Exploring the concept of embeddedness in International Entrepreneurship: The Dynamic Process Perspectives

Abstract

We conducted a systematic review of what has been done on “embeddedness” in international entrepreneurship over last 20 years (with 276 selected papers) to explore the concept and its dynamic roles. We clarify the overlapping concepts, the measurement, the mechanisms and the outcome related to embeddedness in a proposed framework. Our mapping identifies how embeddedness can add value to business ventures overtime and how to nurture and develop it as an adaptive capability. Our finding shows that the complexity of embeddedness is under researched and the interaction between embeddedness, international entrepreneurs, and the dynamic environment requires consolidated study. We propose that embeddedness should be studied from a dynamic process perspective, how it originated, evolved and is leveraged. Using the entrepreneurial process lens, our review shows that embeddedness emerged through three entrepreneurial phases under different roles, from (i) cognitive form at the idea generation stage to (ii) actual business engagement in fund raising and (iii) as impactful outcome (internationalization and innovation) at growth stage. The multilevel of embeddedness including intensity, depth, and breadth can be modified via the entrepreneurial learning/unlearning mechanisms and leveraged to its highest value when integrating in a system orchestrating the dynamic of individuals, organizational, and societal attributes.