Early internationalization of technology companies: International channel selection strategies of Finnish B2B software companies

This research studied the early internationalization of Finnish B2B software companies and their sales channel choices. Eight companies and two investors were interviewed as a part of a multiple-case study. The research aimed to understand the elements affecting sales channel choices, definitions and existence of born globals and whether born globals do sales actively. A literature review on the previous research was conducted, followed by an updated definition of born global and a proposed framework synthesized of the findings. This was followed by description of the methodology, explanations of the case companies and analysis of them through the findings. The results of the study supported the previous literature related to the important role of the founder in the development of the company. Even more determinative was the global vision at inception, which was seen crucial in the earlier literature and as an element of definition for born global itself. The role of the global vision was supported in the findings of this study as an important factor for the early internationalization. As an important managerial implication, the strategic mapping of the sales channels and the focus on internal linking of revenue model, customer service and sales channel strategies is proposed as an important aspect for the potential scalable international growth. This study is limited by the small sample size and wide nature of the research, but gives a direction and starting point for further more quantitative analysis of the questions