Moving Up The Value Chain Or Reconfiguring The Value Network? An Organizational Learning Perspective On Born Global Outsourcing Vendors

The best Chinese offshore software service outsourcing (SSO) vendors are seen to be growing rapidly while dynamically adjusting their global position in their extended value networks. These organisations can be categorised as born-global firms, namely, organisations that are born with a clear goal to seek superior international performance from the application of knowledge-based resources to the sale of outputs in multiple countries. Taking this perspective, the paper presents a case study of one such highly successful Chinese SSO and investigates how it seeks to develop its organizational capability in order to achieve fast growth and strong performance in international markets, to position itself as a global SSO provider and innovator. The paper suggests that a Reconfigurative Strategy that combines ambidexterity, combinative capability and dynamic capability could offer some explanatory insights. The case was carried out via semi-structured interviews over a 4-year period and the analysis is iteratively linked to theoretical concepts. The findings contribute to our understanding of organizational learning strategies of born-global SSO firms situated in dynamic global markets and their potentialities for rapid internationalization and innovative performance.