Title: Internationalisation in new ventures what role do team dynamics play?

Authors: Christian Hauser; Petra Moog; Arndt Werner

Addresses: Swiss Institute for Entrepreneurship (SIFE), University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur, Comercialstrasse 22, 7000 Chur, Switzerland. ' Department of Business Administration, Entrepreneurship and Succession, Fakultät III, Siegen University, Hölderlinstr. 3 H-A 4102/1, 57068 Siegen, Germany. ' Institute for SME Research Bonn (IfM Bonn), Maximilianstr. 20, 53111 Bonn, Germany

Abstract: The role of team size and dynamics in the internationalisation process of new ventures has received little attention in entrepreneurship literature so far. We hope to fill this gap by investigating how team formation and the intertemporal dynamics of teams in the first years of new ventures affect their propensity for early-stage-internationalisation. Using the resource-based view and matching theory, our study generates new insights in this field regarding productivity effects. Using regression models for binary outcome variables, we test our hypotheses with a data set of start-ups that are either internationalised or not (Cologne Founder Study). We find that new ventures with productive matched teams will overcome barriers to internationalisation easier than single person start-ups. In particular, we can show that a variation in team size (a decrease) enhances the productivity of the management and increases the probability to internationalise.

Keywords: international entrepreneurship; new business ventures; management teams; team dynamics; early-stage-internationalisation; RBV; resource-based view; matching theory; team size; team formation; intertemporal dynamics; productivity effects; regression models; binary outcome variables; internationalised start-ups; Cologne Founder Study; Germany; productive teams; matched teams; single person start-ups; size variation; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; entrepreneurs; interdisciplinary research; Europe.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2012.044587

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2012 Vol.15 No.1, pp.23 - 38

Published online: 14 Aug 2014 *

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