Entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation and internationalisation in born global small and micro-businesses

The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation and internationalisation in born global small and micro-businesses in Ireland, when owner-manager perceptions are taken into account. Following an exploration of the major theoretical approaches of SME internationalisation and performance, and entrepreneurial/market orientations, a qualitative study is undertaken on owner-managers of four born global firms to present a conceptual model. Although there are a number of studies on born global firms and extensive research on entrepreneurial and market orientations, this study proposes to combine internationalisation and orientation approaches in studying small and micro-businesses. Future studies could empirically test the proposed new conceptual model within a large sample.