Harmonious and obsessive passion as microfoundations of new venture internationalization

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Streeb, Mirjam ; Drack, Nicolas ; Baum, Matthias:
Harmonious and obsessive passion as microfoundations of new venture internationalization.
In: Journal of World Business. Bd. 61 (2026) Heft 5 . - 101746.
ISSN 1090-9516
DOI der Verlagsversion: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2026.101746

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Abstract

Entrepreneurs are central to international entrepreneurship research, yet their role has been conceptualized mainly through cognitive lenses that emphasize knowledge and heuristics, while important affective-motivational microfoundations, such as passion, remain underexplored. This omission matters because microfoundational forces, including entrepreneurs’ passion, are key to understanding variance in entrepreneurial decision-making and, in turn, heterogeneity in internationalization behavior. Moreover, depending on the type of passion—harmonious or obsessive—entrepreneurs may respond differently to the experiences that arise during international venturing, an activity marked by high stakes and uncertainty. We integrate the dualistic model of passion into the context of new venture internationalization to examine how harmonious and obsessive passion interrelate with international venturing. Drawing on 36 semi-structured interviews with international entrepreneurs from Germany, we identify a recursive model that links passion, internationalization behavior, and entrepreneurial identity. Our findings suggest core differences between harmoniously and obsessively passionate entrepreneurs. Harmonious passion fosters adaptive internationalization by enabling entrepreneurs to frame foreign complexity as enrichment, experiment with entry moves, and recombine roles, creating a fertile ground for learning and identity expansion. In contrast, obsessive passion fosters rigid internationalization, which means that entrepreneurs equate expansion with personal validation and exert tight control to protect a fixed identity. With these findings, we aim to inject affective-motivational microfoundations into international entrepreneurship theory and extend passion research by highlighting harmonious and obsessive pathways within the internationalization context.