IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/stratm/v42y2021i8p1459-1489.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

David overshadows Goliath: Specializing in generality for internationalization in the global mobile money industry

Author

Listed:
  • Audra Wormald
  • Rajshree Agarwal
  • Serguey Braguinsky
  • Sonali K. Shah

Abstract

Research Summary We investigate the emergence of a global industry based on digital innovation by studying how the international expansion of pioneering firms relates to their characteristics and strategies for capability development and deployment. Using detailed archival data on mobile money, we classify pioneers that internationalize based on whether they were multinational diversifying entrants, developed country startups, or developing country startups. Our quantitative evidence suggests developing country startups that internationalize have the highest impact on the industry through subsequent platform launches. Digging deeper into the business histories of each firm, we uncover why: these startups “specialize in generality” by developing and deploying “bundled knowledge” capital consisting of technology, problem solving and alliance management capabilities, thereby offsetting their physical capital scale and scope disadvantages relative to multinational diversifying entrants. Managerial Summary Our study demonstrates how pioneers in mobile money created and utilized capabilities for international expansion. We show that among pioneers who engaged in internationalization, developing country startups had a greater global footprint than both developed country startups and diversifying entrant multinationals, even though conventional wisdom might predict greater impact for the latter two types. We link such impact of developing country startups to their focus on developing “bundled knowledge” capital, consisting of technology, problem solving, and alliance management capabilities which they could leverage in multiple countries. Not only did these firms grow through collaboration, they created and democratized access to needed financial services worldwide.

Suggested Citation

  • Audra Wormald & Rajshree Agarwal & Serguey Braguinsky & Sonali K. Shah, 2021. "David overshadows Goliath: Specializing in generality for internationalization in the global mobile money industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(8), pages 1459-1489, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:42:y:2021:i:8:p:1459-1489
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.3270
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3270
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/smj.3270?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pao‐Lien Chen & Charles Williams & Rajshree Agarwal, 2012. "Growing pains: Pre‐entry experience and the challenge of transition to incumbency," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 252-276, March.
    2. Jenny C. Aker & Isaac M. Mbiti, 2010. "Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(3), pages 207-232, Summer.
    3. Ashish Arora & Michelle Gittelman & Sarah Kaplan & John Lynch & Will Mitchell & Nicolaj Siggelkow & Serguey Braguinsky & David A. Hounshell, 2016. "History and nanoeconomics in strategy and industry evolution research: Lessons from the Meiji-Era Japanese cotton spinning industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 45-65, January.
    4. Giacomo Zanello & Xiaolan Fu & Pierre Mohnen & Marc Ventresca, 2016. "The Creation And Diffusion Of Innovation In Developing Countries: A Systematic Literature Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 884-912, December.
    5. Krugman, Paul R., 1979. "Increasing returns, monopolistic competition, and international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 469-479, November.
    6. John H. Dunning & Sarianna M. Lundan, 2008. "Multinational Enterprises and the Global Economy, Second Edition," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3215.
    7. Will Mitchell, 1991. "Dual clocks: Entry order influences on incumbent and newcomer market share and survival when specialized assets retain their value," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 85-100, February.
    8. Raymond Vernon, 1966. "International Investment and International Trade in the Product Cycle," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 80(2), pages 190-207.
    9. Constance E. Helfat & Marvin B. Lieberman, 2002. "The birth of capabilities: market entry and the importance of pre-history," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(4), pages 725-760, August.
    10. Grossman, Gene M. & Helpman, Elhanan, 1991. "Trade, knowledge spillovers, and growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2-3), pages 517-526, April.
    11. Constance E. Helfat & Miguel A. Campo-Rembado, 2016. "Integrative Capabilities, Vertical Integration, and Innovation Over Successive Technology Lifecycles," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 249-264, April.
    12. Gort, Michael & Klepper, Steven, 1982. "Time Paths in the Diffusion of Product Innovations," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(367), pages 630-653, September.
    13. Mahka Moeen & Rajshree Agarwal, 2017. "Incubation of an industry: Heterogeneous knowledge bases and modes of value capture," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 566-587, March.
    14. Mahka Moeen & Will Mitchell, 2020. "How do pre‐entrants to the industry incubation stage choose between alliances and acquisitions for technical capabilities and specialized complementary assets?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(8), pages 1450-1489, August.
    15. Peter J. Buckley & Mark Casson, 1991. "The Future of the Multinational Enterprise," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, edition 0, number 978-1-349-21204-0.
    16. Peter N. Golder & Gerard J. Tellis, 1997. "Will It Every Fly? Modeling the Takeoff of Really New Consumer Durables," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 256-270.
    17. William Jack & Tavneet Suri, 2014. "Risk Sharing and Transactions Costs: Evidence from Kenya's Mobile Money Revolution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(1), pages 183-223, January.
    18. David J Teece, 2014. "A dynamic capabilities-based entrepreneurial theory of the multinational enterprise," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(1), pages 8-37, January.
    19. Diego Comin & Bart Hobijn & Emilie Rovito, 2008. "Technology usage lags," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 237-256, December.
    20. Nathan Rosenberg, 1963. "Capital Goods, Technology, And Economic Growth," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 217-227.
    21. Raffaele Conti & Alfonso Gambardella & Elena Novelli, 2019. "Specializing in Generality: Firm Strategies When Intermediate Markets Work," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(1), pages 126-150, February.
    22. Kiss, Andreea N. & Danis, Wade M. & Cavusgil, S. Tamer, 2012. "International entrepreneurship research in emerging economies: A critical review and research agenda," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 266-290.
    23. Steven Klepper, 2002. "The capabilities of new firms and the evolution of the US automobile industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(4), pages 645-666, August.
    24. George J. Stigler, 1951. "The Division of Labor is Limited by the Extent of the Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(3), pages 185-185.
    25. Steven Klepper & Kenneth L. Simons, 2000. "Dominance by birthright: entry of prior radio producers and competitive ramifications in the U.S. television receiver industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 997-1016, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Al-Tabbaa, Omar & Zahoor, Nadia, 2024. "Alliance management capability and SMEs’ international expansion: The role of innovation pathways," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    2. Zhou, Nan, 2024. "Emerging market multinationals’ liability of outsidership," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 59(3).
    3. Audra Wormald & Sonali K. Shah & Serguey Braguinsky & Rajshree Agarwal, 2023. "Pioneering digital platform ecosystems: The role of aligned capabilities and motives in shaping key choices and performance outcomes," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1653-1697, July.
    4. Shaker A. Zahra & Giuseppe Criaco & Olga Petricevic & Niron Hashai, 2024. "Conceptualizing international new ventures as the nexus of entrepreneurship and international business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(8), pages 1048-1056, October.
    5. Kabengele, Christian & Hahn, Rüdiger, 2021. "Institutional and firm-level factors for mobile money adoption in emerging markets–A configurational analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    6. Surana, Ankit & Chavan, Meena & Kumar, Vikas & Chirico, Francesco, 2024. "The internationalization process: A contextual analysis of Indian ibusiness firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(4).
    7. Constance E. Helfat & Aseem Kaul & David J. Ketchen & Jay B. Barney & Olivier Chatain & Harbir Singh, 2023. "Renewing the resource‐based view: New contexts, new concepts, and new methods," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 1357-1390, June.
    8. Shaheer, Noman & Kim, Kijong & Li, Sali, 2022. "Internationalization of Digital Innovations: A Rapidly Evolving Research Stream," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(4).
    9. Han, Xiaomin & Goxe, François & Freeman, Susan, 2024. "Internationalization through social networks: A systematic review and future research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(4).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Audra Wormald & Sonali K. Shah & Serguey Braguinsky & Rajshree Agarwal, 2023. "Pioneering digital platform ecosystems: The role of aligned capabilities and motives in shaping key choices and performance outcomes," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1653-1697, July.
    2. Lihong Qian & Rajshree Agarwal & Glenn Hoetker, 2012. "Configuration of Value Chain Activities: The Effect of Pre-Entry Capabilities, Transaction Hazards, and Industry Evolution on Decisions to Internalize," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1330-1349, October.
    3. Agarwal, Rajshree & Shah, Sonali K., 2014. "Knowledge sources of entrepreneurship: Firm formation by academic, user and employee innovators," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1109-1133.
    4. Nathan R. Furr, 2019. "Product Adaptation During New Industry Emergence: The Role of Start-Up Team Preentry Experience," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(5), pages 1076-1096, September.
    5. Mahka Moeen & Will Mitchell, 2020. "How do pre‐entrants to the industry incubation stage choose between alliances and acquisitions for technical capabilities and specialized complementary assets?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(8), pages 1450-1489, August.
    6. Constance E. Helfat & Miguel A. Campo-Rembado, 2016. "Integrative Capabilities, Vertical Integration, and Innovation Over Successive Technology Lifecycles," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 249-264, April.
    7. Ron Boschma, 2015. "Do spinoff dynamics or agglomeration externalities drive industry clustering? A reappraisal of Steven Klepper’s work," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(4), pages 859-873.
    8. Elizabeth George Pontikes, 2022. "Category innovation in the software industry: 1990–2002," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(9), pages 1697-1727, September.
    9. John S. Chen & David C. Croson & Daniel W. Elfenbein & Hart E. Posen, 2018. "The Impact of Learning and Overconfidence on Entrepreneurial Entry and Exit," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(6), pages 989-1009, December.
    10. Hakan Ozalp & J.P. Eggers & Franco Malerba, 2023. "Hitting reset: Industry evolution, generational technology cycles, and the dynamic value of firm experience," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 1292-1327, May.
    11. Mahka Moeen & Rajshree Agarwal & Sonali K. Shah, 2020. "Building Industries by Building Knowledge: Uncertainty Reduction over Industry Milestones," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(3), pages 218-244, September.
    12. Guido Buenstorf, 2017. "Schumpeterian Incumbents and Industry Evolution," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Uwe Cantner (ed.), Foundations of Economic Change, pages 283-297, Springer.
    13. Guido Buenstorf, 2007. "Evolution on the Shoulders of Giants: Entrepreneurship and Firm Survival in the German Laser Industry," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 30(3), pages 179-202, May.
    14. April M. Franco & MB Sarkar & Rajshree Agarwal & Raj Echambadi, 2009. "Swift and Smart: The Moderating Effects of Technological Capabilities on the Market Pioneering-Firm Survival Relationship," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(11), pages 1842-1860, November.
    15. Mahka Moeen & Rajshree Agarwal, 2017. "Incubation of an industry: Heterogeneous knowledge bases and modes of value capture," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 566-587, March.
    16. Jiatao Li & Deborah R. Yue, 2008. "Market Size, Legal Institutions, and International Diversification Strategies: Implications for the Performance of Multinational Firms," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 667-688, December.
    17. Daniel Engler & Gino Cattani & Joe Porac, 2020. "Studying the Incubation of a New Product Market Through Realized and Alternative Histories," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(3), pages 160-192, September.
    18. Pamela Adams & Roberto Fontana & Franco Malerba, 2022. "Knowledge resources and the acquisition of spinouts," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(2), pages 277-313, June.
    19. Chan, Jin Hooi & Reiner, David, 2019. "Evolution in inter-firm governance along the transport biofuel value chain in Maritime Silk Road countries," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 268-282.
    20. Christina Guenther, 2009. "Pioneer burnout: Radical product innovation and firm capabilities," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2009-22, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:42:y:2021:i:8:p:1459-1489. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/0143-2095 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.