Iberian multinationals driving the crisis recovery

This research is based on the perception that the explanation of International New Ventures’ (INVs) performance demands a process view, going deeper than the standard approach, in empirical papers, of testing a direct relationship between individualand company-level antecedents, and performance. In line with Aspelund, Madsen & Moen (2007) and Keupp & Gassmann (2009) arguments, a three-tier model was developed to investigate the process leading to INVs international performance. Based on the dynamic capabilities framework, entrepreneurial alertness was envisaged as the mediating element between firms’ capabilities and their international performance. Empirical research confirmed the hypothesized model. Firms’ capabilities (entrepreneurial orientation, foreign market knowledge, and absorptive capacity) significantly influence the level of entrepreneurial alertness, which impacts on company international performance. The paper makes three contributions to International Entrepreneurship literature. First, it highlights the key role played by entrepreneurial alertness in explaining INVs’ international performance. This is convergent with the dynamic capabilities view on firms’ ability to sense and seize specific international business opportunities. Second, it shows that alertness is based on a set of first order capabilities, namely entrepreneurial orientation, foreign market knowledge, and absorptive capacity that simultaneously leverage and constrain alertness. is a key element to foster INVs’ higher performance. Third, it underlines the role of technological turbulence as a moderator of the relationship between entrepreneurial alertness and INVs’ international performance.