The Evolution of Born Globals’ Internationalization Strategy ; the case of Opera Software

Abstract

Firm internationalization has for long been viewed as a gradual process, wherein firms expand internationally in an incremental stepwise manner. In the last couple of decades however, evidence of a more rapid internationalization process started to emerge in certain firms, identified as “Born Globals”. The Born Global firm has received a substantial amount of attention in the last years in regards to its distinctive internationalization characteristics at its startup phase. Yet, knowledge on the internationalization strategy of the Born Global firm once it reaches maturity is still lacking. Through a longitudinal single case study, this thesis aims to analyze the dynamics of the Born Global’s internationalization process. The focus is to understand in what way does the strategy evolves over time and what is the rationale behind it. My data shows that the change in the internationalization strategy over the years is influenced by five elements: resources, management, networks, environment (rational factors) and serendipity (irrational factor). For each of these elements, the relative effect on the internationalization strategy is identified and discussed. The findings contribute to the understanding of how and why the internationalization strategy of the Born Global firm evolves over time, from the infant to the mature phase.