Oulu Growth Lab – International Growth of New Technology-Based Firms (OGL)

The advancing globalization, speeding technological development and differentiation of the customers means that the building of international growth of new technology-based firms often takes place in multicultural and turbulent settings where the entrepreneurs/managers need to interact and establish relationships with actors with diverse cultural backgrounds and interests. Building effective international networks has been noted as one of the most important issues of business development in the recent academic research. The development of high-tech business is dependent on global business, in which the old hierarchical structures may be replaced by different kinds of cooperation networks between high-tech firms, target industries and end-customers.

The present research programme aims to create further understanding of the underlying mechanisms and processes by which new technology-based firms actually achieve international growth based on relationship networks. Furthermore, we discuss the need and use of process research design in the study of international growth. The research questions to be answered in the study are: (1) What are the drivers of high-tech firm growth processes in their global markets of operation? (2) What are the elements of processual research design for multidisciplinary research on NTBFs' international growth processes?

Research consortium: University of Oulu, University of Jyväskylä, EM Lyon, Deloitte and Oulu Wellness Institute.