Context and Complexity of International Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research

Abstract

International Entrepreneurship has become a focal point of interest and an important field of research for theory building in International Business and Entrepreneurship. Therein it pertains to the complexity of research issues addressing: first, small and larger, young and more established firms, exploiting opportunities in the international market place. Second, how does entrepreneurial behavior differ between national and cultural contexts? Six studies in this dissertation uncover and mirror the inherent complexity of the phenomenon within the three subdomains of International Entrepreneurship. Three studies cover the sub-domain of entrepreneurial internationalization; two further studies encompass inquiries into this domain from a comparative perspective while one study covers the cross-cultural view on domestic Entrepreneurship. Despite today’s globalized context, decisions, economic action, and outcomes are still not context-free. Rather, places, firms, and strategies form a complex ecology. Given that International Entrepreneurship is concerned with multiple contexts, which might be highly diverse, possible conflicting and thus influencing the likelihood of exerting its enhancing or constraining mechanism, all six studies incorporate a contextualized perspective. Based on this context-lens the thesis concludes with an integrative framework – the Context Diamond framework – being essential when addressing future questions in the three subdomains of International Entrepreneurship.