The rise of 'small globals': an empirical macro analysis

Abstract

Even decades ago questions were raised about the traditional internationalisation process models for their failure to explain 'born globals' and firms that internationalised rapidly and skipped 'stages'. The rise in the new millennium of 'small globals' or small firms that internationalised across multiple, often distant, international markets further demonstrates the explanatory limits of internationalisation process models. Notably, these models emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. The international environment, however, has undergone dramatic changes since the 1990s with the development of the internet, advanced technologies, globalisation, and free trade. Whilst the enabling effects of these changes on firm internationalisation are acknowledged, they have largely not been explained nor empirically developed. This paper, based on an empirical study of 12 New Zealand small internationalising firms, addresses this research gap by providing a macro analysis of how key changes in the international environment have enabled the rise of born globals and small globals.