International ECOpreneurship: Environmental commitment and international partner selection of Finnish firms from the energy sector

Tamara Galkina

doi:10.1007/s10843-021-00286-8

Abstract

Although numerous scholars recognize that entrepreneurial firms and their environmental innovations play a key role in global environmental progress, the topic of ecopreneurial internationalization has received only scant research attention. This article explores how the environmental commitment of ecopreneurs influences partner selection during the internationalization of their ventures. It does so by following a multiple-case study strategy and examining ecopreneurial small- and medium-size firms from Finland’s energy sector. The study proposes that, depending on a dominating type of environmental commitment—affective, continuance, or normative—these ventures should favor partner-related and task-related criteria in different ways when selecting international partners. This article contributes to ecopreneurship and to the literature on partner selection in international entrepreneurship.

Highlights

Environmental degradation and increasing concerns about its impacts have led many enterprises to adapt sustainable business models, accepting eco standards and incorporating “green” values into their agenda
This study adds to the existing research on international partner selection in international entrepreneurship (IE)
This research contributes to the emerging area of ecopreneurship by empirically exploring the concept of environmental commitment in the international context

Summary

Introduction

Environmental degradation and increasing concerns about its impacts have led many enterprises to adapt sustainable business models, accepting eco standards and incorporating “green” values into their agenda. Strong environmental orientation and commitment are the very features that distinguish ecopreneurial firms from other new ventures (Galkina and Hultman 2016) This commitment relates to the entrepreneurs’ emotional attachment to environmental concerns and the obligation they feel to be involved in sustainable business practices (Keogh and Polonsky 1998; AntolinLopez et al 2014). Numerous scholars recognize that ecopreneurial firms and their eco innovations play a key role in global environmental progress and the transition to more environmentally sustainable business paradigms (Isaak 1998; Gibbs 2009; Schaper 2010), surprisingly, there has been only scant research on the internationalization of ecopreneurial SMEs (Martín-Tapia et al 2010; Kirkwood and Walton 2010c) It remains unclear whether they internationalize in different ways when compared to other SMEs. Zolfaghari et al (2019) demonstrate that ecopreneurs’ formal and informal network relation with international partners is an essential factor affecting foreign expansion of their businesses. Stemming from this research deficiency, the aim of this article is to explore the influence of the environmental commitment of ecopreneurs on partner selection during the internationalization of their ventures

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Conclusion