The Importance of Leadership and Vision in Born Globals

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 1990s studies of Born Global companies has become a major topic in internationalization literature. Earlier research has pointed out the importance of the entrepreneur in the born global firm’s international development. Even if many studies have been done which identify the impact of entrepreneurs and management on firms’ internationalisation and behaviour few studies have focused on leadership in Born Global Companies. Following earlier research, the aim of this paper is to investigate how the entrepreneur uses his/her vision in Born Global companies. The main findings and conclusions are that the entrepreneur and his/ her vision have an important role in these companies. The vision is like an umbrella and affects many important parts of the company, such as organisation, communication, recruitment, knowledge transfer and other parts that will form the company’s culture. The born global entrepreneurs create the company values and motivate the employees in the organisation. The Born Global leaders share the power with subordinates. It is crucial to delegate operational decisions to subordinates so the entrepreneur can work with strategic issues fostering the firms’ international expansion.  Communication is open and straight with an open atmosphere in the culture. Good communication is important when building goals, values and conveying the leader’s vision. Even if the entrepreneurs motivate their employees in a positive way the entrepreneurs still have a tight control of the company. The main implications from this study are that the entrepreneurs in The Born Global firms have been able to create an innovative culture in the firm that creates international growth.