Przedsiębiorczość międzynarodowa w teorii internacjonalizacji przedsiębiorstwa

The aim of the paper is to present the theoretical foundations of international entrepreneurship. For this purpose, the critical analysis method is used. International entrepreneurship is presented as the area common to two research domains: entrepreneurship and international business. At first, a description is provided of the traditional model of internationalisation (known as the Uppsala model which is evolutionary and sequential in nature) and of possible references to international entrepreneurship. Although the issues of entrepreneurship are not analysed within the traditional approach to internationalisation (where the focus is primarily on gradual gathering of knowledge and gaining experience, and on the process of the enterprise internalisation itself), elements of entrepreneurial behaviour can be found in the mere fact of searching for and evolutionary entering new foreign markets or in the use of more advanced forms of internationalisation. Next, international entrepreneurship is presented in the context of what is referred to as early internationalisation of enterprises – a phenomenon that manifests itself by the functioning of “born globals”. It is not a rule, but these are usually small and medium enterprises operating in the high-tech industries and oriented towards servicing the international market right from the moment they are started. The enterprise early internationalisation, including first of all some unique characteristics of the founders and managers of born globals, such as having a global vision, previous experience in an international environment and numerous personal and professional contacts, is equated with the essence of a modern understanding of international entrepreneurship.