Internationalization and innovation: The case of a born global from Brazil

Abstract

The significance of Born Global firms´ study is increasing due to their early internationalization aspects, innovation and economic growth; however, most of existent studies are focused on developed markets. This is the reason why this study is addressed to analyze the internationalization effects on the innovation in a Born Global firm from emerging market. We have used the literature review about innovation, internationalization and Born Global from emerging markets, also an in-depth interview with the founder and the financial/administrative coordinator of a Brazilian Born Global company that have demonstrated a proactive internationalization behavior moving to the United States. The result shows that, the internationalization to a country with stable institutions affects positively the innovation of the firm, providing the possibility of exploring resources, resulting in financial growth, superior knowledge and capabilities. This research contributes for an improved knowledge of the phenomenon in the context of emerging markets. Also, the perspective of institutions in the host country, which determines the firm´s innovation performance and finally, we explore the case of a firm from an emerging economy that moved to a developed country (South-North) to develop new capabilities and maintain its strategy of innovation.

Keywords

• born globals
• emerging markets
• institutions
• internationalization
• innovation