With the continuing dispersion of the global digital network and performance improvements of information and communication technologies, resource-poor start-ups with online business models have emerged in large numbers. These firms are able to deploy their competitive advantages across their country borders early in their life-cycle and engage in international commerce at a fast pace. An increased immediacy between the firms and the globally accessible customer is observed.

Julia Christofor's study aims to analyze the conditions of the initial internationalization decision in the Net Economy. Based on Information Systems, International Entrepreneurship, and Entrepreneurship literature, factors, which constitute the internationalization propensity, are derived. The results of this study suggest that a holistic perspective including the founder, business model and the firm level should be considered when explaining the internationalization propensity of entrepreneurs. Julia Christofor's analysis also shows that depending on the decision-maker's entrepreneurial orientation, the internationalization propensity varies. Data was obtained by means of conjoint analyses experiments conducted with 66 German Net Economy entrepreneurs.

Autorentext
Dr. Julia Christofor promovierte bei Prof. Dr. Tobias Kollmann am Lehrstuhl für E-Business und E-Entrepreneurship an der Universität Duisburg-Essen, Campus Essen. Sie ist als Business Consultant bei der Hewlett-Packard GmbH in Ratingen tätig.

Zusammenfassung
The objective of Julia Christofor's thesis is to analyze and explain the propensity of firms and their respective entrepreneurs to internationalize. The focus of this thesis is primarily on firms with information-technology-based business models, i.e. Electronic-Business-Firms, which create value via digital networks. Such firms are often referred to as Born Globals. It can therefore be assumed that on the basis of the distinct characteristics of the world wide web and because the market participants are globally interconnected via digital networks, these newly founded firms are more likely to internationalize early in their life cycle. Furthermore, because there have been fundamental changes in the technological, economic and societal spheres, the internationalization process and the propensity of these firms to offer their products on international markets may not necessarily be explained with the help of classical theories of internationalization. At the same time, the management of the newly founded E-Business firms, which are active in and pressured to thrive in a global competitive environment, are confronted with completely new challenges. The theoretical foundations presented from the academic internationalization literature stream only go some way to explaining the internationalization behavior of young E-Business-firms. This is especially due to the fact that these approaches basically relate to international, multinational and established firms.

Inhalt
Theoretical Foundations of Firm Internationalization.- Theoretical Foundations of Entrepreneurship.- Literature Synopsis and Research Framework.- Empirical Study: Internationalization Propensity in the Net Economy.- Data Analysis of the Empirical Study.- Description of Cluster Solution Findings.- Conclusion.