New international enterprises that are referred to as Born Globals have become the subject of research due to the success of their global operations, despite their early internationalization and limited resources. Given the importance of analyzing the characteristics that contribute to the success of Born Globals, our study examines the influence of international orientation on export performance. Additionally, we consider internal and external drivers for early and accelerated internationalization such as the Born Global’s innovative capacity, the dynamism of the market and the favorability of the environment. By estimating a structural equation model, the results show that international orientation is a strong driver of the export performance of Born Globals. However, this relationship is moderated by innovative capacity and the dynamism and favorability of the environment, thus achieving a greater effect on export performance when international orientation is complemented by these variables.

Introduction

Born Globals (BGs) are defined as “entrepreneurial start-ups that, from or near their founding, seek to derive a substantial proportion of their revenue from the sale of products in international markets.” (Knight and Cavusgil, 2004, p. 124). This type of firm contrasts companies that follow a gradual path of internationalization often related to the so-called internationalization process theory (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977). The internationalization process theory describes an approach to international markets whereby firms gradually increase their international involvement by entering foreign markets initially through independent representatives before subsequently establishing their own sales and production facilities. Firms reduce their perceived uncertainty about operating abroad mainly through a process of experiential learning entering nearby and culturally familiar markets first before conquering geographically and culturally distant markets. This gradual path of internationalization contrasts the early international market entry and rapid pace of internationalization of BGs (Paul and Rosado-Serrano, 2019). Therefore, the internationalization process theory is not able to explain the accelerated internationalization of BGs (Freeman et al., 2010; Lopez et al., 2009; McDougall et al., 1994).