The competitive advantage of early and rapidly internationalising SMEs in the biotechnology industry: A knowledge-based view

Our knowledge on 'born globals' (BG) is fragmented and lacks an integrative framework. Starting from a knowledge-based view of the firm, we analyse internationally active biotechnology small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Switzerland, Germany, and Australia to find out about the generation and protection of their competitive advantage that enables them to internationalise early and rapidly. Our results question some of the conventional wisdom on 'born globals' and discuss implications for the established body of knowledge as well as implications for practitioners. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.