Letter from the Editor-in-Chief: JIBS publication criteria and their consequences

Abstract

OVERVIEW OF JIBS 41.7 This issue of JIBS contains eight articles that were all submitted to my editorial team; the topics span a wide range of issues in international business (IB) studies. Each article makes a valuable contribution to IB research when assessed on the JIBS three-fold criteria for publication: fit, quality and contribution. The issue opens with an article by Ambos, Andersson and Birkinshaw examining the consequences of initiative-taking in MNE subsidiaries in terms of bargaining power, autonomy and influence. Two articles on institutions and IB follow: Chacar, Newburry and Vissa on the role of home-country institutions in performance persistence research, and Kim, Kim and Hoskisson on the impact of institutional change on performance of business group MNEs in Korea. Sun, Mellahi and Thun conduct a qualitative study of political embeddedness of foreign MNEs in the Chinese automotive industry. The impact of returnee entrepreneurs, FDI and interfirm employee mobility in affecting the innovation performance of Chinese high-tech firms is studied in Liu, Lu, Filatotchev, Buck and Wright. The next two papers focus on international marketing. Dou, Li, Zhou and Su analyze relationship satisfaction between global professional service firms and their clients in China. Lastly, Sinkovics, Jean and Cavusgil examine the role played by information technology in international customer-supplier relationships in Taiwan. The issue concludes with an article by Colantone and Sleuwaegen examining the impacts of globalization through international trade flows on the entry and exit patterns of manufacturing firms in eight European countries.