Born Global: the case of knowledge-intensive services in Southern Spain

Abstract

The objective of this article is to understand how Knowledge-Intensive Services (KIS) firms can be Born Global right from inception or within a few years (three) of their foundation. To that end, we analyse four cases of KIS firms (two KIS firms that are Born Global right from inception and two KIS firms that are Born Global within the first three years). The firms are from the south of Spain (Andalusia) and operate in the renewable energy and consultancy sectors. The methodology used consists of case analysis and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). We find that these firms should pursue international market-, network- and entrepreneurship-oriented strategies in order to acquire dynamic knowledge, networking and innovation capabilities. By so doing, KIS firms will be able to follow an accelerated internationalisation process and thus be Born Global.