Born global family firms: evidence from an exploratory study

Family firms play a very important role in today’s international markets, and, during the years, there was a growing interest on family firms’ internationalization. Different authors focused on discovering which variables influence the international expansion. However, the majority of contributions have been concentrated on family firms following a gradual/step-by-step/Uppsala model type internationalization, while few studies have been tailored on born global family firms. The principal aim of this study is to examine how firms’ characteristics and external factors can enable or limit the internationalization process of born global family firms. To achieve our objective, we decided to adopt a case study method. Preliminary data were mainly collected through a first in-depth, face-to-face interview with one Italian born global firm. For examining the different aspects and factors influencing the internationalization of these firms, we decided to create a more comprehensive framework based on Gallo and Garçia Pont scheme (1996). Preliminary results show that variables stimulating the internationalization process were mainly related to top management attitudes and strategic factors. On the contrary, with specific reference to entry barriers, they were mainly associated with strategic factors and family issues.