Born gobal firms in Northern Sweden A perspective of founder/top manager's characteristics and entrepreneurial orientation : A perspective of founder/top manager's characteristics and entrepreneurial orientation

Abstract: In previous research, it is stated that founders/top managers have an impact on the born global firms, meaning firms that become international directly from start or short time after establishment. The purpose of our thesis is to understand how the characteristics of founders/top managers and entrepreneurial orientation have an impact on the born global firm’s innovation and outcome. Based on foundations in earlier studies we identified a research gap that this thesis aims to fill. This thesis will contribute to the importance of a better understanding of how entrepreneurial orientation affects a born global firm’s innovation and outcome. Therefore, we outline the following research question; “How have the characteristics of the founder/top manager and entrepreneurial orientation an impact on the born global firm’s innovation and outcome?” In order to answer this question we review previous literature and construct a conceptual framework suitable for our study.      When it comes to methodology, we apply an abductive approach, meaning that we start with a deductive approach and create a conceptual framework. Then along the way we move more towards an inductive approach since we want to develop existing theories and address theory implications for further studies. We use a qualitative research design and in-depth multiple case studies in order to get a deeper understanding of our research topic.              Our empirical findings consist of three interviews with founders/top managers from three different born global firms in Umeå and Skellefteå. From these interviews, we conclude that all the three founders/top managers have an impact on the born global firm’s innovation and outcome. Consequently, we managed to perceive a link between the age of the firm and the level of entrepreneurial orientation. The implication was that the characteristics of the founder/top manager had a bigger impact on the youngest firm. The two other firms had more of a firm level behavior in terms of entrepreneurial orientation as they have been in operations for many years and have been established by two founders, unlike the younger firm. We could also find that number of founders, relations, brand image/position, and networking should be taken into consideration when it comes to characteristics of the founder/top manager and entrepreneurial orientation. The research gap we discovered within entrepreneurial orientation is complex and cannot be fully met by this thesis. As such, we recommend further research into this area. We suggest including employees from different departments within the born global firms when investigating the level of entrepreneurial orientation and how it affects innovation and outcome.