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The paper aims to identify and analyze the major critical success factors at the base of the rapid internationalization of three different types of Born Global (BG) firms, namely start-up, academic spin-off and company spin-off. Based on a case study analysis, the findings show that the entrepreneurs’ dynamic capabilities, their passion and propensity to take risks, previous international experiences, language skills, the presence of an experienced staff, the ability to nurture relationships and networks based on mutual trust and on the transfer of know-how represent the major key factors for internationalization. This study intends to strengthen the literature focused on the BG phenomenon. However, the empirical analysis was conducted on an exiguous number of enterprises, operating in the high-tech sectors and founded few years ago. In order to obtain more generalizable results, future research should also focus on companies active in the low-tech sectors and founded in less recent years. Classification-JEL: Keywords: Born global; Global Start-up; Born Global Academic spin-off; Born Global Entrepreneurial Spin-off; non-linear internationalization process; multiple case study, International Journal of Economic Behavior, Vol 8, No 1 (2018): International Journal of Economic Behavior

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to deepen the global sourcing (GS) phenomenon from the acquiring firms’ viewpoint by analyzing the Italian craft beer sector. This industry has been chosen since it represents a perfect context for the GS activities’ analysis. Notably, different features characterizing this business force Italian breweries to turn to suppliers, located outside their national borders, to purchase the necessary raw materials. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a multiple case study concerning four Italian agricultural breweries located in the Marche region. Findings Results identify the main motivations, drivers, risks, obstacles and costs related to the adoption of the GS activities, by corroborating a positive interconnection with the GS literature findings. Research limitations/implications The main limitation is related to the fact that the study is based on a survey carried out on a specific region and product category. Therefore, future research could analyze other Italian regions and/or different types of products. Practical implications The study identifies different gaps characterizing the Italian supply market. Managerially these gaps can be converted into critical opportunities for the future development of the entire Italian brewing sector. Moreover, the results detect several actions the investigated breweries will seek to develop in the near future, which could strongly support the growth of the Italian beer sector. Originality/value The study deepens a topic little explored by literature, especially with reference to the supply activities of the Italian agricultural breweries.