JultikaUniversity of Oulu repository

The research focuses on the fields of Born Globals and networks. The aim of the research is to explore the phenomena, unify preceding research on the topic and set ground for future, more in-depth research. This is achieved by finding out how Born Global companies benefit from networks in their early stages. The study is qualitative and conducted as a literature review on academic journals on the field of International Business. The findings of the study are that the nature of the Born Global companies’ environment poses constraints to the internationalization of the firms, and networks can help overcoming them. The conclusions of the study are that Born Globals face the following key constraints in their early stages: (1) Lack of financial and knowledge resources, (2) Lack of economies of scale and (3) Aversion to risk-taking; and that networks help Born Global companies to overcome them by providing access to both financial and knowledge resources, thus enabling them to spend less time on risky development phases. Networks also help by providing Born Global companies legitimacy in the eyes of foreign actors, thus making them attractive as partners.