Business Diplomacy Research Articles

The Challenges of Developing an Indonesian Travel Corridor: Bintan Resorts in Singapore as a Study Case

Indonesia has the best international cross-border tourism called Bintan Resorts or better known as Lagoi. The emergence of Covid-19 made the tourism sector in Lagoi slumped. This condition makes Bintan Resorts and tenants, local governments, and the central government strive to revive Lagoi tourism through promotion by using a business diplomacy strategy through a travel bubble approach to attract Singaporean tourists as Lagoi's main target market. This research uses a qualitative method that shows the results that the concept of a travel bubble between Bintan Resorts and Singapore has not been fully implemented. This is because Indonesia's diplomacy has not been followed by domestic policies that are consistent and of the same standard as Singapore. This study argues the need for a middle ground in the form of a mutual agreement, where the Indonesian government can apply all Singaporean requirements as national standards, especially in tourism management. Keywords: Economy; Management; Travel Bubble; Business; Building Capacity

EU-Chile Horizons: Climate Justice for a Shared Strategy on Critical Minerals

The European Union has not only raised the need for strategic autonomy, but has also opened up to re-establishing new relationships. One of these relationships in the spotlight is Latin America, which has the highest concentration of critical minerals, key, among other things, for the energy transition of the Union and Latin America itself. However, the instruments of European law have become more flexible beyond Mercosur and the prevailing formalism, and a new cycle of relations is being generated. To a large extent, this adaptation may combine new ways of conceptualizing the role of "strategic for both parties", since European energy autonomy and the business diplomacy experienced by some Latin American countries such as Chile are not mutually exclusive. The Chilean case is paradigmatic of this crossroads, as the country is part of the new wave of natural resource sovereignty, but at the same time it is considering executing the development imaginary together with the geopolitical interests of the European Union.

Business diplomacy influence on multinational corporations’ foreign economic activity processes

Doing business internationally means facing a complex international business environment. The article presents a comprehensive analysis of business diplomacy in transnational corporations as a mechanism for managing complex interactions with governmental and non-governmental organizations. The purpose of the study is to develop basic recommendations for business diplomacy integration in the domestic companies’ activities based on the definition of its role in transnational corporations. The methodological basis of the study was formed by the papers of Russian and foreign scientists. The main functions that are in the area of business diplomacy responsibility have been defined. The main advantages for transnational corporations provided by business diplomacy, the importance of which is more realized in a weak institutional context, have been highlighted. Based on the parameters described by H. Ruël, T. Wolters, and R. Loohuis in “Business Diplomacy in Multinational Corporations”, the activity of Merz, which operates mainly in aesthetic medicine, has been analyzed from the point of implementing the principles and means of business diplomacy. Recommendations have been provided for multinational corporations to integrate the business diplomacy principles into their activities in order to increase its effectiveness. The authors concluded that business diplomacy strengthens a company’s position in the market, helps to expand its influence, and contributes to its development.

International Business Diplomacy: Mining for Good Practices in Indonesia

International Business Diplomacy: Mining for Good Practices in Indonesia

International Business Diplomacy and Violent Conflicts

International Business Diplomacy and Violent Conflicts

The Business Diplomacy of Mayora Indah Ltd. on The Kopiko Brand Through Export to the Philippines and Promotions on Korean Dramas

Diplomacy in business is needed to make market expansion activities more effective. This step by MNCs is then referred to as business diplomacy and also benefits the state because it can simultaneously become a means of diplomacy and achieve state interests. Mayora Indah Ltd. is a giant MNC from Indonesia that can dominate the global market. The success of Mayora Indah Ltd. in filling the global market can be seen in the popularity of Kopiko as their flagship product. This article aims to determine the strategies of business diplomacy taken by Mayora Indah Ltd to achieve the company's interests successfully. This article will then review the concepts related to business diplomacy proposed by Alammar & Pauleen (2016) as a foundation for analyzing the case study. This research finds that in the core knowledge competencies, Mayora Indah Ltd. applies internal knowledge through exposure to Kdrama producers related to Kopiko, with the aim that they can understand the product that will later be aired. Meanwhile, on multi-perspective consideration, Mayora Indah Ltd. invests in manufacturing in the Philippines and buys coconut commodities for environmental scanning.

Business diplomacy in practice: A strategic response to global business challenges

This paper investigates business diplomacy from the perspective of senior managers and diplomats. In one of the earliest empirical studies, twenty-one official diplomats, CEOs, and business people were interviewed about their perspectives on business diplomacy and its core elements. Data were analyzed using grounded theory. The findings indicate that business diplomacy is a set of multiple integrated qualities concerned with professionally and systematically managing and influencing multiple stakeholders to advance business interests. The findings have led to developing an integrative theory and framework that expands our understanding of business diplomacy. The framework demonstrates the practicability and applicability of business diplomacy in management and business. The study’s implications suggest that businesses incorporate business diplomacy as a strategic tool at the managerial and organizational levels.

Critical revaluation of the theories of international political economy: business diplomacy, a new dimension of study

Critical revaluation of the theories of international political economy: business diplomacy, a new dimension of study

Business diplomacy and justification: new post-pandemic 'Rules of the Game'

Business diplomacy and justification: new post-pandemic 'Rules of the Game'

From Defensive to Transformative Business Diplomacy: The British South Africa Company and the End of Chartered Company Rule in Rhodesia, 1910–1925

Chartered companies were important tools of European colonialism, but also institutions with a political agenda of their own. In this study, we focus upon one key chartered company, the British South Africa Company, in particular the ending of its charter in 1923/24, in order to study the business diplomacy strategies employed by the company. We show how the company during the period under study moved from a reactive and defensive diplomacy strategy concerning its charter, to a proactive and transformative strategy. In this way, the company managed to renegotiate the terms under which it operated so that it eventually came to accept and even embrace the ending of chartered rule, rather than to oppose it.

Administering Empire. Business Diplomacy in Early Modern Sweden: The Cases of Abraham Cabiljau and the Gothenburg Company

The article illustrates the importance of business diplomacy practised by free agents, who navigated and negotiated between northern European empires for widespread commercial, legal and administrative developments. Abraham Cabiljau’s career is an example from the early modern Swedish empire, which stands on the threshold of a new era. In the Swedish empire, Cabiljau was involved in several different sectors, from military recruitment to the development of state accounting and administration of international trade. He represents the Swedish empire’s vast economic relationships with international merchant networks operating in a broad spectrum of military and commercial arenas. The Swedish empire was economically dependent on the financial resources of the merchants in Amsterdam, and economic prosperity was not the sole contribution of these merchants. The education, knowledge and connections provided by Cabiljau greatly enhanced the administration and organisation of Sweden’s international trade by importing a new legal mindset and organisational culture. In return, northern mining resources and Baltic commerce were alluring for Dutch merchants. We argue that the modelling of international organisations was an essential part of Swedish economic development. However, the first Swedish trading companies remained an experimental attempt to transplant the Dutch East India Company (VOC) model to Sweden. Individuals like Cabiljau represent key actors who ignited, taught and promoted commercial law development in Sweden, on which international commerce was later built upon, with long-lasting impacts.

International business diplomacy: mining for good practices in Latin America

International business diplomacy: mining for good practices in Latin America

International business diplomacy: mining for good practices in Latin America

International business diplomacy: mining for good practices in Latin America

Институт торговых представительств Российской федерации на современном этапе: оценка промежуточных итогов его реформирования

Introduction: trade missions of the Russian Federation are the central institution for driving export development and promoting the interests of domestic exporters in foreign markets. Since May 2018, these structures have been undergoing a new round of reforms following their transfer into the competence of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. Objectives: to study the current round of reforms in the system of trade missions, including the analysis of changes in personnel, innovations in the functions of these foreign economic structures and their references in media. Methods: the concept of business diplomacy, focusing on the micro-level of foreign economic actors’ activity; biographical method; analysis of formal documents on foreign economic activity. Results: the position of trade missions in the export support system, in relation to other foreign trade structures, has been defined; the main documents on foreign economic activity have been considered from the standpoint of uncertainty in goal setting; innovations in the functions of trade missions have been considered; the characteristics of trade missions’ personnel have been studied, including changes before and after the start of the last round of reforms. Conclusions: the role of trade missions in the export support system, as well as the results of their activities still elicit a mixed reaction. This stems from several reasons, including the unsatisfactory results of previous reform attempts (in 2012 and 2016) and the implicit interim results of the current reform. Trade missions, despite their dependence on the macroeconomic environment, remain as the main instrument of costs reduction and easier penetration into the markets. After the trade missions transfer into the competence of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Russian Federation, there have been indications of changes aimed at raising the quality of their services and, in general, an overall change to more efficient foreign trade institutions. This is manifested in the renewal of the trade representatives’ composition, among which there are more and more people with work experience in business.

COVID-19 impacts on multilateralism and diplomacy: the potential of business diplomacy

COVID-19 impacts on multilateralism and diplomacy: the potential of business diplomacy

Eco-Business Diplomacy: A Case Study of SMART and the European Union on Palm Oil Issue

The European Union imposed tougher policy to Indonesia on palm oil trade due to sustainability issues. PT Smart Tbk is one of the biggest palm oil company in Indonesia. Due to the trade conflict between the European Union and Indonesia, PT Smart Tbk played its role in eco-business diplomacy. This research used primary data by interviewing representatives from PT Smart Tbk. The authors proposed the concept of eco-business diplomacy by combining the concept of environmental diplomacy and business diplomacy using the case study of PT Smart Tbk’s relationship with the European Union.

Eco-Business Diplomacy: A Case Study of SMART and the European Union on Palm Oil Issue

The European Union imposed tougher policy to Indonesia on palm oil trade due to sustainability issues. PT Smart Tbk is one of the biggest palm oil company in Indonesia. Due to the trade conflict between the European Union and Indonesia, PT Smart Tbk played its role in eco-business diplomacy. This research used primary data by interviewing representatives from PT Smart Tbk. The authors proposed the concept of eco-business diplomacy by combining  the concept of environmental diplomacy and business diplomacy using the case study of PT Smart Tbk’s relationship with the European Union.

Business diplomacy as a tool for the implementation of the foreign economic interests of the Republic of Moldova

The problems of developing the export of Moldovan goods and services, as well as improving international competitiveness, are very relevant today. Strengthening the position of the Republic of Moldova in the world economy is a necessary and inevitable task. However, foreign policy and foreign economic factors, such as pressure from multinational corporations, create difficulties for Moldovan companies to defend and promote their interests in foreign markets. The underdevelopment of the domestic export promotion system, the complexity of the international political and economic environment, numerous risks actualize the need to analyze and consider the concept of business diplomacy within the framework of economic diplomacy as a promising mechanism for ensuring the interests of industry and individual companies in foreign countries. Being a subspecies of economic diplomacy, business diplomacy is characterized as a more applied form of realization of economic interests, including methods of lobbying and communication with the state. Such a form of promotion of economic interests at the international level, based on diplomatic structures and trade missions, can promote closer cooperation of domestic companies, both with foreign state bodies and with Moldovan departments in order to realize commercial interests abroad. The article shows the real situation in the field of economic diplomacy in the Republic of Moldova and gives some recommendations for its improvement.

MNEs and the practice of international business diplomacy

Scholars of international relations and international political economy have long documented international business diplomacy (IBD) as a practice of multinational enterprises (MNEs), although the specific practices involved have not been consistently established in international business scholarship. We apply "practice theory" to position IBD within the realm of MNEs’ global non-market strategy (NMS), arguing that IBD constitutes a set of practices in the implementation of global NMS, and that the most appropriate practices depend upon two key dimensions of the global institutional governance regime faced by the MNEs: the governance level and the degree of rule formality.

Identifying the factors affecting competitiveness: A case study of Iranian natural gas industry

Natural gas, as a clean and environment-friendly commodity, has now found its place in the energy baskets of developed countries. The present study aimed to identify the factors affecting competitiveness in Iran's natural gas industry. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with gas industry executives and experts, and it was analyzed using the grounded theory. Finally, a model for explaining the factors influencing competitiveness in the Iranian natural gas industry was obtained. Institutional capacity building, commercial behavior, joining the global production chain, accessing the global financial resources, technological connection with the world and business diplomacy explain the competitiveness model. Achieving a competitive position in the field of the natural gas industry necessitates entering the global supply chain, which is dependent on the recreation of relationships, as well as changing attitudes and actions in the task and global environment.