A New Era of Born Global Companies (Copenhagen Business School)
How platform-based born globals in the sharing economy differ from the born globals described in the research.
- Sector
- Sharing-economy platforms
- Source
- Week 6 tutorial resource (master’s thesis, Copenhagen Business School)
The case in brief
This master’s thesis by Patrick André Skafte Kongsbak and Christian Blondeau Vendler reviews born global research, identifies six parameters that shape a born global (founder, product, organisation, environment, strategy, approach to market entry), and uses them to study Airbnb and Uber in depth. An interview with the founder of the Finnish parking app ParkMan adds a smaller comparison.
It concludes that the literature still explains the human side well (flexible organisations, aggressive learning), but misses what drives platforms: value lies in users, a positive network effect makes a platform hard to challenge, and first-mover advantage is decisive.
It also finds that founders’ international experience matters less than the literature claims, because investors can supply it, and that platforms succeed by entering stagnant industries and combining differentiation with low cost.
Key facts
- Authors
- Patrick André Skafte Kongsbak and Christian Blondeau Vendler; supervisor Peter Gammeltoft
- Programme
- Cand.merc. International Business, Copenhagen Business School
- Cases
- Airbnb and Uber, plus an interview with ParkMan’s CEO and founder
- Origin of the term
- “Born global” first used by McKinsey consultant Michael Rennie in 1993
Analysis through module theory
Born global parameters
The six parameters give a complete checklist for analysing any fast-internationalising venture and show where platforms confirm or contradict earlier research.
Stages approach versus born global
The study contrasts gradual, well-planned internationalisation (Uppsala, Vernon) with born globals that skip stages; platform born globals go further with “internationalise first, think later”.
Limits of the platform model
Scaling at almost no cost depends on supply owned by users. The study’s own ParkMan interview shows even a small platform needs a country manager and salaries in each new market.
Discussion questions
- 1.Which of the six parameters best explains Airbnb’s and Uber’s speed of internationalisation?
- 2.Where does the platform model contradict earlier born global research?
- 3.Which findings would not transfer to a non-platform SME?
Takeaways
- Born globals internationalise from, or soon after, inception, skipping the stages of gradual models.
- For platforms, users and network effects are the core advantage, which makes speed of entry critical.
- International experience can come from investors and advisers, not only founders.