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This paper aims to investigate the antecedents and outcomes of international opportunity identification (IOI) in export-manufacturing firms. The fundamental question addressed in this research is: How does dynamic managerial capability (DMC) of entrepreneurs contribute to IOI and success of the firms?

The research model was tested through structural equation modeling among the readymade garment manufacturing firms in the least developed country, Bangladesh. A survey was conducted with a random sampling approach and responses were collected from 390 firms.

The salient findings are: DMC has direct and indirect impacts through IOI on financial and non-financial performance; IOI mediates the relationship between managerial social capital and non-financial performance and between managerial cognition and non-financial performance; IOI has a negative relationship with the financial performance of the firms; and scope of accelerated internationalization positively moderates the relationship between IOI and financial performance of firms.

This paper notably shows that DMC of export-manufacturing entrepreneurs leads to the identification of the right kind of opportunities, which, in turn, generate better performance. It is advantageous for this type of firm to operate a business in multiple countries.

The purpose of this paper is to develop the international opportunity identification (IOI) scale through psychometric evaluation in an emerging economy context.

Samples consist of international firms operating in the apparel industry in Bangladesh. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on the first wave of responses to unfold the underlying dimensions of IOI. The second wave of data was used to confirm the validity of IOI scale through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

EFA suggests a unidimensional scale, which is supported by CFA. The relationship between IOI and financial performance is significant and confirms nomological validity. Results also confirm the validity and reliability of the IOI scale.

This study indicates that IOI is a reliable and valid scale to measure the strategic action of the international firms operating in emerging economies, and has a positive relationship with financial performance.

This chapter is aimed at developing a conceptual framework for the internationalization process of social business (SB). The study has been conducted by reviewing the literature on social entrepreneurship, SB, and internationalization of small business. The study indicated that the internationalization decision for SB is taken by the motivation to create a social impact in the target foreign location. Based on the analyses and related literature, the entrepreneur-specific, firm-specific, and context-specific factors affecting the internationalization decision of social entrepreneurs are presented. As part of the framework, the chapter explains opportunity identification and the internationalization implementation phases for SBs. One of the key contributions of the chapter is the depiction of an internationalization framework for SB, which is an innovative addition to social entrepreneurship literature. The framework developed here could help social entrepreneurs to take decisions for scaling their businesses internationally.

Entrepreneurs’ decision-making for detecting, evaluating and utilising opportunities across international borders is one of the main subjects of international entrepreneurship research. This study aims to argue that recognising and classifying international entrepreneurship opportunities facilitate the decision-making process. To do such a thing, a multi-layer decision-making approach focusses on the industrial sector of the Kish free zone. In the first stage, the data will be collected by a questionnaire survey of entrepreneurial companies in the industry field and the main international entrepreneurship opportunities will be identified. In the second stage, the importance and relationship between the opportunities will be evaluated based on the identified opportunities. Eventually, in the last stage, the relationship and the importance of the opportunities will be determined by proposing and using a multi-layer decision-making approach. In conclusion, the prioritised international entrepreneurship opportunities will be presented.

This paper aims to build on opportunity identification and resource-based view theory, this paper examines the internationalization process of family firms. The role of innovativeness in influencing the internationalization rate of family firms is explored in terms of customer responsiveness, proactiveness and risk-taking.

Multiple case studies were carried out with several family businesses in the information technology industry in Australia.

The findings of this research suggest that innovativeness of family firms depends on responsiveness to customer needs in the international market while involving a degree of risk-taking. In addition, the results suggest family firms are not proactive in their pursuit of international market opportunities.

If family firms focus more on becoming more innovative, then they will stand a better chance to successfully enter more international markets.

The paper highlights the need for family firms to embrace their innovativeness as a distinctive capability for their internationalization efforts. Several new research directions that may enhance the understanding of family firm innovation and internationalization are suggested.

Entrepreneurial opportunity (EO) identification pertains to the core processes of entrepreneurship and innovation. The initial phase of this process starts with individual cognition, which is why cognition has been established as a critical theoretical perspective.

Knowledge and new information have been confirmed as essential cognitive impact factors. However, it is not understood well, how individuals apply those factors and how they actually identify innovative and economically viable EOs. To address the limitations of current research, this chapter investigates the current literature on underlying cognitive processes of opportunity identification.

The literature analysis demonstrates that there is not a single cognitive process but rather a magnitude of different micro-mechanisms that are necessary for the successful identification of EOs. The findings are grouped to four categories of cognitive processes and entail their micro-mechanisms: pattern recognition, information processing, and creative thinking. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that those micro-mechanisms have seldom been related to each other within the scope of opportunity identification. This chapter closes this gap by discussing and contrasting and the different process categories and respective micro-mechanisms and suggests an integrative theory development and avenues for future research.

International entrepreneurship (IE) has received a considerable amount of attention in the recent decades as a result of globalization enabling access to new international markets and business opportunities. Despite the growing increase in academic publications, IE still faces certain inconsistencies, with doubts remaining as regards its boundaries and the thematic groups making up the field. The purpose of this article is to systematically analyse the IE, mapping the intellectual territory and the evolution of the field.

Indexed to Web of Science( WoS) database until 2021, from 52 journals, 130 articles were selected, applying content analyses techniques to identify the main research lines.

The results reveal that IE presents four conceptual themes/clusters: (1) international business networks and opportunities; (2) institutional environments; (3) the characteristics and motivations of entrepreneurs; and (4) internationalisation drivers and processes. Extant analysis show that IE has progressed immensely, concentrating a good diversity of subtopics and research trends. An integrative framework bringing together 27 years of publications and 67 future research lines, detailed by cluster, were also presented in this study to improve understanding and guide future studies.

This review makes a broad contribution to the IE literature, assisting in consolidating the academic field, expanding and complementing the results of previous theoretical–conceptual studies. We reflect and individually discuss the state of the art of the four streams that characterize IE to identify key themes, points of convergence and advance new subfields.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a conversation between international business and international entrepreneurship literatures by analyzing if and how international opportunities are related to the internationalization process of the firm.

This paper reports finding from a backward-looking longitudinal, qualitative, embedded case study of an internationalized Brazilian firm, covering all 13 foreign markets where the firm has operated over 18 years.

Modal shifts within foreign markets were rare. Over time, the firm learned how to refine, rather than change, the servicing modes within each foreign market; it also learned how to better develop internal and exploitative opportunities, manage a portfolio of servicing modes across foreign markets, and use more complex mode servicing packages. Overall, international opportunities and the internationalization process of the firm were inextricably connected.

The authors acknowledge limitations related to the statistical generalizability of the research method and suggest that statistical validation is needed as the research on opportunities and the internationalization process of the firm progresses.

Internationalizing firms should carefully consider the choice of entry mode in foreign markets. They should also understand that learning is not necessarily associated with change.

The authors show that the internationalization process of a traditional firm can be analyzed through an opportunity lens. This means associating characteristics of international opportunities with mode continuation and modal shifts in all foreign markets where the firm operates.

Entrepreneurial alertness is a key factor in business opportunity identification. Scholars have determined that successful entrepreneurs have high levels of entrepreneurial alertness, but only a limited number of studies are available on the concept. One of the major reasons identified is the fragmented constituents and less knowledge of the components determining the level of alertness. The present study aims to integrate the varied research on entrepreneurial alertness, identify its core components and develop the understanding of the concept of entrepreneurial alertness.

The study is based on a systematic review of secondary research. The first stage involved identifying relevant publications and applying practical screening. In the second stage, the resources were screened for the inclusion criteria, and in the final stage, the articles meeting the inclusion criteria were read in detail for the final analysis.

The review resulted in identification of the following core components of the alertness construct – sensing and searching information, cognitive ability, personality factors (like creativity and self-efficacy), environment, social networks, knowledge and experience. The review also highlighted that cognitive ability plays a central role in alertness.

Based on the review of literature, the study proposes a model of the alertness construct, which attempts to draw a relationship between the identified components. The review also uncovers several unexplored areas, which still need to be addressed in the area of entrepreneurial alertness.

Understanding how international business opportunities (IBOs) are recognized and developed is critical to the study of international entrepreneurship.

We draw on entrepreneurial cognition research broadly and the entrepreneurial judgment perspective specifically to develop a model of the recognition and development of IBOs by considering three theoretically important sets of drivers – social networks, international experience and a proactive mindset. We use a sample of 92 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to test the model empirically.

We find robust support. Entrepreneurial judgment surrounding IBOs and uncertain international business environments entails tapping social networks, international experience and a proactive mindset to both recognize third-person opportunities for someone as well as to act upon and develop IBOs as first-person opportunities from which a focal firm can profit.

Conceptually and empirically, we peer inside the black box of IBO entrepreneurial judgment processes by jointly evaluating the abstract recognition of third-person opportunities as well as the concrete actions and interactions that develop the IBOs into first-person opportunities.