Kamp, B.
Boletín de Estudios Económicos, Vol. 72 - Nº 221 – August, pp. 333-359. ISSN: 0006-6249
English // Keywords: Foreign trade, competitive strategy, international business, hidden champions
Abstract
This paper reviews the presence and strategic modus operandi of international niche market leaders from the Basque Country (Spain).
It shows how these companies contribute above par to the foreign trade performance of the basque economy.
It reveals how the majority of them capitalize on first mover advantages by entering early into the niche markets they conquer.
Their first mover behaviour also manifests itself in the innovation initiatives these firms undertake. However, in that regard the paper observes how many of the “firsts” that international niche market leaders launch to market are not patented, and may thus fail to contribute to a sustained competitive advantage.
The paper concludes that this “patent paradox” is -together with the need for more “geographical ambidexterity” (entry into next frontier markets) and the risk of “niche lockins”- one of the potential threats to continued international niche market leadership that these firms should deal with.
