Abstract
Internationalization is a theme of great interest to practitioners worldwide, intensified by the increasing business environmental turbulence in last decades. The latter led to the proliferation and expanding of research into new areas, while neoclassic archetypes were conversely dubbed as, supposedly “old-fashioned.” In this context, a review article aims at breaking with such dogma, rejuvenating prior knowledge, and contextualizing it in current time. Hence, this research focus on a seminal framework, the well-known Uppsala Model, purposively selected as being an exception, as it keeps capturing the interest of scholars and is still one of the most cited frameworks in this area. Thus, a theoretical review addresses the evolution of the model in the aftermath of more than 40 years of research, and contextualizes it within the state-of-the-art of internationalization-related theories. An integrative review process is applied to a purposeful selection of descending frameworks of the model, circumscribed to the last decade (2009–2019). An enduring utility is positively observed, grounded on a reactive adaption purpose. In parallel, a shift is assisted from the neoclassic paradigm to a behavioral paradigm pillared on a capability-building logic for the adaption toward volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environments. This led to the extension of the Uppsala paradigm from a pure internationalization process model to enter the realm of the international capabilization framework.
Highlights
Changes in the business ecosystems influence significantly the microsphere of the firms’ actions (Coviello et al, 2017)
The drawing of conclusions as to the aims (Aims 1 and 2) of this investigation revealed in “Introduction” section, accounts besides the cross-checking of literature from third parties, which suggested the advancement of internationalization theory, regardless of the Uppsala’s assertions about its adaptation to the VUCA environmental circumstances
At the beginning of this article, the myth of superannuation of neoclassic theory is introduced on the light of contemporary VUCA challenges of the business ecosystem and latter literature
Summary
Changes in the business ecosystems influence significantly the microsphere of the firms’ actions (Coviello et al, 2017). The opposition to Uppsala seems to derive from the emergence of further conceptions which have defied its rationale, since the novelty brought by the theoretical advancements could allegedly replace the role originally played by the Uppsala Model as an internationalization process model (Johanson & Vahlne, 1977). Such an assumption seems to have given space for the flourishing of a growing opposition, deriving from the effective enlargement of the body of theory in the last decades. This constitutes, the lever for the formulation of an initial problem statement: Depreciation of neoclassic theory (U-model) on the presence of contemporary frameworks with equivalent purpose and higher alleged functionality
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