Seminar - Scaling, Fast And Slow: The Internationalization of Digital Ventures

You are cordially invited to attend a research seminar by Andreas Schotter (Dunning Fellow 19-20), Ivey Business School. Follow the link in your calendar email invitations (Join Microsoft Teams Meeting) to join the seminar on Wednesday, 9th June at 13.00.

Abstract:

At first glance, digital business ventures appear to face few impediments to international expansion. Since digital products and services can be delivered over the internet almost instantly to any country in the world, digital business models seem to challenge traditional conceptions of an internationalization process that is long and laborious. In reality, however, the internationalization of digital ventures is highly heterogeneous and firms are far from being immune to local market preferences and the organizational challenges of multinational operations. What explains this unexpected heterogeneity in internationalization among digital ventures that might otherwise be expected to pursue global markets essentially from inception? In answering this question, we extend and enhance the emerging work on the internationalization of digital ventures through a detailed investigation of 169 US-based firms that completed an IPO from 2010 to 2019. Our work contributes fresh perspectives and empirical evidence on why some digital firms find it easier to achieve international scale than others.