Anywhere in the World? The Internationalization of Small Entrepreneurial Ventures using a Social Media Platform

This study aimed at investigating the interplay between internationalization and digitalization using a social media platform during the early phases of the internationalization process of new ventures from an emerging economy. The research adopted the longitudinal multiple-case study method of investigation. All the firms that were studied had operated on a social media platform (Instagram) since their inception. Data collection was based on two rounds of in-depth interviews and secondary data. The research used thematic analysis, cross-case comparison and pattern-matching logic. The study contributes to the extant literature by (a) proposing a conceptualization of the interplay between digitalization and internationalization during the early phases of the internationalization trajectory of small new ventures from an emerging economy using a social media platform; (b) detailing the role of the diaspora during the outward internationalization of these ventures and outlining the theoretical implications of this phenomenon; and (c) providing a micro perspective on how entrepreneurs exploit platform resources and face platform-related risks during their enterprise's early domestic and international phases.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11575-023-00510-8.

Setbacks, interruptions and turnarounds in the internationalization process: a bibliometric and literature review of de-internationalization

The paper presents a comprehensive review of research on de-internationalization, encompassing the themes of export withdrawal, subsidiary divestment, and backshoring or reshoring. A bibliometric technique (co-word analysis) on keywords from articles and book chapters published from 1980 to 2020 was initially used to confirm the main strands related to de-internationalization. Then, the study employed a bibliometric coupling analysis to identify the recent trends within each theme. The literature was divided into three clusters, which, using different but related terms, addressed the same phenomenon of firms’ decrease in foreign commitment. The ramifications of research on de-internationalization were examined for each of the clusters, mapping the issues deserving of further investigation and making recommendations for future research. The study uses an unprecedented method for understanding the de-internationalization phenomenon more broadly, delimiting its conceptual boundaries and mapping the different manifestations within a single theoretical domain.

Repensando Estratégias de Offshoring e Marketing Internacional Durante a Pandemia do COVID-19

ABSTRACT This teaching case focuses on the national and international expansion of IGT Motors, a Brazilian company operating in the market for twenty years that has moved most of its production to China since 2010. Nearly after the company started searching for new markets abroad and adapted its internal and communication processes to comply with other countries’ preferences and regulations, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led top management to rethink its production and marketing strategies, specifically hit by involving China, country of origin of the virus. The case is about how small companies in the midst of a global expansion can deal with unexpected scenarios and emerging crisis, engaging students to reflect upon the initiatives that might be taken to overcome issues such as consumer animosity, but also to make the company less susceptible to similar situations in the future.

Rethinking Offshoring and International Marketing Strategies during the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT This teaching case focuses on the national and international expansion of IGT Motors, a Brazilian company operating in the market for twenty years that has moved most of its production to China since 2010. Nearly after the company started searching for new markets abroad and adapted its internal and communication processes to comply with other countries’ preferences and regulations, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led top management to rethink its production and marketing strategies, specifically hit by involving China, country of origin of the virus. The case is about how small companies in the midst of a global expansion can deal with unexpected scenarios and emerging crisis, engaging students to reflect upon the initiatives that might be taken to overcome issues such as consumer animosity, but also to make the company less susceptible to similar situations in the future.

Synthesis of a new allelopathic agent from the biotransformation of ent-15α-hydroxy-16-kauren-19-oic acid with Fusarium proliferatum

The use of kaurane diterpenes as substrates in fungal biotransformation to achieve bioactive compounds has been widely reported. In this work, the natural product kaurenoic acid, a diterpene widely distributed in the plant Kingdom, was chemically converted into ent-15α-hydroxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid (1). Substrate 1 was subjected to biotransformation by the fungus Fusarium proliferatum, furnishing a new derivative, ent-2α,15α-dihydroxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid (2). The structure of metabolite 2 was deduced on the basis of spectroscopy and MS data. Derivative 2 showed allelopathic activity on germination and growth of root and stem of lettuce (Lactuca sativa), inhibiting 100% of germination and growth of roots and stem, at higher concentration assayed (10-4 mol/L).

Ivia: crescimento e internacionalização

Este caso de ensino apresenta o processo de internacionalização de uma empresa que guarda três peculiaridades: pertencer ao setor de serviços; comercializar software, um produto não típico da pauta de exportações brasileiras; e ter origem no Nordeste do Brasil. Fundada em 1996 na cidade de Fortaleza, a Ivia foi a primeira empresa a lançar o serviço de Internet Banking no Nordeste do Brasil e o primeiro provedor de acesso à Internet com foco no mercado corporativo de Fortaleza. Dez anos depois, a empresa desenvolvia ferramentas de negócios para a web, visando otimizar processos gerenciais de empresas, baseadas na tecnologia de Internet, tendo desenvolvido clientes para seus produtos no Brasil e em Portugal. O caso descreve a trajetória da Ivia em sua primeira década de existência e o início de seu processo de internacionalização. A questão central a ser discutida é de que modo a empresa pode sustentar seu processo de internacionalização, enquanto amplia suas atividades no mercado doméstico. Além disso, o caso permite debater de que forma as ações governamentais podem apoiar o desenvolvimento internacional de pequenas empresas de software, prioridade da atual política industrial.

Continuidade da ação internacional, características da empresa e obstáculos percebidos: um estudo na indústria brasileira de calçados

O estudo teve como objetivo testar a existência de relação entre a percepção prévia de barreiras à exportação e a continuidade das empresas na atividade exportadora. Além disso, procurou verificar se determinadas características das empresas estão associadas a sua permanência na atividade. Foram utilizados dados secundários constantes de um arquivo de dados sobre empresas exportadoras do COPPEAD/UFRJ, relativo a uma survey realizada em 1978 junto a 114 empresas brasileiras do setor calçadista. Entre os dados coletados na ocasião, selecionaram-se aqueles que se referiam a barreiras à exportação e características das empresas. Utilizaram-se também dados relativos as exportações das empresas da amostra nos anos de 1980, 1990 e 1994. Para o teste das hipóteses utilizou-se a análise linear de discriminantes. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que a percepção de obstáculos à exportação e algumas características das empresas permitiriam predizer com razoável acurácia, em 1978, quais empresas continuariam exportando e quais deixariam de exportar.

Massive infestation by Ascaris lumbricoides of the biliary tract: report of a successfully treated case

This is a report of a 25 years old black woman from the city of São Paulo, Brazil, who developed acute obstructive cholangitis of Ascaris lumbricoides with septicemia and multiple hepatic abscesses. The patient had sickle cell trait and normal delivery 3 months ago. Massive infestation of the biliary tract by Ascaris lumbricoides was diagnosed by abdominal ultrasonography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiography. Sixty worms were removed from the common bile duct and hepatic abscesses were drained by surgery. The infectious process was polymicrobial. The patient's recovery was complete after a long evolution with a wide spectrum antibiotic therapy. New surgeries were needed to remove residual worms in the biliary tract. The diagnostic methods, clinical-biochemical features and also the clinical and surgical management are presented. The biliary ascariasis pathophysiology is commented.