The Internationalisation of Technolatinas from a Resource-based Perspective

Purpose - This paper investigates how entrepreneurs in an emerging economy in Latin Ameri-ca bundle resources to develop capabilities related to entering new markets whilst creating value for their firms. In particular, the paper explores how individual resources (experiential knowledge and social networks) impact on entrepreneurs’ capabilities to exploit new market opportunities. Design/methodology/approach - The paper employs a case study approach to investigate five cases of entrepreneurs driving technology-based businesses in Brazil. Effectuation theory is used as a lens to ascertain how resources impact on the decision-making capabilities of the entrepreneurs and firms. The research adopts a longitudinal approach, capturing data from thirty interviewees over a period corresponding to domestic and international market entry of these Technolatinas’ businesses. Findings – This paper builds on previous RBV studies by supplementing evidence that indi-vidual and firm-level resources determine the development of capabilities to exploit new mar-ket opportunities for new firms. The presence of experiential knowledge (in particular, busi-ness planning, market analysis and experimentation) and social networks (individual re-sources) drives to a mix of causal and effectual heuristics; however, in the presence of firm-level resources (human and financial capital), new entrepreneurs tend to shift towards a stronger causal orientation. Research limitations/implications - The case companies are high technology, knowledge-intensive Brazilian start-up firms sharing a similar institutional setting. Further research should include a more diverse range of cases including other sectors and other countries in Latin America adopting quantitative design to confirm and generalise these findings. Practical implications - For policymakers and practitioners, this research provides guidelines on how entrepreneurs’ know-how and social networks can be enhanced by providing access to the international market to speed up the growth of a new firm. For entrepreneurship educa-tors, this research explains how effectual or causal orientation influence the entrepreneur to exploit the available resources to maximise the growth of businesses in the international mar-ket. Originality/value - The resource-based literature usually ignores the challenges faced by new resource-constrained firms and the individual-level resources of the entrepreneurs. This re-search contributes to the RBV, entrepreneurship, and internationalisation debate by identify-ing the interplay between RBV and effectuation theory, particularly by bringing forward the impact of individual resources and capabilities of entrepreneurs to make the decision to enter a new market. Moreover, by using the effectuation theory, the research contributes to a better understanding of how resources are managed to create value and growth in new firms.