Abstract
In recent years, the dynamics of international business have changed. This has largely been attributed to uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and global trends towards individualistic behaviours. To remain competitive, international entrepreneurial firms (IEFs) renew their behaviours and reconfigure their capabilities. However, scholars have hitherto not uncovered the configurational interplay connecting behaviours and capabilities between the pre-and-post-COVID periods. Drawing on the configurational perspective of dynamic capability theory, we explored the configurational specificities of dynamic internationalisation capability and an international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) as the behavioural aspect of IEFs. Adopting a longitudinal approach, we applied fsQCA to data drawn from Malaysia. Results show that whereas, in the pre-COVID period, IEFs exhibited an IEO along with threshold and disruption capabilities, in the wake of the pandemic, they are gingerly manifesting an IEO with an overwhelming priority on value-adding and consolidation capabilities suited to weather crises and secure international performance.
•COVID-19 has caused a behavioural shift among international entrepreneurial firms (IEFs), particularly in manifesting international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO).•IEFs to shift focus from threshold and disruption capabilities to value-adding and consolidation capabilities to enhance international performance in the post-COVID period.•The effectiveness of dynamic internationalisation capabilities hinges on the alignment with firms' orientation, especially IEO configurations for IEFs.