Abstract
The aim of this paper is to systematic literature review (SLR) of the research of Born Global (BG) and Social Capital (SC). This study aims to fill gaps in the literature by discussing scientific contributions and highlighting the main issues with previous research findings regarding the role of SC as antecedents and consequences in BG. This research is SLR from the 94 reputable journals that have discussed BG and SC in Scopus journals published from 2003 to 2020 based on a topic limitation search. This study found a growing body of research on BG and SC, with heterogeneity in methodology, antecedent, and unit analysis. Most BG research has discussed the role of network, capital, and SC as antecedents to the BG performance. This paper found that there were individual firm-level SC resources that could be used as potential tools to encourage BG performance. The literature on BG associated with SC is limited, and there is still no generally accepted model linking the two. On the other hand, for academics and practitioners, this study also offers an opportunity for further empirical studies of BG and SC with multilevel.
Introduction
Research into the early internationalization phenomenon has become more frequent (Coviello, 2015; Cavusgil & Knight, 2015), with the topic having been analyzed in many countries across the world, including Canada, Denmark, France, Norway, Spain, and the United States (Madsen & Servais, 1997; McDougall et al., 1994; Moen, 2002; Rialp & Knight, 2010). Internationalization is a dynamic process that involves the engagement of BG firms in a diverse range of cross-border network relations and exchanges (Zhou et al., 2007). This process includes the exchange and integration of economies, markets, nations, and cultures (Goncalves & Smith, 2019). One of the significant factors in increasing the role of internationalization in economic growth is through the export of BG. This export of BG can occur if firms have a strong networking capability, including SC and social networks (Cancino, 2014; Evald, 2011). Furthermore, SC is key in BG performance regarding distant markets and is likely to process dynamic characteristics (Lewis et al., 2013). Evidence suggests the important role of social networks for new internationalizes (Coviello, 2005; Prashantham & Dhanaraj, 2010; Sharma & Blomstermo, 2003).
Early internationalization, through BG firms, plays an important role in driving economic growth (Gerschewski et al., 2018; Trudgen & Freeman, 2014). Thus, the strategies employed in the early internationalization of BG firms continue to attract interest (Gerschewski et al., 2018; Knight & Leisch, 2015; Oviatt & McDougall, 1994). Vissak and Zhang (2016) state that, despite BG firms lacking resources (Hashai, 2011), if they benefit from networks created before internationalization (Coviello, 2006), including initial SC ties, it can quicken their international expansion (Prashantham & Dhanaraj, 2010). Existing research has also found that networking skills with vital partners abroad (Al-Laham & Souitaris, 2008; Jones & Coviello, 2005) and SC (Chetty & Agndal, 2007; Presutti et al., 2007) could be significant contributors to BG firms’ performance (Etemad & Lee, 2003; Freeman et al., 2006; Mort & Weerawardena, 2006; Zhang et al., 2009; Zhou et al., 2007). Superior networking and collaboration skills with intermediaries and other vital partners abroad are likely to enhance performance in BG firms.
From the previous articles on Scopus, 611 articles focus on BG. From the findings of the article, 293 articles limit SC. The article discusses various topics, focusing on management and business without any duplicate, we have 94 articles or 15% of BG articles. With this small percentage, this topic of SC and BG will be very interesting to discuss. In the existing BG articles, most researchers discuss about individual level of SC is 47%, firm level 17%, both 13% and the undefined 23%. The importance of discussing SC at the individual level (Cheraghi & Schøtt, 2016; Presutti et al., 2007; Ughetto, 2016; Varma, 2016; Yarbrough et al., 2017) how if the individual as founder or manager quits, then the business will not run as well. It is different from the corporate level SC which looks at the organizational level (Cancino, 2014; Hashai & Almor, 2004; Musteen, 2014; Rodríguez-Serrano & Martín-Velicia, 2015; Zhou, 2007). Both are important to distinguish which will have an impact on company performance (Coviello, 2006; Freeman et al., 2006; Sharma & Blomstermo, 2003). We argue that previous articles related not mention yet SC levelling of individual and organization in BG topic. We will discuss this topic in this article as gap and contribution.
The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the research of BG and SC as individual and organizational levels. This study aims to fill gaps in the literature by discussing scientific contributions and highlighting the main issues with the findings of previous research regarding the role of SC as antecedents and consequences in BG. We discuss how to narrow ourselves down by connecting BG with SC, especially the founder. The limitation that we do will make a difference with the previous BG SLR, again referring to the opinion of Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998), how the role of SC can make individual SCs become BG successors. We clustered the BG variabels and SC levelling in order to be able to discuss in more detail the role of SC in BG. We argue that several studies on SC show that SC founders are not only able to become a means of company success but are also able to make the organizational climate more externally oriented, so that this mechanism causes organizational performance to increase (Birasnav et al., 2019; Butticè, 2017).
Although previous studies have offered valuable insights through BG literature, particularly on internationalization, relationships, knowledge, and development of BG, all of these studies have discussed the framework of networks (Coviello, 2006; Fernhaber & Li, 2013) and factors such as SC and SN (Maurer & Ebers, 2006) localized in specific countries. Previous articles are few studies have performed systematic reviews on the network and SC of BG firms (Vissak & Zhang, 2016). This paper provides more comprehensive information on theories, themes, method employed, publication outlet, countries, and impactful articles in the network and SC of BG literature. The research questions on this study are as follows:
a. What are the antecedents and outcome used in BG internationalization research?
b. What is the level or cluster of SC to support the BG performance based on the findings on existing studies?
To answer the research questions, this research uses the applied SLR method within relevant studies on the subject (Tranfield, 2003). Database articles were taken from quartile journals (Q1, Q2, and Q3) alongside English literature on Scopus (García, 2011). Our database start on 2003 regarding first articles that mentioned SC as determinant in BG performance (Ferrary, 2003; Sharma & Blomstermo, 2003) until 2020 as limitation because of time constraints in compiling this article starting in 2021. This research also used study assessment and deep analysis of selected papers via the tabulation of extracts from the paper chosen to answer the research question. Existing research has presented definitions of SC and BG discussed throughout the literature. This study offers new insights into existing knowledge as SC should be discussed as an independent antecedent in the BG. We argue that practically, this study’s findings are able to aid practitioners in identifying where and how their SC can support BG both on individual, division, and firm levels.
Business model design plays a key role for BG’s (Straker et al., 2021), especially in companies with a focus on niche business models, with the founders’ international work experience (Hennart, 2021). In this context, the term business model is receiving increasing attention, which provides a framework that commercializes innovation, but more importantly it can become a decisive accelerator for the internationalization of companies and thus represents a new theoretical approach in BG research (Mahdjour & Fischer, 2014).
This study’s contributions are two-fold. Firstly, the findings expand on Prashantham’s (2008) argument that SC is an important resource for strategic renewal in BG internationalization, finding SC levelling cluster, in individual level show that founder/owner/leader/manager of BG firm could create network by his self to develop export strategic. This literature review also explores the theoretical and empirical research into BG and SC. Secondly, this research offers insights to entrepreneurs, managers, and directors to allow them to be focused on their BG’s SC, particularly in terms of SC strategic position and networks in organization capability or organizational level. Falahat (2018) argues that both entrepreneurial orientation and networking capability are important antecedents. Within this research, entrepreneurs could identify on which level their SC may optimized to support BG’s internationalization and which antecedents may be enhanced to speed up the BG performance. The literature on BG associated with SC is limited, and there is still no generally accepted model linking the two. On the other hand, for academics and practitioners, this study provides a comprehensive critical systematization of the limited BG and SC academic literature. This study also offers an opportunity for further research to address the limitations of empirical testing of BG and SC, the antecedents and consequences of various theories and methodologies.
Systematic Literature Review
The purpose of a literature review is to gather and analyze a large amount of information on a particular topic (Potdar, 2017). For this research, SLR was conducted to search for relevant studies on the chosen subject (Supriharyanti & Sukoco, 2023; Tranfield, 2003) and to and identify contextual factors that influence the choice of topic, namely BG and SC. The next stage of this process was to search for articles or journals on Scopus using keywords in a search and taking into consideration the results of the concept analysis. The search was conducted with keywords “Born Global” and “Social Capital” on Scopus databases. The Scopus database was chosen represent the composition of world science on a large scale (García-Lillo et al., 2017; Mudzakkir et al., 2022) (Table 1).
Region Distribution of Born Global Studies.
Management Research Review.
The chosen papers included both empirical and conceptual papers that would aid in answering the research questions. A total of 94 studies, including 43 quantitative and 51 qualitative paper, became the research data for this paper. The chosen paper was coded into tables to extract relevant information. The Table 2 consists of general and specific information on the papers. General information consists of name of authors, years, definitions of BG and SC.
Born Global and Social Capital Definitions.
Overview of Selected Articles
An overview of year distribution in this article (see Apendix 1). Ninety-four journals were identified on the subject of “Born Global” and “Social Capital” from 2003 to 2020. The geographical distribution of the research is presented in Table 2, which shows that this topic has been explored in more than 30 countries, and most of which (79%) were industrialized countries rather than developing countries (21%). This result reveals that most BG research requires further exploration in developing countries.
In terms of region, many studies have been conducted in Asia (18%), Northern Europe (17%), Southern Europe (12%), and Oceania (12%). Most of the papers have used cross-national data from different country or region without any comparison between them, and small portion have explored the concepts in more than two regions. We argue that previous research has tight limitation about research area, number of countries in their research quite small, it should be improving more area and comparison case to create various research. Previous research has discussed BG, which involves building an international BG market through SC and product innovation simultaneously (Presutti et al., 2020) but authors did not break down SC as a levelling and discusses BG and new organizational level conceptual (Nguyen et al., 2020). Previous articles not focus yet with role of SC on individual level as owner, founder and manager. Several other studies have expressed disagreement among researchers about the importance of certain SC configurations (structural, relational, and cognitive) for foreign innovation activity of BG firms (Freeman et al., 2006). Moreover, different configurations of SC required different types of effort and resources in the evolution of BG (Starkey & Tempest, 2010; Zahra et al., 2009). Following other studies, this research focuses on the evolution of the relationship between BG and key foreign customers (Pirolo & Presutti, 2010; Yli-Renko et al., 2002).
Theory
Fifty-one qualitative journals discussed how internationalization theory aided in building BG theory (Evers et al., 2019; Jiang, 2020; Kahiya, 2020), 67% on international entrepreneurship (Aspelund et al., 2018); 11% talk about network (Ryan et al., 2019; Sepulveda & Gabrielsson, 2013); SC topic is 15% (Gittins et al., 2015; Ryan et al., 2019); about knowledge 3% (Hughes et al., 2019; Kumar, 2012); resource-based view topic is 2% (Freeman et al., 2006) and 1% talk about institutional complexity(Liu, 2017) (1%). Forty-three quantitative journals, 65% discuss internationalization theory (Shrader et al., 2000), 21% about cognitive theory and internationalization (Sharma & Blomstermo, 2003; Manolova and Yan, 2002); 5% talk about the dynamic capability as a theoretical starting point of BG (Eisenhard & Graebner, 2007; Teece, 2000), social networks topics is 7%, and 2% about global start-ups (Nahapiet & Ghosal, 1998; Moran, 2005). Our highlight is their theories follow the internationalization topic but still used cross-theory or diverse theories to enrich knowledge and theoretical perspectives.
Methodology
The sample of this study included 19 theoretical papers and 74 empirical papers. 51 qualitative studies that have conceptual output to be tested in empiric research in further quantitative studies and 43 quantitative studies that tested models by antecedents, moderators, mediators and outcome variables. Much of the empirical research include case studies, both single and multiple. Single case studies are research conducted on one sample study (Aspelund et al., 2018), and multiple case studies involved four wireless technology entrepreneurs in Finland (Laanti et al., 2007), and seven Hongkong entrepreneurs Lundberg & Rehnfors (2011). The literature reviews included a critical review of a single Cavusgil paper (Coviello, 2015) to the bibliometrics analysis of 453 WoS paper (Dzikowski, 2018). Quantitative research has mostly used regression and the Structural Equation Model (SEM) method. Regression sample range started from surveys of 16 incubators in Sweden (Aaboen & Löfsten, 2015) to 88,628 entrepreneurs across 61 societies (Cheraghi & Schøtt, 2016), as well as a Structural Equation Model (SEM) method on 102 Spanish born-global SMEs (Rodríguez-Serrano & Martín-Velicia, 2015) to 2,000 firms from 1,000 New Zealand and 1,000 Australian firms (Gerschewski et al., 2015). In terms of data, most research has focused on industrial-level firms (n = 65); only 29% of papers discuss the SME Born Global (n = 27). This phenomenon shows that SME discussion, as a Born Global firm, is more limited than any discussion on an industrial level. In this study, we cluster SC on individual and organizational levels although some articles not mention of this clustering.of SLR. We think that previous articles use single level only, there are no multilevel approach. Authors should use multi-levels approach to able to find out in more detail the influence or relationship across variables and across levels to be developed further.
Discussion
Born Global and Social Capital
About SC leveling in BG topics, previous research has found that, among all the antecedents used to support BG internationalization, SC is the most important. According to Presutti et al. (2007), the structural dimensions of SC have a greater impact than relational and cognitive factors. Human and SC influence the level of intended export, whereas cognitive characteristics, such as self-efficacy and risk aversion, do not seem to influence export level. In other studies, human and SC, including experience and industry know-how, are found to be more accurate predictors of internationalization than a firm’s age or size (Reuber & Fischer, 1997; Westhead et al., 2001).
As stated in Table 2, it can be seen that many studies have different perspectives in defining SC. Some research has found that SC is a part of Born Global resources. In qualitative research, SC is a part of resource-based theory (Jones & Coviello, 2005) and refers to a set of resources embedded in an entrepreneur social network in Cannone et al. (2014); it is a resource for innovation and strategic renewal in BG internationalization (Prashantham, 2008) supported by the quantitative findings of Yarbrough et al. (2017) that SC requires former government officials on board of directors to prove to be valuable to firms. From a different perspective, quantitative research has found that social capital emerges from networks. Krau et al. (2017) states that SC develops through network relationships and task outcomes such as intercultural skills. SC involves recognizing intangible implications that arise from inter-firm relationships within a network (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998).
This finding is supported by Coviello (2015) in his qualitative research, which found that the greater the range or size of the INV network, the greater the potential access to information and other resources, thus increased SC (Borgatti et al., 1998; Greve & Salaff, 2003). Few studies have argued that SC is a source of knowledge (Presutti et al., 2007); when BG firms develop business relationships, the more likely they are to acquire new knowledge and exploit it as a basis for reinforcing foreign growth (Doz et al., 2001; Yli-Renko et al., 2002; Pressuti et al., 2007). We conclude from the review above that the presence of SC in BG is an important mechanism tool as a means of accelerating the company to become a born global company through the knowledge and network owned by both the founder and the company. We think that many perspectives about SC to create a network but the authors do not mention detail about where the networks come from individual or organizational level (within level). In further we need SC levelling in BG topics with leveling and show which the most impact that affect BG performance (between level).
Born Global Variables
This section describes the research antecedents used in BG database articles. The coding antecedent results are formulated in Figure 1. In systematic reviews, articles on quantitative research produced more valid, significant antecedents. Figure 1 illustrates that quantitative research has fewer moderator variables (learning, capability and capacity, and strategy) than others variables. This result may be because a number of studies have used moderating variables, which would have modified relationship between independent to dependent variables. Most of research have a direct and indirect relationship within mediator variable (capability and capacity, innovation, performance, network, etc.) and control variables (age, size, experience, etc.).
Literature search and process.
Based on data coding results from 94 articles, the researcher formulated that network is an important factor of BG firms. Based on the findings of Coviello (2006), the structural characteristics of INV (International New Ventures) networks may be similar, but the process-based relationships underlying them are not. To create international markets and network, entrepreneurs in membership of a local horizontal network share collective market knowledge and communal global customer information within networks for mutual benefits (Ryan et al., 2019) to support BG entrepreneurs’ knowledge in internationalization. Sharma and Blomstermo (2003) argue that BG firms possess international market knowledge before their first foreign market entry, foreign market entry mode is based on their existing knowledge and that supplied by their network ties and foreign market by motivational (Campos, 2017). In creating networks, entrepreneurs should maintain domestic markets, as stated by Sigfusson and Harris (2013). International entrepreneurs should not ignore strong domestic markets that they can easily address, and IEs in global technological fields should be aware of the risks of over-attention to their strong relationships with domestic customers. The same also occurs in Born Global firms in SME sectors; Weerawardena et al. (2019) found that small start-up firms develop these knowledge-based capabilities very early in the careers of founders and that the knowledge becomes the congenital knowledge of nascent firm. Melén and Nordman (2009) suggest that integrating the knowledge-based internationalization process theory and international entrepreneurship research may enhance the understanding of BG firms’ continued internationalisation. As internationalization knowledge is growing, and while notable contributions towards theoretical and methodological integration are evident, the field is described as phenomenon-based, potentially fragmented, and suffering from theoretical paucity (Jones et al., 2009).
Furthermore, the experience of the entrepreneur also plays an important role. Tiwari and Korneliussen (2018) state that the internationalization of resource-poor SMEs relies on entrepreneurs’ experiential knowledge, which is largely acquired through prior experience, social networks, and participation in international trade fairs. Furthermore, the growth of this BG case industry has been significantly influenced by the work of a handful of ambitious and extremely technically competent international entrepreneurs and the risk-seeking behavior of their firms rather than favorable structural industry conditions (Aspelund et al., 2018). Some articles show that SC as founders are key of BG company success and make firm performance increase (Buttice, 2017; Birasnav, 2019) (Figure 2).
Born global variables.
After paying attention to the results of mapping articles related to BG and SC, as well as finding leveling in SC, we propose a new definition related to BG as presented in the following figure:
The new definition of BG related to SC is (1) the founder’s approach to BG based on SC leveling. (2) is the founder’s orientation to entrepreneur and learning orientation, knowledge, and experience. (3) organizationally to achieve network capability, operational capability and capacity, organizational market orientation (4) to achieve BG performance.
Social Capital Cluster
Based on the results of the database analysis, there are clusters in SC discussion. The discussion of SC clusters itself still has no general direction. Based on the research database analysis, clusters in SC literature are divided into four groups (Figure 3): (1) SC as an individual resource in 47% of studies; (2) SC as firm resource in 17% of studies; (3) a combination of both individual and firm-level connection to support Born Global growth in 13% of studies; and (4) SC not being found as cluster in 23% of studies (Figure 4).
The role of SC on BG.
Cluster of SC from data base articles.
Individual level
Griffith and Harvey (2004) state that SC is an individual process of in BG firms and can be carried out by entrepreneurs, managers, or actors in these companies. From the articles discussing SC, 46% found that it existed on an individual level. A number of entrepreneur characteristics are important in supporting SC of BG performance. According to Cheraghi and Schøtt (2016), an entrepreneur should have SC and invest in networking. To achieve networking, entrepreneurs should have prior experience abroad (either as entrepreneur, employee, student/PhD student) to trigger and shape the internationalization process of a company (Cannone et al., 2014). Kraus (2017) states that individuals with more cultural identities were found to have greater SC and higher levels of intercultural skills than those with fewer cultural identities. Within this resource and characteristic, entrepreneurs, as individual resources, can optimize their role in maintaining SC to improve their BG market and growth. On an individual level, SC can also be handled by managerial staff, including the marketing manager (Griffith & Harvey, 2004). Yli-Renko et al. (2002) found that SC can exist in the form of management contacts, involved customers, and suppliers.
Organizational (Firm) Level
Baum (2015) states that SC is a resource in BG firms to succeed in the early internationalization process. Much of the SC concept on the firm level connects the relation between SC and learning and market. Zhou et al. (2007) highlight the importance of SC for BG firms, noting the attendant information benefits, such as advice about foreign market opportunities and the potential for experiential learning. Presutti et al. (2007) argues that network ties between a global high-tech start-up and its key foreign customer (the structural dimension of SC) are positively related to knowledge acquisition of a start-up abroad. SC must also be owned by the organization which is seen from the average value given by the members of the organization. The form of SC at the organizational level is in the form of a network owned through knowledge (Zhou et al., 2007) network to foreign customers (Presutti et al., 2007) export structural, networks involving public and private institutions (Cancino, 2014). The ability of the SC founder to be adapted by the organization will be an accelerator for SMEs to have a more flexible business model (Hennart, 2014) in adapting to market demands.
Individual and Organizational Level
Some research has found that SC refers to the nature of interactions between social actors (Kahiya, 2020). To define these relationships, BG firms need to hire both individual entrepreneurs and managers to handle the micro-environment (e.g., suppliers, distributors, competitors, and customers) and participants (Freeman et al., 2006; Sharma & Blomstermo, 2003). BG role as firms to handle networking need support from external stakeholders (e.g., governmental bodies, trade associations, commercial banks, transportation, and logistics providers). Coviello (2006) states these two forms of SC include external SC (in the form of management contacts, involved customers, and involved suppliers) and positively impact foreign market knowledge and, in turn, the international growth of new ventures (Yli-Renko et al., 2002). On a firm level, the greater the range or size of the INV network, the greater the potential access to information and other resources, thus increasing SC (Coviello, 2006). Furthermore, on a firm level, the development of rich internal SC with harmonious community spirit and collaborative intensity within the highly cohesive network is supplemented by industry associations.
Not Mentioned
A number of database studies have discussed the role of SC, which is positively related to knowledge intensity and ultimately influences Born Global international sales growth (Falahat, 2018) and early internationalization (Falahat, 2018). However, these studies have not mentioned SC clusters (Pellgrino & McNaughton, 2017; Romanello & Chiarvesio, 2019; Spulveda et al., 2013; Tsukanova, 2019; Vanninen et al., 2017;). In some version, there are statement that SC put on managerial team or division level. Autio (2005) researched founding teams’ ability to access and mobilize resources through cross-border knowledge networks or international SC.
Future Research Direction
Potential future directions for research are divided into two sections, namely theoretical methodological research directions. Each of these sections discusses a key issue of SC and BG found in this study that requires further examination. further research opportunities to develop and expand SC and BG literature. This research that some topics have rarely been discussed in BG the performance. Vissak and Zhang (2016) state that, despite Born Global firms lacking resources (Hashai, 2011), if they benefit from networks created before internationalization (Coviello, 2006), including initial SC ties, they can quicken their international expansion (Prashantham & Dhanaraj, 2010). SC is an important Born Global operation regarding distant markets and is likely to include dynamic characteristics (Lewis et al., 2013). The importance of SC for networks and BG firms, from previous literatures, still less journal that talk about BG and SC as an antecedent variable for BG performance. Literature is yet to discuss levelling in the framework of BG and SC, which is a field that would be worth exploring in future studies. Much of the research has been conducted in developed countries, meaning that it would be useful to explore these concepts in developing countries.
Theoretical Research Direction
The discussion of SC is a field that requires further consideration. In the early stages of discussion, Granovetter (1985) and Uzzi (1997) state that BG firms can leverage the rich SC in their home country’s horizontal network for accelerated international market entry and growth by quality of SC embedded in economic actors’ relationships, or whether actors are connected through strong or weak ties. During the years of theory developed on BG, there some deconstruction of network dynamics and relationships between networks and resources (among other areas). Jones et al. (2011) state that network research in IE appears to recognize that network ties are more than just “strong” or “weak” because they include many factors.
Methodological Research Direction
The methodology used in existing research includes qualitative and quantitative designs. The number of qualitative journals (51 studies) in this review exceeds that of quantitative journals (43 studies). In total, across the 100% qualitative database, there is a balance between literature reviews (44%) and empirical research (56%). Literature reviews (24%) make up a larger segment than systematic literature reviews (8%), bibliometrics (4%), and other literature methods (10%). In the empirical research, the majority of the studies were case studies (54%), and the rest (2%) involved in-depth interviews. This data shows that qualitative reviews on BG are still dominant as the common literature method compared to methods. In qualitative empirical research, most of them use case study even though they still did a minimum number of informant but can bring up phenomenon of BG in each fields. However, in terms of antecedent formulation, there are more complex antecedents considered in qualitative research, which is because literature reviews can be taken from numerous previous studies, whereas in-depth interviews can produce more variables during the interactions of researcher and informants in a specific field. Therefore, the formulation of antecedent seems more flexible than quantitative research.
In the cross-country discussion, database articles suggest that BG and SC have been explored in more than 30 countries, most of which (79%) are in industrialized country, with only 21% in developing countries. Research is growing in developing countries, though the number of studies conducted is low. It is hoped that BG research in developing countries would enrich the development of research and growth of the practice of BG firms’ internationalization.
Topic Research Direction
From theorical and methodological, future research direction could explain from SLR result by highest or the most rarest history. New topic that discussed before should be mention in this future research direction for improve new theory and arguments. The initial conditions for the discovery of the BG phenomenon and SC theory will certainly be different from the current conditions where the Z generation was born. This would be very interesting future research direction.
Implications and Conclusion
Implications in this study divided into categories, namely theorical and practical (BG firm and policy) implications. The theorical implications refer to the findings on clustering in SC, which are categorized into individual, division, and organizational levels. This SC cluster finding has not been discussed in existing research. This finding opens new opportunity to research these SC clusters in future research. In terms of practical implications, this research offers insights into entrepreneurs, manager, and directors, who should be more concerned with Born Global firms’ SC other implication is about policy maker, especially in terms of strategic position. Within this research, entrepreneurs and policy maker could identify on which level their SC can be optimized to support Born Global firms’ internationalization. If this internationalization is on an individual or division level, managers or marketing teams could be given challenges and rewards each time they achieved potential domestic and international business network. If the internationalization is on a firm or organizational level, entrepreneurs can join business associations and international exhibitions, which is one of the most effective SC strategies based on each Born Global firm characteristic.
Managerial and policy maker implications associated with emerging markets as the impact of antecedents, for SMEs founders in developing countries need to map out antecedents that are able to leverage BG in emerging markets. The results of previous studies show that leaders who have good SC will be able to build organizational SC to create emerging markets (Miocevic, 2022). Hennart’s (2014) research shows that the acceleration of emerging markets is determined by the business model built by the organization, the accuracy of the business model will determine how quickly SMEs/organizations can find new markets. Policy maker could analyze the condition to create or improve related policies.
Research Question 1 refer to how the clustering of SC optimizes BG internationalization based on existing research. Based on existing research, this study found that clustering in SC was categorized on different levels, namely individual as domination, division or organization or firm, combination individual and firm, and SC cluster not stated in literature. Research on BG can also be developed in a multilevel form, where the role of individual leaders in influencing teams and organizations will be measured. This is important because no matter how much SC at the individual level, if they are not able to form an SC team/organization, the business model built by the leader or founder will not provide acceleration in getting internationalization performance.
Research Question 2 focuses on what is the cluster from SC that has the most influence on the performance of BG companies, is it the individual level that emphasizes personal such as inventors, managers and staff who have SC or the company level that is not influenced by personal? If we focus on personal, once the person gone, SC will stop, but firm level is more stable for organization but need time to build the SC.
Footnotes
Appendix
Index Distribution of Qualitative Paper.
| Journal | Scopus index | SJIndex | Total | |
| International business review | 87 | 9 | ||
| Journal of international entrepreneurship | 41 | 8 | ||
| Journal of international business studies | 184 | 6 | ||
| International marketing review | 83 | 5 | ||
| Industrial marketing management | 125 | 4 | ||
| Journal of world business | 104 | 3 | ||
| Management international review | 53 | 3 | ||
| Journal of business research | 179 | 2 | ||
| Journal of international marketing | Q1 | 82 | 2 | |
| Thunderbird international business review | 33 | 2 | 51 | |
| Journal of business venturing | 170 | 1 | ||
| International journal of technology management | 61 | 1 | ||
| Management decision | 91 | 1 | ||
| Journal of engineering and technology management | 62 | 1 | ||
| International journal of entrepreneurship and innovation management | 22 | 1 | ||
| Business research quarterly | 21 | 1 | ||
| Review of managerial science | 20 | 1 | ||
| Total | 51 | |||
SJR = scientific journal rankings.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Ministry of Education and Culture, Dissertation Research Grant 2021 and Universitas Airlangga, Mandate Research 2021.
Data Availability Statement
The data can be obtained from the principal investigator upon reasonable request.