%0 Journal Article %J Technology Innovation Management Review %D 2014 %T Conceptualizing Innovation in Born-Global Firms %A Erik Zijdemans %A Stoyan Tanev %K born global %K business model %K early internationalization %K Innovation management %K lean startup approach %X This article summarizes the insights from a systematic study of the research literature focusing on the innovation aspects of born-global firms – ventures that were launched to exploit a global niche from the earliest days of their operations. The authors provide a snapshot of opinions on the different aspects of innovation in the way they were conceptualized in the academic literature. The insights are based on a selection of 32 peer-reviewed journal articles addressing the different challenges associated with early internationalization and innovation in such ventures. The article emphasizes that the early internationalization of new ventures should be considered as an innovation process in itself and that innovation and internationalization have a positive effect on each other. In addition, it points out the role of knowledge acquisition and networking capabilities as key innovation enablers and refers to the emergence of the lean startup perspective on the innovation processes in born-global firms. The suggested insights will be relevant to researchers and practitioners interested in the relationship between early internationalization and innovation in international new ventures and lean global startups. %B Technology Innovation Management Review %I Talent First Network %C Ottawa %V 4 %P 5-10 %8 09/2014 %G eng %U http://timreview.ca/article/826 %N 9 %1 University of Southern Denmark Erik Alexander Zijdemans is a Master’s degree candidate in Product Development and Innovation with a focus on Global Supply Chain Development at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. Additionally, he holds a BEng in Business Engineering from Hogeschool Utrecht, The Netherlands. He has over two years of working experience in project management and employee safety management. Currently, he is conducting his research at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, focusing on the role of business development agencies in the support of early globalization in technology startups. %2 University of Southern Denmark Stoyan Tanev is an Associate Professor in the Department of Technology and Innovation and member of the Centre for Integrative Innovation Management at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark, as well as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, where he was previously a faculty member in the Technology Innovation Management Program. He has a MSc and a PhD in Physics jointly from the University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France and the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, a PhD in Theology from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, an MEng in Technology Innovation Management from Carleton University, Canada, and an MA from the University of Sherbrooke, Canada. He has multidisciplinary research interests with a focus on the fields of technology innovation management, global technology entrepreneurship, business model design and value co-creation. Dr. Tanev is Senior IEEE member, and he is a member of the editorial boards of the Technology Innovation Management Review and the International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation. %R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/826