International Business Research Forum
Beyond Silicon Valley: HOW emerging economiES are re-shaping our understanding of global entrepreneurship
10th Annual International Business Research Forum
Temple University, Philadelphia
April 17-18, 2009
Organizers:
Ram Mudambi and
T.L. Hill
Globalization is increasingly multi-directional, with trade, knowledge and capital flowing as much from and between emerging economies as from and between developed ones. Similarly, the internationalization trajectories of emerging firms are increasingly diverse – following fault lines of opportunity determined as much by market compatibility with given business models and the shape of top management team networks as by conventional considerations of market, political and cultural similarities and stability. Further, entrepreneurial firms increasingly draw innovations and resources from multiple capital markets and centers of excellence, often operating as multinationals from their earliest days. The central question for this special issue on Global Entrepreneurship is how these trends – and especially the rapid rise of emerging economies with their own entrepreneurial hotspots – affect both patterns of entrepreneurship and our understanding of the entrepreneurial process.
Possible areas of research inquiry include:
- Product, service and firm trajectories. Several theories of product, service and firm development emphasize how products and services arise in response to local market needs and are then adapted for sale in additional markets. Do these theories hold for products or services developed to serve customers at the bottom of the pyramid? How does design for the bottom of the pyramid change product and service design, business models and internationalization trajectories? Coping with competition from all sides. One of the consequences of increased globalization is competition from unexpected quarters as entrepreneurial firms arise from new and emerging centers of innovation and value creation. How does the increased complexity and geographical diversity of the competitive environment affect the entrepreneurial process? The requirements for success?
- Managing institutional challenges. In part, entrepreneurship involves a struggle to establish the legitimacy of new ideas, technologies, transactional norms and even language – not to mention the firm itself. How do entrepreneurs manage the struggle for legitimacy across multiple – and changing – institutional settings? How does this struggle affect the growth trajectory and structure of emerging firms?
- Availability of capital. Arguably, one of the limiting factors for entrepreneurship in new locations and at a global level is the availability of financing mechanisms including angel and venture capital. What factors affect the availability and distribution of investment capital in various economies? At a global level? What are the roles of established modes and concentrations of capital – e.g., family firms, government-owned firms, public firms, government funds, pension funds – in the promotion of, or resistance to, entrepreneurial firms? How does globalization affect the traditional role of social networks in the matching and governance of investments and entrepreneurial firms?
- Cluster effects. Industries, and especially innovations, seem to emerge from geographic clusters of firms and universities. How is globalization changing the importance and shape of such clusters? Is it possible for clusters to be virtual and unanchored in geographic space? Which governmental policies or initiatives, if any, have been effective in catalyzing the growth of local and virtual clusters?
- Possible, social, political, cultural and environmental limits to global entrepreneurship. What impact do shifting governmental policies and social and political attitudes have on the prospects for global entrepreneurship? Given the catalytic role of communication and transportation technologies in the growth of global firms, how will changing environmental realities shape the opportunity structure for entrepreneurship?
Manuscript Submission: Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with Journal of International Management’s Style Guide for Authors available at: http://fox.temple.edu/jim/authors.html. All manuscripts should be submitted electronically by January 15, 2009 to Kim Cahill, Managing Editor, Journal of International Management, at kcahill@temple.edu. Manuscripts are submitted with the understanding that they are original, unpublished works and are not being submitted elsewhere. Please direct any questions regarding the research forum to either of the co-chairs, Ram Mudambi (r.mudambi@temple.edu) or T.L. Hill (tl.hill@temple.edu). Additional information about the Annual IB Research Forum may be found on our website at: http://fox.temple.edu/conferences/ibrf The best papers from the forum will be published in a Special Issue of the Journal of International Management.