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.