The Effect of International Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Capital on Firm’s International Performance

Abstract

Purpose: The competitive global economy and ever-changing technological advances have witnessed the trend that firms leverage their resources and skills to expand and develop into foreign markets. However, opportunities and risks coexist, and the opportunities of globalization are tempered by the constraints of competitive forces that exist in international circumstances. To succeed in global business operations requires entrepreneurship and resourcefulness. This paper aims to explore the relationship between international entrepreneurship, intellectual capital, and firm’s international performance. Research design, data, and methodology: In order to verify the hypotheses, this study carried out a survey on global firms from South Korea and China, which was conducted from April 26, 2019 to November 26, 2019. Totally 565 questionnaires were collected, among them 92 invalid questionnaires were excluded. Finally 473 valid questionnaires, the effective rate was 83.72%. As for the further analysis, SPSS 23.0 statistical package and AMOS 23.0 software were used for hypotheses testing. Results: The main results are showed as follows. First, the test of hypotheses that international entrepreneurship would affect intellectual capital shows that proactiveness and risk-taking have statistically significant effects on human capital, while innovativeness does not have a significant impact on human capital. Additionally, innovativeness and proactiveness have been shown to positively affect the structural capital, risk-taking does not have a significant impact on structural capital. Second, intellectual capital turns out to affect the firm’s international performance significantly, it shows that both human capital and structural capital have positive impacts on international performance. Third, the test of hypothesis that human capital would affect structural capital shows that human capital has a statistically significant impact on structural capital. Implications: When conducting businesses in international markets, the global firms should focus on fostering and enhancing international entrepreneurship. They should pay attention to innovation and support the introduction of new products, services or new marketing channels to the international markets. The accumulation and management of these innovative resources should be enhanced to expand the firm’s intellectual capital. Human capital is the basis and source of intellectual capital. Attracting talented people and training employees to improve their professional knowledge, skills, experience, creativity and teamwork skills for overseas businesses are crucial. Meanwhile, structural capital would provide guarantees and platforms to create value for human capital. It is of great significance for enterprises to establish sound information systems, efficient export decision-making mechanisms, excellent culture and cooperation mechanisms. The findings reveal a more comprehensive picture about the effects of international entrepreneurship and intellectual capital on firm’s international performance, providing insightful instructions for firms and government.