Wczesna internacjonalizacja przedsiębiorstw - nowy obszar badań

The paper is concerned with the “early internationalization” of firms and shows the state of research into this issue in Poland. The author reviews the body of research to date. The review covers leading Polish and international economic and business journals that have dealt with issues such as “born globals,” “international new ventures” and “early internationalization.” In all, the author reviews almost 30 scientific studies. Of these only one referred to a company that had ties to Poland. On the basis of the review, the author discusses concepts applied in research into early internationalization, in particular definitions of enterprises that follow this strategy. Among the criteria for distinguishing various types of “early internationalizing firms,” geographical factors are seen as the most important. The author found that the tendency to undergo early internationalization and the effects of this process were related to the competitive strategies employed by firms. The paper’s findings referring to early internationalization indicate that the process should also occur in the Polish economy. However, for the time being, there is no scientific evidence of early internationalization in Poland. International literature on the subject shows that further scientific research into early internationalization in Poland should primarily focus on the motives for early internationalization, the author concludes. Researchers should also turn the searchlight on the relationship between early internationalization, on the one hand, and industrial factors, business strategies and company resources, on the other.