The internationalisation of French new ventures: The case of the Rhone-Alps region

SummaryINVs have been widely studied in the US context, but their examination in other regions such as France has been very limited. Based on a survey of 68 early-internationalising firms, this paper investigates firms located in the French Rhone-Alps region. The main finding of the paper is that French early-internationalising firms – belonging to various industries, not only to IT sectors – do not constitute a homogeneous group. Depending on their degree of internationalisation, they behave differently in terms of foreign markets entry modes, number of geographical areas targeted, governance mechanisms and growth of turnover. The paper concludes by discussing managerial implications, the limitations and areas for further research.