competitive analysis,
precedes strategy implementation. This form of strategy-
making can be mostly applied in organizations which are
deeply controlled and integrated and which develop their
activities in rather stable and predictable environments.
The entrepreneurial-visionary approach
According to this perspective, strategy is defined as a vision-
ary process, in which the entrepreneur-leader establishes a
general framework for guiding strategic decision-making
(Ackoff, 1993). So, visionary intuition and innovation capa-
bilities of the founder/s play a critical role. The strategy
will be established when the leader turns his/her idea into
a reality for the firm. Assuming that every organization
needs the vision of a creative leader, he/she maintains
close control implementing his/her formulated vision. Thus
strategies shift from precise designs, plans or positions as
proposed by the previous approach to rather vague visions

Table 1 Selected classifications of strategy formation approaches.a

Mintzberg (1990) Bailey and Johnson (1992) Chaffee (1985) Elfring and AuthorsÕ integrative
Volberda (2001) taxonomy
Design school Planning perspective Linear model Analytical Planning-analytical
Planning school approach
Positioning school

Entrepreneurial Visionary perspective No correspondence No correspondence Entrepreneurial-visionary

school approach

Cognitive school No correspondence No correspondence Clinical Cognitive-clinical

approach

Learning school Incremental perspective Adaptive model Dynamic capability Learning-dynamic

approach

Political school Political perspective Interpretative model No correspondence Political-interpretative

approach

Cultural school Cultural perspective No correspondence No correspondence Cultural approach

Environmental school Enforced Choice Perspective No correspondence Boundary School Environmental approach

Configuration school No correspondence No correspondence Configuration Configuration-holistic

(Synthesizing approach) approach
Source: Self-elaborated based upon comparative review of strategy formation approaches previously available in the strategic man-
agement literature.
a
‘‘No correspondence’’ means that no particular approach/model in the corresponding classification (in columns) can be matched or
very closely related to the particular MintzbergÕs school of strategic thought (in rows).
A configuration-holistic approach to born-global firmsÕ strategy formation process
or broad perspectives, mostly useful in specific contexts
(start-up, niche and/or turnaround), developed by the
forceful leader.
The cognitive-clinical approach
This approach conceives strategy formation as a mental pro-
cess being developed in peopleÕs minds as frames, models,
maps, concepts or schemas (Mintzberg, 1990). Accordingly,
cognition as information processing, knowledge structure
mapping and concept attainment become important for
strategy-making. A newer branch of this approach, the clin-
ical one, has a more subjective and constructivist view of
the strategy formation process by which cognition is used,
rather than to map reality in a more or less objective –
although always distorted-way, to construct strategies as
creative interpretations. In this case, the strategy process
is also developed according to the main actorÕs experience
and his/her past subjective knowledge, so great importance
is attributed to qualitative data such as managerial experi-
ence and trial-and-error techniques are applied.
The learning-dynamic approach
Within this descriptive approach to strategy formation sev-
eral views can be found. The so-called incremental perspec-
tive describes it as a learning-by-doing process. Thus, over
time, as the environment changes, successful emergent
strategies are retained, while other inappropriate strategies
are eliminated (Bailey and Johnson, 1992). From another
view, known as the adaptive strategy model, strategy is fo-
cused on developing a viable match between the opportuni-
ties and threats present in the external environment and the
organizationÕs set of resources and capabilities. So the adap-
tive strategy develops itself in the context of decentralized
organizations which work as systems opened to the environ-
ment. A third related learning-based view, the dynamic
capability perspective, is focused on the development and
improvement of distinctive capabilities, highly difficult to
imitate or replicate by other competitors, on which a firmÕs
strategy can be better sustained (Elfring and Volberda,
2001). In such a combined learning-based and dynamic ap-
proach to strategy-making, strategists can be found
throughout the organization and strategy formulation and
implementation actually intertwine.
The political-interpretative approach
The political perspective views the strategy formation as a
negotiation process among different interest groups or
stakeholders, both internal and external to the organiza-
tion, each one with their own goals and objectives. Accord-
ing to this approach, the strategy-making process is mostly
rooted in power (Mintzberg and Lampel, 1999). One political
orientation, micro-power, sees the development of strate-
gies within the organization as essentially a political pro-
cess, involving bargaining, persuasion, and confrontation
among internal actors who divide the power. Another orien-
tation, macro-power, views the organization as an entity
that uses its power over other ones (partners in alliances,
joint ventures, and other network relationships) to negoti-
111
ate collective strategies in its own interest. As regards the
interpretive model, strategy might be defined as orienting
metaphors or frames of reference that allow an organiza-
tion and its environment to be understood by different
stakeholders. Under this interpretative strategy formation
model, reality is socially constructed and defined through
a process of social interchange in which perceptions are af-
firmed, modified, or replaced according to their congruence
with the perceptions of others.
The cultural approach
Under this perspective, strategy formation is seen as a
social process rooted in culture, a system of shared values
and norms, whose influence in discouraging significant stra-
tegic change can be sometimes relevant. Thus managers
may be influenced by a dominant organizational culture,
based upon common interest and integration, at determin-
ing their firmÕs strategy. This cultural frame of reference
can have important implications for strategy formation as
it enables decisions to be made in a way that makes sense,
and provides a guide to appropriate behavior (Weick, 1979;
Gioia and Poole, 1984).
The environmental approach
Under this perspective, strategy-making becomes a rather
reactive response to the different demands and conditions
shown by the organizational environment, which becomes
the central actor in the strategy-making process. A number
of different orientations can be included in this category.
The contingency theory considers which responses are ex-
pected of organizations facing particular environmental
conditions, whereas population ecology claims severe limits
to strategic choice (Hannan and Freeman, 1989). Also, insti-
tutional theory is concerned with institutional pressures
faced by organizations. However, all these environmental-
related approaches can be grouped under the so-called en-
forced choice perspective (Bailey and Johnson, 1992) or
boundary school (Elfring and Volberda, 2001) which views
strategy formation as a passive, reactive process, with many
environmental factors impinging on the organization in such
a way as to encourage the adoption of those organizational
structures and activities most suited to that environment.
This reactive strategy-making process is aimed at obtaining
both co-ordination and concordance in order to manage the
fuzzy and highly permeable boundary existing between an
organization and its environment (Foss, 2001).
The configuration-holistic approach
Following the premises of the Configuration School earlier
characterized by Mintzberg (1990), this more integrative ap-
proach sees organizations as configurations – coherent clus-
ters of characteristics and behaviors. It integrates the
claims of the other different approaches to strategy forma-
tion through positioning each configuration, in effect, in its
own place. Accordingly, planning-analytical approaches
might prevail under conditions of relative environmental
stability while other approaches (entrepreneurial, political,
cultural, environmental, etc.) could be found under more
112
dynamic configurations of start-up and turnaround. Also,
according to Elfring and Volberda (2001), this configuration
approach is based on theories from various disciplines,
being related to a cluster of problem areas in strategic man-
agement, and developing clear problem-solving tools from a
chosen range of theories.
In summary, the more prescriptive planning-analytical
approach is mostly focused on examining how a firmÕs strat-
egy-making process should be, actually conceiving it as the
result of a highly rational-oriented, formal and intended
process (deliberate strategy). Contrarily, the more descrip-
tive, organizational-oriented approaches (entrepreneurial-
visionary, cognitive-clinical, learning-dynamic, political-
interpretative, cultural and environmental approaches)
are rather focused on examining how strategy-making actu-
ally proceeds in reality (emergent strategy). Finally, the
more integrative configuration-holistic approach constitutes
a unifying category in which both deliberate and emergent
strategies can be combined (Rialp, 2003). Further on, in
[Strategy-making in born-global firms: in the search for
new research propositions], this taxonomy of strategy-
making approaches will be taken as our main framework
of reference at linking the early and rapid internationaliza-
tion process typically followed by BG firms with the strategy
formation process underlying this phenomenon.
The born-global firm as a research domain: key
driving forces and conceptual models
As mentioned earlier in the introduction section, an increas-
ing number of small new ventures are internationalizing
their business operations earlier in their life cycle. Such
ventures have been defined as ‘‘a business organization
that, from inception, seeks to derive significant competitive
advantage from the use of resources and the sale of outputs
in multiple countries’’ (Oviatt and McDougall, 1994:49).
Similarly, Knight and Cavusgil (1996:11) conceptualized BG
firms as being ‘‘[usually] small, technology-oriented compa-
nies that operate in international markets from the earliest
days of their establishment’’.
The formation and further development of these new or
young ventures, capable of competing abroad almost from
inception, seems to be largely inconsistent with traditional
stages models of internationalization which assume that
firms become incrementally international long after they
have been established domestically (Oviatt and McDougall,
1997, 1999). Actually, while many long-established firms
still internationalize following a slow, gradual, and evolu-
tionary path of development abroad (Johanson and Vahlne,
1977, 1990), other more newly-established and entrepre-
neurial ventures are becoming global or international al-
most at founding. Very likely, the revolutionary changes
currently taking place in many markets and industries
worldwide, together with more internationally-oriented
entrepreneurs and/or managers, propel these firms into
international markets rather from the outset (Oviatt and
McDougall, 1995, 1997; McDougall and Oviatt, 2000).
Since the early 90s, numerous researchers have focused
on explaining the particularly early and accelerated interna-
tional behavior characterizing these born-global firms
mostly in high-technology sectors (Jolly et al., 1992; Knight
A. Rialp-Criado et al.
and Cavusgil, 1996), but also in more traditional, mature
industries (McAuley, 1999; Fillis, 2004). Regardless of the
specific context of empirical investigation, the emphasis
in these studies has generally been put on identifying and
characterizing these firms which go international approxi-
mately from their start-up and for which the generally ac-
cepted theories of international business apparently fail to
explain their existence (McDougall et al., 1994).
Key driving forces underlying the BG phenomenon
Several studies in this field (Knight and Cavusgil, 1996; Mad-
sen and Servais, 1997; Rialp et al., 2005a, 2005b) identify
and examine both internal and external key driving forces
and trends behind the observable emergence and develop-
ment of small firms becoming international at or near
founding. Among the most common factors triggering and
giving significance to this growing born-global phenomenon,
at least the following ones are particularly salient: (1) new
market conditions in many sectors of economic activity; (2)
technological developments in areas such as production,
transportation, and communication, (3) the increased
importance of global networks and alliances; and (4) more
skilled and entrepreneurial-oriented people, including those
who establish such early internationalizing firms. In addi-
tion, a growing number of industries and businesses world-
wide are likely to be affected by these factors in the near
future and, consequently, should be expected to interna-
tionalize more rapidly than ever before (Rialp and Rialp,
2007).
First, referring to the changing of market conditions, it
should be outlined the increase of specialization and, there-
fore, of specific market niches in lead global markets. As a
consequence, there are more companies that produce spe-
cific parts or components of a product, which are to be sold
in international markets, simply because their own domestic
markets do not offer a sufficient demand to absorb the min-
imum efficient scale. Thus, even SMEs, in spite of their more
limited resources, operating in specific market niches (i.e.
high-technology market segments) and making use of a set
of distinctive competencies, need to sell their innovative
products worldwide to survive and grow. This means that
new market conditions are motivating new firms to establish
more flexible and dynamic international business operations
rapidly from inception making them capable to compete
with larger and long-established competitors abroad (Mad-
sen and Servais, 1997; McAuley, 1999).
Second, another factor supporting the appearance of BG
companies is the observed improvement in several techno-
logical processes. This has implied, for instance, that
small-scale operations can be today more profitable than
ever. Therefore, specialization, client adaptation, and in-
niche production are currently more feasible alternatives
for many small firms in world lead markets. Nowadays,
transporting people and goods is not only cheaper, but also
more reliable and frequent, so traditional cost barriers of
international business have dramatically decreased. This
also includes radical information technology development;
now, through the Internet, foreign markets are much more
accessible than before, and day-by-day business can be
carried out in different countries alike. Research data on
A configuration-holistic approach to born-global firmsÕ strategy formation process
international markets can be collected, analyzed and inter-
preted from the same location. Such a decrease in produc-
tion, communication and transport costs as a consequence
of easier access to new information technologies, and the
better integration of different regional economies world-
wide, are generating new opportunities and circumstances
which facilitate, for a new, small business, to start manag-
ing international activities right or earlier from its creation
(McDougall et al., 1994; Oviatt and McDougall, 1994, 1995,
1997).
Third, the emergence and further development of BG
firms can be also related to the increased importance of glo-
bal networks and alliances (Johanson and Mattsson, 1988;
Coviello and Munro, 1995, 1997; Coviello, 2006). Today,
more and more manufacturing and service sectors, both
hi-tech industries and also traditional, low-tech ones (McAu-
ley, 1999), are developing activities of global supply and dis-
tribution by creating cross-borders networks or links (Jones,
1999). Therefore, innovative inputs, products and services
are quicker and globally supplied and distributed through
more flexible and integrated markets around the world,
partly because consumersÕ needs are also becoming increas-
ingly more homogeneous.
Fourth, the BG phenomenon has also been attributed to
more skilled and entrepreneurial-oriented founders (entre-
preneurs-managers) who can take advantage of these tech-
nological advances and more developed alliances in
international markets. A large amount of people have ob-
tained more international education and experience in the
last decades (Andersson, 2000). This international orienta-
tion, which is mostly related to the increased mobility
between nations, creates a potential number of employees
and managerial staff with enough ability to interact and
negotiate with companies from other cultures. In addition,
these improved abilities are a basic technical requirement
to take advantage of opportunities offered by new technol-
ogies in production, communication and transport. Another
consequence of this increase in mobility and cross-cultural
education is that human resource management is becoming
an especially important practice among BGs. Accordingly,
the past experiences, current ambitions, and motivation
levels of the companyÕs leaders (founder/entrepreneur-
manager/s) must be primarily considered (Madsen and Serv-
ais, 1997).
Thus, according to most of the studies reviewed above,
BGs are usually considered as entrepreneurial firms whose
management seems to perceive the entire world as its mar-
ketplace from the outset. They neither confine themselves
to a single country nor see foreign markets as purely com-
plementary to the domestic one. As compared with other
more traditional internationalizing firms, BGs are more
niche-focused, usually applying cutting-edge technology to
develop more highly specialized outputs suitable for niche
global markets. Thus, typically, these firms produce their
higher added value products for distant foreign markets
and/or compete in emerging market segments opening up
to new marketing strategies and/or product innovation. In
addition, they show rapid engagement with multiple na-
tional markets from inception or shortly thereafter, making
greater use of networks to obtain supplementary resources
for achieving such a rapid global outreach (Rialp et al.,
2005b).
113
Conceptual models on the BG phenomenon
From the theoretical standpoint, several conceptual frame-
works and models can be already found in the born global-
related literature. This section is focused on reviewing
and evaluating the most contemporary conceptual litera-
ture concerning born-global firms as shown in Table 2. Other
recent and very comprehensive studies from which to fur-
ther investigate this phenomenon, but mostly from the
empirical standpoint, are available elsewhere (Coviello
and Jones, 2004; Rialp et al., 2005a).
As suggested by some of the key conceptual models
shown above, the time-dimension still has a crucial role in
current internationalization process research (Jones and
Coviello, 2005) and, more particular, in the understanding
of the born-global phenomenon. Therefore, any conceptual
effort aimed at better understanding BG firmsÕ behavior
should take the time-dimension into account. Such a dy-
namic conception would perceive time as a flow of events.
There is, however, a great contrast between time-depen-
dent theories and the traditional stage-based models of
internationalization which cannot fully describe the accel-
erated international development of BG firms (Hurmerin-
ta-Peltomäki, 2003). By focusing on states or positions
(stages), rather than on those events which probably caused
them, the Uppsala-Model and other traditional gradualist
models have failed to fully capture the dynamics of interna-
tionalization (Andersen, 1993; Morgan-Thomas and Jones,
2009).
Also, in spite of the increased theoretical rigor put re-
cently in this field, several authors believe that truly com-
prehensive theoretical explanations and causal models of
this born-global phenomenon are still lacking (Knight and
Cavusgil, 1996; Oviatt and McDougall, 1999). So far, theo-
retical and empirical research focused on born-global
firms and/or international entrepreneurship in general
has been mostly developed either by international busi-
ness/marketing researchers or entrepreneurship research-
ers acting rather separately. However, the seemingly
powerful perspective that can be derived from combining
strategic management and international entrepreneurship
disciplines in examining this phenomenon is not yet fully
integrated with current research in this field. In other
words, the full potential of the different strategic ap-
proaches or schools of strategic thought for better under-
standing the typical entrepreneurial and strategy-making
processes being usually associated with born-global firmÕs
emergence and international development is yet unreal-
ized. Therefore, there seems to be scope for developing
an improved theoretical framework of reference on the
born-global phenomenon by means of linking entrepre-
neurial and strategic process-oriented approaches.
Strategy-making in born-global firms: in the
search for new research propositions
According to the BG literature reviewed above, the emer-
gence and development of the BG phenomenon can be ex-
plained by, at least, the following four salient forces: (1)
new market conditions in many sectors of economic activi-
ties; (2) technological developments in production, trans-
 114
Table 2 Contemporary conceptual models on the BG phenomenon.
Author/s Conceptual contribution-model
Jolly et al. The ability of some new companies to achieve a global strategy allows them to leapfrog the first stages of internationalization, thus becoming important global
(1992) competitors in a relatively short period of time. A set of key entrepreneurial competencies inherently linked to the founder/s, such as having a global vision
from inception, interacts with following a certain strategic approach focused on business development which is based on the ability to recognize technological
opportunities and to capitalize upon them.
Oviatt and A theory and a classification of small firms with a proactive international strategy from inception is established based upon existing internationalization
McDougall theories and recent developments in the fields of strategic management and entrepreneurship. Four main conditions for explaining their sustainable existence
(1994, are: (1) organizational formation through internalization of some transactions; (2) strong reliance on alternative, hybrid governance structures to access
2005) resources; (3) establishment of foreign location advantages; and (4) control over unique resources. Four different types of international new ventures emerge
according to the number of countries involved and the level of co-ordination of value chain activities: export/import start-ups; multinational traders,
geographically-focused start-ups and global start-ups.
Oviatt and A more dynamic theory explaining accelerated internationalization according to which, while rapidly changing technology is taken as the foundation of this
McDougall process, a number of political, economic, and industrial conditions together with some firm-specific effects and the role played by the management team also
(1999) constitute key building blocks of this model.
Coviello A network theory perspective is adopted to examine the impact of network relationships on international market development and marketing-related activities
and Munro among entrepreneurial firms.
(1995, 1997)
Madsen The propensity of born-global firms to emerge and their further development are likely to be affected by the characteristics of the environment itself (market
and internationalization, technology level and specialization), and those of the organization (competences, routines, governances structure and business
Servais networks) and the founder/entrepreneur (past experience, ambition level, motivation and personal networks), simultaneously. Born-global firmsÕ international
(1997) behavior seems to develop in a way that may to a certain degree be in accordance with the sequential internationalization process model (the Uppsala-Model),
evolutionary thinking and the (international) network theory.
Knight and Born-global firms are defined as ‘‘small, technology-oriented companies that operate in international markets from the earliest days of their establishment’’.
Cavusgil They pose a relevant challenge to the most traditional internationalization theories mostly because these fail to explain why some small companies are
(1996) currently able to operate abroad very soon after their birth. Born-global firms are, among other specific characteristics, most usually managed by highly
visionary entrepreneurs and business people that seem to perceive the entire world as their natural marketplace.
Zahra and A general theoretical model on international entrepreneurship, understood as a major and interdisciplinary research field, which basically connects its main
George antecedents with several types of activities and outcomes, together with other strategic and environmental influencing factors.
(2002)
Jones and Drawing up on classic approaches to internationalization and importing insights from entrepreneurship theory, three potential models of firm
Coviello internationalization, evolving from the simple through general to precise levels of conceptualization, are presented as a time-based process of entrepreneurial
(2005) behavior. Entrepreneurial internationalization is both time-based and time-dependent and the cyclical effect of time in respect of how the environment, firm
and entrepreneur interact and learn to impact on internationalization is highlighted. The relationships existing among the internationalization process,
experiential knowledge, and the time and behavior dimensions are considered to be critical in this model.
Rialp A resource-based model of early internationalizing firms in which three key issues are basically highlighted: a firmÕs intangible resource base (1) would be of the
et al. highest importance in generating a critical level of firmÕs early internationalization capability (2) which contributes, although moderated by external

A. Rialp-Criado et al.
(2005a) environmental conditions, to the development of the highly particular strategic behavior exhibited by born-global firms abroad (3).
Gabrielsson The BG phenomenon is conceptualized by establishing three main phases of successful development: (1) introductory, (2) growth and resource accumulation,
et al. and (3) break-out to independent growth as a major global player. A number of events and incidents concerning key aspects such as financing, channel/network
(2008) choice, and learning are singled out in each phase.
A configuration-holistic approach to born-global firmsÕ strategy formation process
portation, and communication; (3) global networks and alli-
ances; and (4) entrepreneurial-oriented strategists or man-
agers. We should notice that the first two factors are
environmental-related ones that usually represent new
sources of opportunities- or threats- for firms; some will
capitalize on them, while others will not. The third factor,
(international) networks, has also to do with the environ-
ment, but more especially, with the ability of a firm and
its management to develop and manage those personal
and business relationships established mostly at the interna-
tional level. Finally, the fourth factor that is more directly
related to the entrepreneur-manager/s (and/or managerial
team) clearly refers to the presence of a superior base of
managerial resources inside the firm.
Due mostly to the relevance of the different factors pro-
pelling these firms into international markets rather from
the outset and of the time-dimension in this process, the
conceptual alignment potentially existing between the BG
phenomenon and the different approaches to strategy-mak-
ing (schools of strategic thought) is considered to depend
upon: (a) the specific type of factor/s potentially triggering
their empirically observable internationalizing character
(the founding entrepreneur/manager, environmental fac-
tors, organizational factors, and international networks of
relationships); and (b) the specific phase in which a BG firm
may find itself along its early and rapid international devel-
opment process from inception. Following the BGsÕ develop-
ment process view (Gabrielsson et al., 2008), formed by
different states and changes of state, three main phases
are defined as follows: (1) pre-start up/new venture crea-
tion; (2) pre-internationalization (international prepara-
tion); and (3) post-internationalization (international entry
development and growth). Then, a combination of these
triggering factors which may vary its relative importance
throughout a particular BG firmÕs development process is
considered from a time-based perspective. Therefore, the
main characteristics of the strategy-making process of BG
firms are analyzed in the following subsections as shown in
Figure 1.
Triggering factors
Organization
& networks Configuration-holistic
Political-interpretative
Environmental
Environment
Cognitive-clinical
Founding Entrepreneurial-
entrepreneur-manager visionary
Pre-start-up/ Pre-internationalization
venture creation
Figure 1 A Configuration-holistic approach to BG firmÕs strategy formation process.
115
Pre-start up and new venture creation phase:
born-globalsÕ strategy formation process as a
main consequence of the founding
entrepreneur-managerÕs influence
According to the export-oriented literature, positive atti-
tudes, beliefs and/or expectations of decision-makers to-
wards internationalization provide their companies with a
more proactive character and orientation to growth and
development in the international arena (Bilkey, 1978; Reid,
1981; Leonidou et al., 1998). Such a key role played by the
entrepreneur-manager/s in the earliest steps of the venture
creation and potential internationalization of a newly or re-
cently established firm has been also emphasized in the
international entrepreneurship literature (Dimitratos and
Jones, 2005). Accordingly, several individual factors, such
as previous international and business experience, aca-
demic training, ambition and motivation levels, risk percep-
tion, global vision and leadership seem to influence
critically in the emergence and rapid development of BG
firms (Madsen and Servais, 1997; Harris and Wheeler,
2005; Rialp et al., 2005a; Gabrielsson et al., 2008).
The founding entrepreneurs-managersÕ characteristics
and their related attributes of global vision and managerial
commitment, international experience, and personal rela-
tionships are thus relevant variables for understanding the
founding process itself as well as the early and rapid inter-
national development of BG firms (Oviatt and McDougall,
1995, 1997; Madsen and Servais, 1997; Rialp et al.,
2005b). Also for Andersson (2000), Andersson and Wictor
(2003) or Harris and Wheeler (2005), entrepreneursÕ inter-
personal relationships in particular, together with key stra-
tegic choices, were the main factors influencing several
investigated companiesÕ international development in dif-
ferent industries. As a consequence, we consider that the
more distinctive and sophisticated entrepreneurial capabil-
ities usually shown by BGsÕ founding entrepreneurs and deci-
sion-makers allow them to take more advantage of the
market opportunities that others overlook, thus propelling
Planning-analytical
Learning-dynamic,
cultural
Post-internationalization BG development phase
116
their early internationalization (McDougall et al., 1994;
Knight and Cavusgil, 1996; McAuley, 1999; Harris and
Wheeler, 2005).
Thinking about the conceptual links between the BG phe-
nomenon, as being critically influenced by the entrepre-
neur-managerÕs personal characteristics and his/her
international orientation from the firmÕs inception or even
earlier (pre-start up), and the approaches for strategy for-
mation reviewed above, this phenomenon can be well re-
lated to both the entrepreneurial-visionary and the
cognitive-clinical approaches. These two approaches can
become especially relevant in the earliest phases of the
establishment of a BG firm in which the entrepreneurial
and global vision of the founder/s and also his/her own
capability to identify and act upon international market
opportunities are crucial for subsequent international
growth and performance.
From the first approach, the entrepreneurial-visionary
one, business strategy is developed as a result of the
leaderÕs critical characteristics, inspirational leadership,
and strategic vision. The strategies find themselves in the
founder-leaderÕs mind, and are based in his/her intuition
and innovation capabilities. The most important thing for
the leader is to turn intuition into reality for the firm (Mintz-
berg, 1990; Bailey and Johnson, 1992). Moreover, the strat-
egy appears as a consequence of this entrepreneurial
process and could be summarized as an implicit and semi-
conscious strategy (Volberda and Elfring, 2001), that comes
as a result of leaderÕs highly creative action. The application
of this strategy process is considered to be mostly adopted
within the initial stages of a business creation (in which
many potential born-globals may usually find themselves).
It is important to remind that the strategy-making process
informed by this entrepreneurial-visionary approach is a
natural one, in which the new venture strategy emerges
on the base of the entrepreneurÕs or leaderÕs accumulated
knowledge and experience, guiding capabilities, and intui-
tion (Bailey and Johnson, 1992).
The second approach, the cognitive-clinical one, even
goes deeper into the characteristics of the mental pro-
cess of reasoning and past experience of the leader-
entrepreneur (Mintzberg, 1990; Elfring and Volberda,
2001). In the context of the internationalization of SMEs,
Harris and Ghauri (2000) found that strategic focus and
aims of the businessesÕ leaders were associated with na-
tional differences in cultural values that critically shaped
their mental processes. More insight regarding the con-
ceptual applications of this approach into the interna-
tional entrepreneurship field can be also found in Jones
and Coviello (2005) and Zahra et al. (2005) for whom
international entrepreneurship is a sensemaking process
whereby cognitive models and individual differences in
personality and attitudes among entrepreneurs regarding
international opportunity perception become highly
relevant.
Thus, primarily attending to the key relevance usually
attributed to the founding entrepreneur-manager/s mostly
among emerging born globals still in their earliest phase of
development (pre-start up and new venture creation), actu-
ally the most purely entrepreneurial one, and the concep-
tual premises of these two strategy formation approaches,
we formulate the following theoretical proposition:
A. Rialp-Criado et al.
P1. Ceteris paribus, the greater the influence of the
founding entrepreneur-managerÕs proactive characteristics,
past knowledge and experience, inter-personal relations,
mostly in the pre-start up and/or new venture creation
phase of a born-global firm, the more likely that its strategy
formation process can be aligned with (the key notions and
premises of) the entrepreneurial-visionary and cognitive-
clinical approaches.
Pre-internationalization phase (international
preparation): born-globalsÕ strategy formation
process as a key response to changing
environmental factors
As mentioned above, on the one hand, specialization and
the proliferation of world market niches is a common trend
in todayÕs global marketplace. On the other hand, new pro-
duction technology has implied that small-scale operations
may also be economically sound; therefore specialization,
customization, and niche production are more viable alter-
natives in emerging markets. World markets have become
much more accessible at low cost by the improvement of
information technologies. In addition, relevant information
about foreign markets can be nowadays collected, ana-
lyzed, and interpreted from the same location.
Thus, according to several characteristics of the born-
global phenomenon reviewed above, it can be assumed
that, certain companies are able to become competitive
global players in a relatively short period of time from
inception due to their quick and, sometimes, anticipated re-
sponse to these continuously changing environmental chal-
lenges. In a certain way, these companiesÕ management
shows itself able to identify and interpret earlier these
new environmental signals and conditions. Accordingly,
these firms react more rapidly to these changes, ensuring
the most proper adaptation to the continuously changing
environment. This results, for instance, in the exploratory
analysis and potential coverage of the most attractive inter-
national market niches to offer the firmÕs products world-
wide, which highly characterizes many born-globalsÕ
international strategic behavior (Rialp et al., 2005a). Also
according to Crick and Spence (2005), the ways in which
internationalized SME managers perceive and react to ser-
endipitous or chance events and opportunities occurring in
the international marketplace can make the difference be-
tween high and low performing internationalizing firms. In
other words, international opportunity recognition, alert-
ness and exploitation mechanisms do really matter in suc-
cessful international entrepreneurship (Dimitratos and
Jones, 2005).
According to Mintzberg (1990), Elfring and Volverda
(2001) and Bailey and Johnson (1992), the environmental/
boundary school of strategic thought or enforced choice
perspective conceives strategy formation as a reactive pro-
cess of a rather exogenous nature, in which firm adaptation
to ecological niches of the environment becomes crucial for
survival. So, confronting the born-global phenomenon with
this environmental-based approach to strategy formation,
we consider that mostly those already founded born globals
preparing themselves to internationalize more or less
A configuration-holistic approach to born-global firmsÕ strategy formation process
shortly after inception, could be undergoing a strategy-dri-
ven process as described, at least partly, by this environ-
mental perspective. Thus, focusing on the type and crucial
influence of these challenging, rapidly changing, and highly
demanding environmental conditions at this relatively short
and mostly exploratory phase of pre-internationalization,
usually lasting 2–3 years after inception (Rialp et al.,
2005a), we establish the following theoretical proposition:
P2. Ceteris paribus, the greater the impact of – and the
faster reaction and better adaptation to- rapidly changing
environmental factors, such as new market conditions and
radical technology developments, mostly in the pre-inter-
nationalizing phase of a born-global firm, the more likely
that its strategy formation process can be aligned with (the
key notions and premises of) the environmental approach.
Post-internationalization phase (early international
entry-development): born-globalsÕ strategy
formation process as a result of international
networking and organizational learning mechanisms
Several authors, both in the organizational strategy and
born-global literatures, state that firms analyze their envi-
ronment, both at the national and international levels, by
making use of the information provided by their established
social and business networks (Aldrich and Zimmer, 1986;
Oviatt and McDougall, 1994). Therefore, the early and rapid
international expansion typical of born-global companies
can be also conceived as a process developed according to
the continuous interactions between these organizations
and their international networks of foreign suppliers, inter-
mediaries, distributors, customers, competitors, etc., such
relationships becoming especially important among newly
or recently internationalized firms (Coviello and Munro,
1995; Sharma and Blomstermo, 2003; Andersson and Wictor,
2003; Angdal and Chetty, 2007; Gabrielsson et al., 2008).
More specifically, the development of such business and
social networks can help small companies reduce their
dependence on their own limited resources and, therefore,
to increase and accelerate their tendency to international-
ize by establishing cross-border links (Jones, 1999). Thus, in
the particular case of born-global firms, such international
networks have been usually more rapidly and widely devel-
oped, enabling them to achieve global reach quickly and
expediting their simultaneous access to multiple foreign
markets alike (Chetty and Campbell-Hunt, 2004). In addi-
tion, through these inter-organizational relations, small
firms can be able to overcome the so-called liabilities of
newness, smallness, and foreigness that characterize this
type of firms (Autio et al., 2000). From this point of view,
born globals usually act in an uncertain environment that
is not completely comprehensible, but through the market
information derived from these networks abroad, it be-
comes less confusing.
According to the notions and prescriptions of the learn-
ing, political, and cultural schools of strategic thought
(Mintzberg, 1990; Bailey and Johnson, 1992), as well as
those of the adaptative and interpretative models of strat-
egy (Chaffee, 1985), and of the dynamic capabilities per-
spective (Elfring and Volberda, 2001), strategy formation
117
processes, rather of an emergent character, can be simulta-
neously understood as a social or collective, collaborative,
and evolutionary learning process both, at the internal
and external levels of an organization. For instance, the
political approach states that the strategy is a result of a
companyÕs negotiations with its interest groups or stake-
holders (Mintzberg, 1990; Bailey and Johnson, 1992). In this
sense, organizations are considered as complex systems of
individuals and coalitions, bearing in mind their potentially
different interests, cultural values, preferences and percep-
tions. In these contexts, strategic decisions are not just
plans to achieve rationally the organizationÕs goals, but a re-
sult of an interactive negotiation between individuals and/
or collectives trying to reach their own interests in which
different partnering firms can co-operate, culturally social-
ize and mutually learn from each other.
Thus, if we take into account the great importance usu-
ally attributed to international business and social networks
as well as to the dynamic learning-based processes of inter-
national development as suggested especially for highly
growth-oriented born-global firms trying to consolidate
their global market positioning in their post-internationali-
zation phase (Oviatt and McDougall, 1994; Coviello, 2006;
Gabrielsson et al., 2008; Jantunen et al., 2008), we can con-
sider that they can also develop strategy formation pro-
cesses under the premises of these several approaches to
strategic thought. Accordingly, we establish the following
theoretical proposition regarding such born-globalsÕ strate-
gic behavior:
P3. Ceteris paribus, the deeper the embeddedness in
international business/social networks and the greater the
accumulation of organizational learning at the international
level by a born-global firm at the post-internationalization
phase, the more likely that its strategy formation process
can be aligned with (the key notions and premises of) the
learning-dynamic, political-interpretative, and cultural
approaches.
Post-internationalization phase (international
growth and consolidation): is the
planning-analytical approach useful in born-global
firmsÕ strategy formation process?
As we already discussed in [Theoretical approaches to strat-
egy-making process: schools of thought in strategic manage-
ment], the planning-analytical approach of strategy
formation process is a highly normative, analytical, and ra-
tional-oriented approach to strategy-making. This prescrip-
tive approach is regarded as mostly useful for rather stable
and predictable environments, where both strategy content
and process can be systematically planned and almost per-
fectly anticipated, and strategic flexibility issues are not
of a great managerial concern (Mintzberg, 1990); but it
might not be longer the case as a primary decision path
for strategy-making in most currently turbulent interna-
tional environments (Grant, 2003; Angdal and Chetty,
2007; Andersen, 2004).
Current entrepreneurship research is somewhat confus-
ing at determining the relevance of formal, planning-
oriented approaches at investigating new venture creation.
118
While some authors posit that business planning indeed
facilitates the development of new ventures (Delmar and
Shane, 2003), others are much more sceptical arguing that
it might unnecessary enlarge the gestation process of a
new business and does not seem to have a very significant
impact on subsequent growth and performance (Honig and
Karlsson, 2004; Capelleras and Greene, 2008).
This issue related to planned or unplanned international-
ization strategies is also controversial in the born global-ori-
ented literature. Although some researchers have found
that some, but not many on average, newly internationaliz-
ing companies decide to apply a formal internationalization
process following a highly systematic sequence of steps, and
that the more systematic the approach is the better their
performance (Yip et al., 2000); other contemporary
research in this field posits that strategy formation is not
currently as planned, rational, and systematic as highly
deterministic internationalization process models (e.g. the
Uppsala-Model and/or the innovation-related export stages
models) had traditionally suggested (Crick and Spence,
2005; Harris and Wheeler, 2005).
In a similar vein to us, also some authors (Gabrielsson
et al., 2008) have tried to deal with this conflictive issue
by establishing three main phases of born-global develop-
ment – (1) introductory, (2) growth and resource accumula-
tion, and (3) break-out to independent growth as a major
global player- through which highly successful BG firms are
though to progress, suggesting that the more advanced
within these phases, the more analytically planned their
global market positioning can be.
Actually, most of born-global firms seem to emerge and
try to compete in complex, dynamic, and turbulent interna-
tional competitive environments where strategic and orga-
nizational flexibility are usually considered crucial success
factors (Rialp et al., 2005b). Therefore, most born globals
tend to develop themselves in a way that, at least in their
earlier phases of establishment and pre-internationaliza-
tion, does not seem to correspond well with the highly sys-
tematic, formal, and normative strategy-making process as
described by the planning-analytical approach. Contrarily,
however, such a prescriptive and highly formalized strat-
egy-driven approach could be very useful further on within
their accelerated international evolution, once the firm
has leveraged on the resource accumulation and organiza-
tional learning effort previously deployed. Accordingly, we
establish our fourth theoretical proposition as follows:
P4. Ceteris paribus, a born-global firm will very unlikely
start following a strategy formation process highly aligned
with (the key notions, and prescriptions of) the planning-
analytical approach, but the more advanced the firm is in its
early and rapid international development process the more
likely it will turn to be.
Early and rapid internationalization as an
entrepreneurial and strategic process: a
configuration-holistic approach
As proposed above, a particular firm can be influenced by
factors of very different nature that trigger its early and ra-
pid internationalization which can also vary its relative
A. Rialp-Criado et al.
importance over time throughout its development as a truly
born-global firm. In other words, the born-global phenome-
non can also be analyzed from the perspective of the config-
uration-holistic approach. As Mintzberg (1990) stated, the
premises of the Configuration School are those of all previ-
ous schools reunited in well defines contexts, and, more
specifically, in the following terms. First, organizational
behavior is better described in terms of configurations – dif-
ferent groups integrated in dimensions related to condition
and time. Second, the strategy formation is an episodic pro-
cess in which an organization, adapted to a type of well-
determined environment, develops its strategy for a specific
period of time. Third, according to this, this strategy pro-
cess could be either a conceptual design, or a formal plan-
ning; a systematic analysis or a intuitive vision; it could be
derived from individual knowledge or from collective learn-
ing or politics; it could be guided by a personal leader, by
the organizational culture or by its environment; and strat-
egies could adopt the form of models, plans, tactics, posi-
tions or general approaches; but everything must be
placed in its right moment and context. Also, according to
Elfring and Volberda (2001), the Configuration School con-
siders strategy formation basically as an episodic process
in which certain strategy configurations dominate over time
but are replaced further on.
Such an integrative strategy formation process particu-
larly applied to born-global firms operating in the turbu-
lence of international environments clearly illustrates the
importance of simultaneously considering different strat-
egy-making modes (Andersen, 2004), which may run from
the fact that strategies can emerge within a decentralized
decision structure providing decision-makers throughout
the organization autonomy to take responsive actions to
overall and deliberate strategic direction within a more cen-
tralized strategic planning process in the most advanced
stages of international development, as complementary
elements of the complex strategy formation process of
born-global firms, in particular.
Thus, as a consequence of all the arguments posited in
this section, we believe that by examining it from a wider
and long term perspective, born-globals firmsÕ early and ra-
pid international behavior from inception can be succes-
sively related to the different approaches to strategy
formation separately considered above (entrepreneurial-
visionary, cognitive-clinical, environmental, learning-dy-
namic, political-interpretative, cultural, and planning-ana-
lytical), as long as each one of them is conveniently
placed in both dimensions time and context.
Therefore, it can be established that this phenomenon
indeed has a configurational nature, in which all these
process-oriented approaches to strategy formation can be
conveniently unified. So, if we compare the basic charac-
teristics of this configuration-holistic approach with the
individual, organizational and environmental factors im-
plied in the different phases of emergence and further
international development of born-global firms -as also
suggested by Madsen and ServaisÕ (1997) pioneering model,
we can establish our last and most synthetic theoretical
proposition:
P5. The more successful a born-global firm becomes at
achieving and consolidating a global competitive positioning
A configuration-holistic approach to born-global firmsÕ strategy formation process 119

throughout its early and rapid international evolution, the
more likely that its strategy formation process can be
aligned with (the integrative notions and premises of) the
configuration-holistic approach.
All these conceptual relationships between the different
theoretical approaches towards strategy-making and the
born-global phenomenon, which have been postulated in
the form of research propositions, are graphically summa-
rized in Figure 2.
Concluding remarks and implications
This paper has been primarily concerned with re-examining
the conceptual foundations of the BG phenomenon by
means of establishing its potential relationships with differ-
ent approaches to strategy-making. These conceptual links
can be mostly exploited when, as postulated in proposition
5, a configuration-holistic approach to strategy formation
(in which strategy can be rather emergent and more entre-
preneurial at the beginning but also more analytically
planned at more advanced phases of firm development) is
related to the born-global phenomenon and, more particu-
larly, to the different phases by which a born-global firm
can be expected to progress. In this way, an interesting
point of integration has been found between strategic man-
agement and international entrepreneurship (see Figure 2).
In our opinion, this conception of the BG firmsÕ interna-
tionalization as both an emergent and deliberate strategy
process contributes to increase interdisciplinary theory
development and conceptual refinement in this field from
a threefold perspective. First, we have contributed the ex-
tant strategic management literature by developing a new
and more integrative taxonomy of strategy formation pro-
cesses. Second, we have attempted to improve our current
understanding of the BG phenomenon by applying such pro-
cess-oriented strategy formation taxonomy in the BG-ori-
ented research context. Third, we have also contributed
this interdisciplinary debate by formulating a set of testable
theoretical propositions aimed at guiding further empirical
research. In particular, some of these propositions are spe-
cifically referred to born-globalsÕ strategic behavior after
their inception, i.e. for their international development
and further consolidation as global players, which is consid-

PLANNING-
ANALYTICAL
APPROACH

ENVIRONMENTAL
APPROACH

LEARNING-
DYNAMIC
APPROACH

POLITICAL-
INTERPRETATIVE CONFIGURATION-
APPROACH HOLISTIC BORN GLOBAL FIRM
APPROACH STRATEGIC BEHAVIOR

CULTURAL
APPROACH

ENTREPRENEURIAL
-VISIONARY
APPROACH

COGNITIVE-
CLINICAL
APPROACH

Figure 2 Strategy formation approaches and BG firms: research propositions.

120
ered a major gap in current born global-oriented research
(Gabrielsson et al., 2008; Melén and Nordman, 2009).
The main conclusions and research implications of this
conceptual paper can be summarized as follows. BG firmsÕ
strategy-making process has been analyzed according to
the type of factor/s underlying this phenomenon and its
specific impact in different phases of their early and rapid
international development from inception. Following
Andersen (1993), our focus has been then put mostly on
influencing events (triggering forces) rather than merely
on states (stages) themselves. Accordingly, we have pro-
posed that this type of firms would develop strategies spe-
cifically aligned with different process-oriented strategic
approaches in their various phases of development. We also
postulate that under the BGÕs internationalization process
each one of these strategic approaches may have its own
role but also coexist with others according to the more or
less advanced phase of development in which a BG firm
might find itself, running from more purely visionary-entre-
preneurial at the founding process to include more plan-
ning-analytical postures at the most advances phases of
global consolidation. Consequently, BGsÕ strategy formation
process may well adopt a configuration-holistic nature as
seen from a time-based perspective, firstly more entrepre-
neurial (emergent strategy) and increasingly more planned
and systematic (deliberate strategy). While this argument
clearly suggests that alternative approaches towards strat-
egy-making can be found and combined among born-global
firmsÕ strategic behavior over time, more research is needed
in terms of investigating how these different strategic con-
figurations actually change across different phases in their
development. In the same way, according to our theoretical
framework, BG firmsÕ behavior seems to be better ac-
counted for by different strategy-making approaches at dif-
ferent stages, rather than by different kind of strategic
processes throughout their development as truly born-glo-
bal firms. However, this issue of whether these perspectives
represent fundamentally different processes of strategy for-
mation or different parts of the same strategy-making pro-
cess, as we are indeed suggesting, still remains unresolved
and open to further discussion in the strategic management
discipline (Mintzberg and Lampel, 1999).
Together with other recent and very promising works in
this field aimed at linking current internationalization re-
search and entrepreneurship or organization theories (Jones
and Coviello, 2005; Madsen, 2005), the multidisciplinary
character of this paper has tried to stimulate more creative
thinking on future born global-oriented research and to en-
able researchers in this field to continue developing more
holistic conceptual frameworks to better explain this chal-
lenging born-global phenomenon.
Last but not least, entrepreneurs-managers and even
policy-makers active in this field can also benefit from this
primarily conceptual contribution by increasing their aware-
ness of the strategic management potential within an inter-
national business context and, more specifically, by gaining
further knowledge regarding the way in which strategy-mak-
ing processes can be reconciled from different perspectives
and approaches. Actually, from a practitionerÕs view, this
paper presents some basic implications for founders and/
or managers of born-global firms as it provides them with
a unifying framework of reference, derived from different
A. Rialp-Criado et al.
strategic approaches and perspectives, to determine which
strategy-making process could fit better their specific exter-
nal and internal circumstances in order to develop the most
suitable international strategy for their particular firms.
Actually, our contribution addresses essential strategic
management capabilities to discover and exploit opportuni-
ties in the international context. Finally, policy-makers
especially interested in promoting this promising type of
early and rapid internationalizing firms can also take this
framework as a starting point of reference for developing
more tailored programmes of public support for stimulating
new venture internationalization. In our opinion, such pro-
grammes should be primarily designed taken into account
the differential characteristics of the environment, of the
firm itself, and of the entrepreneur-manager/s in charge
of developing the strategy-making process.
Acknowledgements
The authors kindly acknowledge the very helpful comments
received from the journal editors and anonymous reviewers
to earlier versions of this manuscript.
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ALEX RIALP CRIADO Associate Professor in
Business Organization in the Business Eco-
nomics Dep. of Autonomous University of
Barcelona, Spain.
Author and/or co-author of different books,
chapter books o papers is both local and
international academic journals such as
International Business Review, International
Marketing Review, Advances in Interna-
tional Marketing, Journal of International
Entrepreneurship, and Journal of Euromarketing. Dr. Rialp also
serves as editorial review board member of Journal of Interna-
tional Marketing (AMA) and ad-hoc reviewer for different
international journals.
A configuration-holistic approach to born-global firmsÕ strategy formation process
INMACULADA GALVÁN-SÁNCHEZ Assistant
Professor at the Department of Business
Economics and Management of the Univer-
sity of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
Vice-dean of the Business and Economics
Faculty of the University of Las Palmas de
Gran Canaria. Author and/or co-author of
chapter books and/or papers in Spanish
academic journals such as Información
Comercial Española and Cuadernos de Estu-
dios Empresariales. Dr. Galván also serves as reviewer board
member of Revista Internacional de la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa.
123
SONIA Mª SUÁREZ-ORTEGA Associate Pro-
fessor at the Department of Business Eco-
nomics and Management of the University of
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
Author and/or co-author of different
chapter books and articles in both national
and international journals such as Interna-
tional Marketing Research, International
Journal of Entrepreneurship & Research,
and International Small Business Journal.
Dr. Suárez-Ortega also serves as reviewer for different international
journals.