Uppsala Model vs. Born Global theory

: the case of Bind's internationalization

Abstract

The term Born Global was defined in 1993 and since then, a lot of research has been focused in trying to explain these firms’ rapid internationalization. However, none of this research had focused in the internationalization process of Internet based Born Globals, while over the last years, companies, which use Internet as their primary distribution channel, have been increasing. In order to understand the internationalization behaviour of Bind, which is selling a digital product and is headquartered in Portugal but doing business on a global scale, this thesis applies the traditional model of internationalization, the U-Model, and the Born Global theory to this case. Using a comparison of both theories, this study tries to understand and explain the internationalization of Bind and which limitations this company’ internationalization imposes to the existent theories. Based on the evidence of a single case study and considering that this company’s business occurs on the Internet, I conclude that Bind internationalization is better explained using the Born Global theory and can be consider a Born-again Global firm. Though, the role of the networks, the international experience of the founder and the choice of target countries according to the psychic distance factor proposed by the BG theory, were not observed in this case study, which made me conclude that the Uppsala Model explains better this aspects of this company’s internationalization.

Date of Award	2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Laure Leglise (Supervisor)