An ecosystem that facilitates international

entrepreneurship

Supervisor
Prof. Utz Dornberger

Farzana Akther
PhD Candidate
sept.uni-leipzig.de
Objective of my research
To figure out an ecosystem that facilities development of international
entrepreneurship
Key points of my presentation in June 2017
- Review of concepts of internationalization and early internationalization of firms
- Review of the concept of international entrepreneurship
- Review of the concepts relating to entrepreneurship ecosystem
- Comparative review of the components of entrepreneurship ecosystem from GEM, WEF, and
Babson College
- A list of constructs and components of my proposed International Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
- Methodology for operationalization and implementation of my research

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Comments on my previous presentation

1. Reviewing again the literature of Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

2. Reviewing the literature of Export Promotion Programs

What I did relating to the comments?

Review Area Journals Year

Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (EE)
JBV, ETP, HBR; JOM, Upto 2018
JOIM, IBR, JIBS, GB
Export Promotion Programs (EPPs)

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Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Literature review

Daniel J. Spigel (2015 &

Peter Vogel, Erike Stam (2015
Isenberg 2017)
2013 & 2017)
(2010)

-Specific -Regional -Regional -Regional

location -Nine factors in -ten elements under -Eleven elements
-Six domains two levels two conditions under three attributes

Specific locational focus affecting entrepreneurial activity; encourages business

creation and development.

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Export Promotion Programs (EPPs)
Countries Financial Incentives
Developed countries - Financial support,
- Insurance for product & client
- Export credit guarantees
Emerging countries - Co-finances firms’ participation in
international trade missions and trade
fairs
- Industrial technical
assistance fund
- Tax incentives,
- Insurance for product
Developing countries - Duty drawback system
- Bonded warehouse facilities
- Cash subsidy, tax incentives
Non-financial Incentives
Providing information, consulting &
counselling, help in seeking foreign contacts
& representatives, Trade missions, Trade fairs
and exhibitions, Trade publications, seminar
& training, Expert & transportation support
- Providing training and coaching,
information, counselling, technical assistance
-Arranging trade fair, trade missions, and
exhibition
- Infrastructure facilities, advisory services
and support programs
- Providing information & training facilities,
- Arranging trade fair, trade missions, and
exhibition
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 Review of International Entrepreneurship & Early
Internationalization Literatures
International
Opportunity Identification
International
Entrepreneurship International
Home Context

Opportunity Exploitation

Host Context
IE & Firm‘s early
internationalization

Entry mode & Time

dimension
Firm‘s
Internationalization Market & Strategy
dimension

Cultural & Relational

dimension

Growth & Withdrawl

dimension

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Early Internationalization Literature (Operational) Review

Founders’ characteristics,
Individual backgrounds, networks,
capabilities
Drivers

Firm orientations,
Firm
strategies, resources

Home market, target

Environment market, industry

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A longitudinal data based on Bangladesh

 I have complied a last 10 years (2008 – 2017) database which is yet to be refined for analysis
 I have included the components and indicators from the following sources
- Doing Business Report
- Global Innovation Index
- Global Competitiveness Index
- Index of Economic Freedom
- Corruption Perception Index
- Human Development Index
 Data yet to be analyzed with appropraite statistical measures

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Case Study 01: Kely Tiles
Product: Roof tiles

Year of Establishment: 2000 Exporting Commence: 2003

No of Employees: 31 Technology Status: Hand made artisan product (Low-tech)

Regulatory Unsupportive regulations, no incetive, bureaucratic barriers

Inteligence Personal initaitive, Absence of new market and customer prospecting and knowing
support

Resources No special creditline, Long-term financing hard to arrange, Attatined management

training, Can’t employed professionally qualified and trained managers,
Warehousing hard to manage
Culture No special recognition, Rather snobbed by the service providers for being small in
size and low technology

Network Informal- Personal network, No idea of or participation in Trade Fair or any other
networking events

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Case Study 02: Hamko Battery
Product: Lead acid battery & Solar battery
Year of Establishment: 1978 Exporting Commence: 2001
No of Employees: 85 Technology Status: Low-tech

Regulatory Environmetal and Human Safety Certification complex and non-transparent,

Unclear export policy relating to this product, Financial incentive for exporting

Inteligence Personal initaitive and thourgh travelling abroad, Trade fair

Resources Long-term financing hard to arrange, Cost of project financing is too high,
Operational-level Technician and Engineers avialable, No R&D

Culture No special recognition in the society as exporter

Network Informal- Personal network, Self-supported tarde and technology fairs

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Case Study 03: Mild Steel Wire Manufacturer
Product: Construction and Maintenance Wiring
Year of Establishment: 2003 Status: Domestic
No of Employees: 68 Technology Status: Medium-tech

Regulatory Ambiguious position in export policy, Inadequate incentives

Inteligence No workable information about export opportunity, No idea about any market
information resources outlets

Resources Operational-level Technician and Engineers avialable, No R&D, Managers are not
with advanced skills relating to communicating and negotitating in foreign market,
Long-term project financing is expensive
Culture Family and friends value as ‚business owner

Network Never travelled to any trade fair, Only attented few technolgy fair in India and
China

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Refined understanding – Structure of IE Ecosystem

Level Active/ Focus Mechanism Instruments

Coordinating
Agent
Climate -National -National agents -Mind cultivation -Improving, cultivating, -Regulations &
Development level -Social agents -Making awareness teasing, energizing & norms setting
-Industry -Industry agents -Feel good & worthy facilitating instruments -Incentives &
specific (Association) for general ability & encouragement
level appropriation structure
development

Opportunity Industry/ -National agents -Specific opportunity -Informations searching -Business specific
Identification Business -Industry agents spoting & -Information utilization info & resource
groups/ -Business group visualization -Opportunity as business facilitations
Firms agents identification -Capability
-Deciding about facilitations
opportunity
Opportunity -Industry/ -National agents -Translating -Risk reduction -Resource availabily
Exploitation Business -Industry agents opportunities into mechanism or access facilitation
groups/ -Business group business deeds & -Capability alignment -Specific capability
Firms agents transactions development facilitation

Feedback & -National -National agents Ensuring dynamism -Information securing Coordinating &
Reconfiguring level -Industry agents in the span -Information replacing updating
-Industry -Mindset reconfiguring
level

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Refined understanding – Layers and Actors positioning in IE
Ecosystem

Layers Actors Boundary Span Interactions

Macro National agents National Connecting to -Peer-to-Peer in

-economic -National Industry destination market/ international level
-social -Social/ Business economic -Non-specific focus
-regulatory groups in home
-cultural
Meso -Industry agents -Industry, Business Peering Peer-to-peer
-Business group group peers international
agents
Micro -Firms -Organizations B-2-B Business
B-2-C transactions &
social transactions

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Refined understanding – Functional Mechanism of IE Ecosystem

National National Agents National

Industry Industry
Industry Agents
Firm Firm
Capability,
procedure
translated into
business

Home Country Host Country A, B, C,.....

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Refined Domain for International Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
Domain of IE Ecosystem Components

Regulatory - Protection
- Support
- Growth
Intelligence - Market intelligence
- Process intelligence
- Network intelligence
Resources & Capacity facilitation - Finance
- Technology
- Skill
- Facilities & infrastructure
Culture - Favourabilities of norms & values
- Trust and uncertainity
- Entrepreneurship related prestigue &
recognition
- Social & career role model
Networks - Facilitation in networking
- Facilitation in absorption from international
network
- Initiatives for promoting positions in
international networks

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Challenges to be cleared in the next steps
Conceptual challenge:
 Should it be industry specific due to high amount of industry difference?
- incentives, encouragement, capabilities, infrastructure etc.are industry specific

Operational challenge
 Is quantitative instruments enough for surveying the SME entreprenurs to get an idea about
internationaiziation supporting ecosystem?
 Should I mix it with a business history analysis?

How I validate my reserach outcome

 Do I apply kind of benchmarking?
 In such case, multiple countries from similar regional and different regional groups can be
selected for benchmarking with my findings
 Such bench marking should be based archival data

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The works planned in the coming days

 June – October, 2018, Survery of the SME Entreprenurs in Bangladesh

 Novemeber 2018 – March 2019 : Analysis of data
 Ausgust 2019 – Finsishing the 1st Draft of the Thesis
 February 2020 – Submission to the Faculty

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Plan for Survey of the SMEs

Planned time: June – October, 2018

Popoulation: SMEs in low and medium-tech sectors
Taget population Sampling farme Sample
Plastic industry 250 SMEs identified from 70 to 100 no them will be
Leather Industry BSIC, BLEM, EPB, SFB interviewed with a
membership directories, structured questionnaire
Battery industry who have based on non-pobability
Footware industry Trade Licencse sampling method
BIN
Agro-processing industry TIN
Flower growing industry Organized Management
Continuing operations
over the years
Survey Instrument: StructuredFew
Questionnaire
are exporting alraedy

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Insert Name
International SEPT Program
Leipzig University
Ritterstrasse 9-13
D-04109 Leipzig
Germany

E-Mail: youremail@uni-leipzig.de
Web: www.sept.uni-leipzig.de

sept.uni-leipzig.de