The impact of agility on the market performance of born-global firms: an exploratory study of the ‘Tech City’ innovation cluster

Nemkova, Ekaterina

Abstract

Although there is some recognition that agility is advantageous for a born-global firm, the concept of agility is underexplored in the management and marketing literature. Little is known about the ability of born-globals to become agile and under what conditions agility can lead to better market performance. In this investigation the exploratory qualitative research was conducted using the data of fifteen in-depth interviews with managers and experts in Tech City in London, UK. Firstly, the findings show that creativity and informal planning are the main decision-making drivers of agility in born-global firms. Secondly, the study reveals that agility is more likely to be positively related to international market performance when key decision-makers have certain skills, including knowledge of the market, international experience, learning orientation and ambiguity tolerance.

Citation

Nemkova, E. (in press). The impact of agility on the market performance of born-global firms: an exploratory study of the ‘Tech City’ innovation cluster. Journal of Business Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.04.017

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 23, 2017
• Online Publication Date: May 3, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jun 13, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 4, 2018
• Journal: Journal of Business Research
• Print ISSN: 0148-2963
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-7978
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.04.017
• Keywords: Born-globals; Agility; Creativity; Planning; Human capital; Market performance
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/859296
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014829631730139X
• Contract Date: Jun 13, 2017