From an local SME in Romania to a born-again global: role of the manager’s network
This work seeks to understand how the network of a new manager facilitates the strategy of the rapid and sudden internationalization of a SME, after several years of activity on the national market. The specificity of the behavior of these companies stems from the local context, which is characterized by institutional constraints, weak resources and a lack of information on foreign markets. Empirical research on the strategic behavior of Romanian SMEs in a transition country is limited and does not study the role of the manager’s network in this context. The combination of internationalization theory and network theory provides a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding the behavior of Born-again Globals (BAG) in this context. The case study of a Romanian SME, ELJ Automotive, now BAG, was conducted through life stories and exploratory interviews. The diachronic and thematic analysis shows that territorial and community networks do not contribute to the internationalization of Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) SMEs. It provides lessons on the strong links that the manager must establish with personal, professional, and influential networks in order to accelerate internationalization while circumventing institutional constraints.