ORIGINAL RESEARCH Internet-Based Entrepreneurial Ventures: An Empirical Investigation of Startup Business Strategies on Firm Performance from the MENA region Ghaith M. Al-Abdallah 1 • Kym E. Fraser 2 • Abbas N. Albarq 3 Received: 28 April 2020 / Accepted: 12 November 2020 / Published online: 2 January 2021 Ó Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management 2021 Abstract This study examines the possible impact of Generic Competitive Strategies, Cost Leadership, Differ- entiation, and Focus, on the financial and non-financial Performance of Internet-based entrepreneurial ventures in the MENA region. Descriptive analytical methodology and exploratory research design, consisting of qualitative then quantitative approaches, were utilized. After qualitative semi-structured interviews, a five-point Likert scale ques- tionnaire was sent to Internet-based entrepreneurial ven- tures. SPSS was used to describe and analyse the data of 201 filtered and screened questionnaires. The results indicate that all of the examined generic competitive strategies have positive direct impacts on the performance of Internet-based entrepreneurial ventures. Differentiation strategies have the highest impact on the performance of Internet entrepreneurial ventures in MENA region, fol- lowed by Cost Leadership, then Focus strategies. This paper concludes with a discussion of the managerial implications of these findings, future research recommen- dations, and limitations of the study. Keywords Cost leadership strategy Á Developing countries Á Differentiation strategy Á Emerging economies Á Focus strategy Á Financial performance Á Generic strategies Á Non-financial performance Á Online entrepreneurial Á Porter’s competitive strategies Introduction Strategy is critical to an organization’s performance and long-term survival (Zott and Amit 2008; Elias 2019). Strategy determines how firms exploit opportunities in their environment, and without a competitive strategy, businesses will fail. With sweeping Internet adoption across the globe and the ever increasing role of Internet- based business (Leeflang et al. 2014), The effective strat- egy implantation has materialized as the source of com- petitive advantage, it is important to consider how competitive strategy plays a role in the new digital envi- ronment (Porter 2001; Srivastava 2014). Parnell (2010) stated that strategy plays a significant role in business performance, and that the clearer an organization’s artic- ulation of its strategy, the better its performance is likely to be. Porter’s generic competitive strategies are among the most established frameworks for business analysis (Or- manidhi and Stringa 2008), thus they are used in the con- ceptual framework of this study’s analysis of Internet- based entrepreneurial ventures in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. MENA incorporates 19 countries, including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pales- tine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen. MENA has a gross GDP of about $3.3 trillion, representing around 4.5% of the global GDP. The region & Ghaith M. Al-Abdallah ghaith.abdallah@yahoo.com Kym E. Fraser kym.fraser@ukh.edu.krd Abbas N. Albarq dr.abbasalbarq@yahoo.com 1 Faculty of Business and Finance, American University of Madaba, Amman, Jordan 2 Kurdistan Business School, University of Kurdistan Hewle ˆr, Erbil, Iraq 3 School of Economics & Administrative Science, Al Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 123 Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management (March 2021) 22(1):29–41 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40171-020-00256-4