Born globals: Propositions to help advance the theory

Although born globals (BGs) have now been studied for over a decade, theory and practice are still evolving. This article was written to clarify the definition of a Born Global (BG) firm and to describe the three phases—introductory, growth and resource accumulation, and break-out to independent growth as a major player—through which BGs progress. Drawing from empirical evidence, it was found that the risks, resource development, channels/networks and organisational learning of BGs develop during the three phases through which successful BGs pass. However, this process deviates considerably from that followed by traditional internationalising small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Born Global entrepreneurs and academics can learn much by studying the causes of these differences.