Revitalizing the ‘International’ in International Entrepreneurship: The Promise of Culture and Cognition

Abstract

International entrepreneurship (IE) has emerged as its own domain—born out of the intersection of international business and entrepreneurship research. This fusion of disciplines has provided considerable value for international business by expanding its traditional focus beyond corporations to include new ventures. However, following an early period of rapid growth, evidence herein suggests that IEs impact and contributions have begun to wane. Through our analysis, we contend that there is a restrictive interpretation of what ‘international’ represents: cross-border dynamics are chiefly interpreted to mean geographic contexts for new venture outcomes. While valuable, this niche is limiting and leaves many of the foundational questions in entrepreneurship untouched. We argue that a shift in the directional focus of IE is required: to include intercultural dynamics as antecedents to entrepreneurial action, both international and domestic. Further, we discuss how adopting a broader international lens, used through management, can foster valuable insights from domains such as cross-cultural psychology and international organizational behaviour. This chapter outlines a research agenda for investigating how intercultural constructs underpinning cross-border dynamics influence the discovery, enactment, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities at large.