Born Global

ISSN 1794 – 8347 | Vol. 18 | No. 24 | Jul-Dic 2010 | pp. 271-286 Revista Ciencias Estratégicas | Medellín - Colombia

GLOBAL MARKETING STRATEGY: THE CASE OF A BORN GLOBAL SOFTWARE FIRM IN COLOMBIA

ESTRATEGIA DE MARKETING GLOBAL: EL CASO DE UNA EMPRESA DE SOFTWARE GLOBAL NACIDO EN COLOMBIA

sascHa Fuerst Assistant Professor within the Department of International Business at Universidad EAFIT in Medellin (Colombia) and a PhD student at Turku School of Economics in Finland. He received a master degree in Business and Engineering (MBE) from the University of Kaiserslautern in Germany. His research interests are in international entrepreneurship and firm internationalization from an evolutionary perspective. E-mail: sfuerst@eafit.edu.co Artículo recibido el 19 de agosto de 2010 y aprobado para su publicación el 2 de noviembre de 2010.

ABSTRACT Born globals are a phenomenon that is increasingly being observed and researched around the globe. Yet, few studies exist that research born globals’ marketing strategies. This paper sheds light on the global marketing strategy of a small software firm in Colombia that globalized instantly and that serves global businessto-business markets by using an Internet-based sales channel strategy. Due to its holistic nature, Zou and Cavusgils’ (2002) conceptual GMS (global marketing strategy) model is used as the guiding framework for analysis. It was found that standardization of different elements of the marketing program is highly important, with the exception of product standardization. The GMS model seemed to be applicable in its current form only to a certain extend to the analysis of small born global software firms’ marketing strategies. The elements that appeared to be still highly relevant though are standardization aspects of the marketing program, external globalizing conditions and global orientation. For a more comprehensive analysis of born global software firms’ marketing strategies, future research should take...