Network focus and scalability in international new ventures

The firm’s network is gaining a great deal of attention as an important nexus of study as it is considered to be a significant holder and influencer of a firm’s knowledge, which in turn is widely recognized as a unique source of competitive advantage. Although the literature tends to focus on social networks or inter-firm relationship networks, it has seldom addressed networks at the operational level which involves examining the influence of the firm’s internal configuration of activities on growth. This study aims to find evidence of the extent to which network focus plays a role in the internationalization and scalability of young enterprises. Specifically, the study posits that international new ventures (INVs) are potentially recognizable in the early years by the idiosyncratic use of the network as a holder of knowledge and information in a strategic internationalizing posture. In this regard, the network is viewed as a key component of the coordination of value chains in the combination with technological learning and ambidexterity, namely exploitation and exploration activities.