Page - 265 - in Digital Entrepreneurship - Impact on Business and Society

General knowledge Digitalization further revolutionizes international business by lowering the relative significance of general knowledge to international opportunity pursuit. Foremost, DTsenable internationalizingfirms,especiallyexportingmanufacturers, tosell their products through cross-border electronic commerce channels or platforms by simply clicking themouse (Tolstoy et al. 2016). This has fundamentally changed theoriginal internationalbusinessmanner since little foreignbusinessknowledge is already adequate for some activities. At the same time, some other kinds of general knowledge, however, are becoming increasingly indispensable for opportunity pursuit in the international marketplace. For example, Reuber and Fischer (2011) identified three types of online resources, i.e., online reputation,online technological capabilities, andonline brand communities, can be instrumental for new venture internationalization. The general knowledge about how to encourage the firm to accumulate these online resources can buffer the risks of doing business abroad (Fischer andReuber 2014), and facilitate opportunity pursuit. In sum,whereas somepart of general knowledge highlighted by traditional IP theory would be less significant for internationaliza- tion, successful international opportunity creation and capture requires other additional knowledge. 4 Examples fromPractice EXHIBIT 1: Selling ambers to China with the help of WeChat (DTs as ‘driving force’) It is undeniable thatChina is an attractivemarket for enterprises around theworld. However, it hasalsobeenwidelyacknowledged thatdoingbusiness inChinawould notbeeasy (Ahlstrometal. 2000), asculturaldistance isusually sopronouncedand China’s institutional development is not as fast as its economic development. In order to accumulate sufficient knowledge to create and capture opportunities in China, many foreign firms rely on survey reports and business networks. Mean- while, other entrepreneurs andmanagers realize thatDTs can also play an essential role. For example, WeChat, as one of China’s most frequently used social net- working platform, has attracted an increasing number of users outside China. Releasedin2011,WeChatpenetrates intoChinesepeople’sdaily life thoroughlyand hasbecomeamain channel for information exchangeofworks and social activities inChina. It is reported that thenumberofmonthly activeusers (MAU)has reached 1112million during thefirst quarter of year 2019 (Tencent 2019). Many Chinese tourists find it quite cost-efficient to buy ambers while visiting Poland. In linewith the tradition, someChinese ladies have a habit ofwearing the amber necklace to show the elegance. For Polish sellers, accessing to Chinese market means a lot to their amber business. However, without sophisticated knowledge about themarket, it seems to be a challenge for Polish businessmen to Pursuing International Opportunities in a Digitally EnabledWorld 273