The influence of network relationships in the internationalization of startups: case study: Dreamshaper

• Autor(a) principal: Castro, João Tiago Macias de
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/15774
• topic: Internationalization; Network; Startup; Social capital; Internacionalização; Capital social; Start-up; Estudo de casos

Social capital embedded in the firms' scope points out networks as preponderant in order startups may succeed within international geographies. The structural and relational outlook of networks is complex and the role played by different types of network relationships on helping startups overcoming liabilities of foreignness and lack of resources is not fully understood by the existent literature. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how a determined type of network relationship influences the internationalization of a startup in international markets in an attempt to reduce the degree of uncertainty proper of such scenarios. A single case study under a chosen software startup was the used method to conduct the exploration of the subject in a qualitative manner, being that the data was mainly collected through semi-structured interviews with the founders of the selected startup. The encountered findings demonstrated that the environment regarding the scope of networks is highly dynamic as the morphology of such connection ties changes with the course of the process of internationalization. Furthermore, the characteristics of the founders have also been revealed to be determinant for the foreign expansion of a small firm aiming to internationalize.