Title: The value of human capital for the networks of born globals

Authors: Sara Melen, Emilia Rovira Nordman

Addresses: Department for Marketing and Strategy, Stockholm School of Economics, P.O. Box 6501, S-113 83 Stockholm, Sweden. ' Department for Marketing and Strategy, Stockholm School of Economics, P.O. Box 6501, S-113 83 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: This study explores how a born global firm uses its network to learn during its internationalisation and how human capital influences this learning process. Within born global research, there exists a discrepancy between scholars who regard personal networks to be the most important for born globals| international growth and those who regard business networks as the most important. Based on a longitudinal in-depth case study of a born global within the Swedish biotech industry, our results show that both forms of networks are important but that a born global firm|s use of its network differs at various phases in the firm|s internationalisation.

Keywords: born globals; human capital; personal networks; business networks; internationalisation; globalisation; learning; Sweden; biotech industry; biotechnology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGSB.2007.015482

International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, 2007 Vol.2 No.2, pp.205 - 219

Published online: 19 Oct 2007 *

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