The role of marketing knowledge for australian ICT based entrepreneurs in terms of their internationalization strategy

This study is about exploring and understanding how Australian Information Communications and Technology (ICT) companies manage their entrepreneurial activities, such as internationalization strategy. It is also about understanding how these companies have pursued innovative ideas and managed their interface with a complex global and dynamic environment. The review of the extant literature of internationalization focuses on two views, traditional stages model (Johanson & Vahlne 1977) and born-global theories (McKinsey and Co., 1993; Oviatt and McDougall, 1994). Evidence in the Australian context shows that majority of companies have been following the stages model where they develop a domestic market before entering international markets. Companies in the traditional approach have been skeptical towards the internationalization processes whereas the born global approach emphasizes the role of strategy in internationalization, because both the focus and the pace of internationalization are based on earning competitive advantage in niche or emerging markets. The born-global approach of internationalization provides a contrast to the stages model, where firms internationalize from inception rather than a staged approach and may not even have sales in a domestic market. These companies seek to gain significant competitive advantage by entering larger markets and increasing the use of their resource for greater sales in multiple countries. Research (Hamill 1999; Poon