Title: Born global phenomenon: a critical review and avenues for future research

Authors: Md Imtiaz Mostafiz; Murali Sambasivan; See-Kwong Goh

Addresses: Sheffield Business School, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK ' Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai, India; Faculty of Business and Law, Taylor's University, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Business and Law, Taylor's University, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: The phenomenon of born global has received significant attention by international business scholars because of its distinctive characteristics. Several theories, perspectives and frameworks have been adapted to investigate and scrutinise the characteristics of the born global phenomenon. This study aims to review and critically evaluate the literature to (1) discuss the diverse theoretical approaches, (2) discuss the findings from qualitative and quantitative studies, (3) develop a holistic framework and (4) propose avenues for future research. The in-depth critical literature review includes the analysis of 230 articles published in peer-reviewed journals over a 24-year time-span between 1993 and 2017. The result shows that the interest in born global research has increased gradually. Both theoretical and empirical scholarships have contributed significantly to this interest. Based on the results, a theoretical model has been developed to describe the unrivalled factors to achieve BGF's success. This study also provides deeper insights into the born global knowledge and highlights the areas for future research.

Keywords: born global firms; international new ventures; early internationalising firms; born global characteristics.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2023.131701

European Journal of International Management, 2023 Vol.20 No.3, pp.444 - 474

Received: 24 Dec 2018
Accepted: 28 May 2019
Published online: 29 Jun 2023 *

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