To Internationalise Entrepreneurially from Low-Tech Emerging Market: The Role of International Entrepreneurial Capability and Orientation in Early Internationalising Firms from Bangladesh

Abstract

The export entry of small firms has been recognised as an entrepreneurial activity in the entrepreneurship literature. Thus, developing a holistic understanding of what it means for small firms to internationalise entrepreneurially across different contexts is essential. However, the literature on capabilities in international entrepreneurship has tended to remain either conceptual or qualitative, and scholars have called for studies on capabilities of emerging market firms specifically. This chapter responds to these methodological and contextual gaps in the literature by conducting a quantitative study on the capabilities of early internationalising firms from Bangladesh. We examine how international entrepreneurial capability and international entrepreneurial orientation impact internationalisation of early internationalising firms in a developing country low-tech industry context. With an empirical sample of 647 firms from Bangladesh, we find (1) positive relationship between the international entrepreneurial capability of entrepreneurs and international EO of the firm; (2) positive relationship between the international entrepreneurial capability of entrepreneurs and both financial and non-financial performance; (3) positive relationship with international entrepreneurial orientation with both types of performance; and (4) partial mediation effect by international entrepreneurial orientation in the international entrepreneurial capability—performance relationship. Consequently, this study posits that entrepreneurial internationalisation involves the adoption and application of both entrepreneurial capability and orientation simultaneously. In this way, the study adds to the scientific knowledge on what it means to internationalise entrepreneurially and emphasises the important role that quantitative research methods have in IE in general, as well as for developing markets and low-tech industries in particular.