Domestic market context and international entrepreneurs' relationship portfolios

The importance of relationships to international entrepreneurs' internationalization is well recognized, but we still know little concerning how entrepreneurs find, develop and use different types of relationships for their internationalization. In a study based on international entrepreneurship and network theories, we examine how having or not having a domestic market affects the relationship portfolios developed by born global software entrepreneurs. We find it profoundly influences the personal relationship strength they seek in new international relationships, and their activeness towards developing new relationships that are embedded in foreign markets. Further, the analytical model we develop shows how and why the presence of a domestic market influences international entrepreneurs' portfolios of relationships. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.