Field Of International Business Research Articles

Family firms and international equity-based entry modes: a systematic literature review

PurposeAlthough research on family firms (FF) internationalization has seen a boom over the past 30 years, the understanding of how FFs internationalize with equity modes is still fragmented. Indeed, the majority of extant literature on this topic identifies internationalization with export, overlooking the alternative equity-based entry modes FFs have when entering a foreign country. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap with a framework-based systematic literature review on the topic to improve the understanding of this phenomenon and propose a way forward.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted a framework-based systematic literature review of 93 papers published between 1993 and 2021.FindingsThis study adds to the current debate on FFs internationalization by integrating previous review efforts with a deeper investigation of FFs’ equity-based entry modes. This study contributes to this body of knowledge in the family business research by synthetizing and systematizing extant literature with a framework-based approach from the international business (IB) field. In so doing, this study builds a stronger link between these two areas of research. Finally, research gaps and promising research avenues for future studies are also presented.Originality/valueThis study responds to the call to create a dialogue between the FFs and IB fields by systematizing the extant body of knowledge and integrating the FF literature with one of the most widely used frameworks (Pan and Tse, 2000) on entry modes in the IB domain.

MNEs’ transfer of socially irresponsible practices: A replication with new extensions

We conduct a quasi-replication to re-examine the theoretical arguments and empirical findings in Surroca, Tribo, and Zahra (2013). These authors argued that MNEs transfer socially irresponsible (CSiR) practices from their headquarters to their foreign subsidiaries. Recently, however, dramatic changes in institutional environments, multinationals, and their practices have raised concerns about the validity and generalizability of the original arguments. The replication results show weaker evidence than what was presented in the original study and offer a different view of MNEs from emerging markets based on an updated sample. Thus, our replication contributes to a cumulative body of knowledge in the cross-discipline field of international business, CSiR, and sustainability.

국제기업가지향성이 GVC지속가능 성과에 미치는 영향 연구

With the recent emphasis placed on the Global Value Chain(GVC) in the field of international business, there has been growing attention for sustainable management encompassing not only the economic performance of firms participating in GVC activities but also their environmental and social performance. Presenting international entrepreneurial orientation as a leading factor in sustainable GVC performance, this study aims to investigate the effects of the sub-factors of international entrepreneurial orientation, including innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking on sustainable GVC performance. Using survey data f rom 219 K orean m anufacturing a nd e xporting f irm s, i t w as c onfirm ed t hat t he i nternational entrepreneurial orientation has positive effects on sustainable GVC performance. This study has the academic implication in expanding the leading factor of GVC performance focused on the network perspective to entrepreneurial orientation. The findings also provide managerial effects in suggesting that it is necessary for firms participating in GVC to take a strategic approach to achieving sustainable GVC performance through international entrepreneurial orientation.

VESTAS: NEW CHALLENGES AFTER COVID-19

This case contemplates the context of a multinational company that was able to reach prominence in the renewable energy market and has to make strategic choices to face a world crisis minimizing the long-term effects. Present in 81 countries, the company, designs, manufactures, installs, and services wind turbines all over the world and is one of the world leaders in renewable energy. This teaching case aims to promote a reflection on the strategic choices in turbulent moments and its possible implications strategic, operational and financial. The case can be used in undergraduate and graduate courses in the field of Corporate Strategy, International Business, and Business Ethics.

Equivalence in international business research: A three-step approach

A primary research area within the field of international business (IB) is to establish the extent to which concepts, theories, and findings identified in one country are applicable to other contexts and which are unique and cannot be found in other contexts. Researchers in IB acknowledge the importance of the context in their studies, but the practice of assessing equivalence (or invariance) is not widely diffused within the community. We first discuss the components of equivalence (construct, method, and item equivalence), and we offer a three-step approach to address equivalence in the writing and revision of a paper. We aim to help editors, reviewers, and researchers produce more reliable research and navigate the tension between generalizable relationships and context-specific ones, both theoretically and empirically, before performing analysis and hypothesis testing. We then apply equivalence to the construct of firm economic performance as a case study, but the same logic can be applied to other constructs as well.

Exploring the influence of innovativeness on the pace of internationalisation of university spin-outs: a born global perspective

ABSTRACT To date, understanding and empirical investigation of the internationalisation processes of university spin-outs (USOs) have been limited. Few studies have explored the role of the specific characteristics of their core technology, in particular their innovativeness, as a determinant of their early internationalisation. This is also an issue which is under-explored within the general international business field. To address this gap, the purpose of our paper is to examine how the innovativeness of USOs influence the pace of their internationalisation. To achieve this, we explore how innovativeness is nurtured and cumulatively developed during born global (BG) and non-born global (NBG) USOs’ pre-foundation technology development trajectory. BGs represent a category of young, usually, high-technology firms that internationalise within 3 years of inception. By exploring the pre-foundation technology development process of Italian USOs across two research-intensive universities, we found that BG and NBG USOs differed in aspects around their innovative proclivity, firm innovativeness and the nature of the innovation. Specifically, we found that BG USOs had a longer pre-foundation period, focused on a specific invention with limited fields of application, and offered ‘really new’ innovations. BG USOs’ products or services were also developed and largely standardised before market entry, which accelerated their internationalisation. In contrast, NBG USOs were characterised by short pre-foundation periods, relied on incremental innovation and a wide spectrum of innovative competencies. They also relied on technologies with a broad scope of market application and customised their offerings based on client needs, which slowed their market entry and internationalisation.

Toward More Impactful International Business Education: A Teaching Innovation Typology

ABSTRACT Teaching innovations in the field of higher education (HE) have the potential to lead to better learning outcomes and higher faculty motivation. While the pedagogy literature has explored different types of teaching innovations, International Business (IB) scholars have paid relatively little attention to how these innovations are disseminated and generate impact across the IB field. This paper addresses this gap. Drawing on the innovation literature in management and the pedagogy literature on teaching innovations, we provide a typology of teaching innovations and their impact in the context of IB education. This framework illustrates the spread of teaching innovations by considering the intersection of types of pedagogy innovations, and the stakeholders impacted by them. By introducing this framework and illustrating select IB teaching innovations, we contribute to the pedagogy literature in the IB field. The framework also offers practical guidance for innovative educators and HE institutions.

Teaching Innovations in the Field of IB: Insights from the Academy of International Business Teaching Innovation Award 2021 Finalists

ABSTRACT This special issue on Teaching Innovations in the Field of International Business systematically explores the nature of teaching innovations and their impact. Featuring articles from the finalists of the 2021 Teaching Innovation Award organized by the Teaching and Education Shared Interest Group at Academy of International Business as well as a conceptual article that integrates these innovations, the special issue seeks to advance research on International Business pedagogy and to inspire scholars to pursue teaching innovations with greater impact.

Internationalization of Turkish business groups: motives and institutional context

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the internationalization motives behind location choice among emerging country business groups (EBGs) and the way in which institutional factors affect Türkiye’s foreign direct investment (FDI).Design/methodology/approachThis study develops a multi-perspective framework that integrates the ownership, location and internalization (OLI) paradigm (Dunning and Lundan, 2008) and the linkage, leverage and learning (LLL) model (Mathews, 2006) with neo-institutional theory to explain the internationalization of EBGs. It adopts a multiple-case study research method relying on 14 semi-structured interviews with top executives to explore the internationalization strategy of a set of Turkish BGs.FindingsThis study supports the combination of the OLI paradigm, the LLL model and neo-institutional theory to explain EBGs’ internationalizing behaviors. Turkish BGs have adopted both asset exploitation and asset augmentation internationalization strategies. The institutional legitimacy mechanism moderates the internationalization motives of Turkish BGs, and their host country location choice and normative pressures are more salient than their regulative and cognitive pressures.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on a sample of EBGs from Türkiye, and this restriction limits the generalizability/applicability of the findings to BGs globally.Originality/valueFew studies have considered EBGs and their internationalization strategies in the international business field. This paper puts forward an integrated framework for analyzing internationalization and legitimacy in the institutional context of EBGs. This study highlights that BGs bridge institutional voids. Focusing on Turkish BGs helps to answer Granovetter’s Coasian question and contributes to the understanding of emerging countries’ economic development.

The essence of key success factors as a competitive advantage of the enterprise

The relevance of the researched topic lies in the growth of competition between business entities in both domestic and foreign markets. The processes of globalization and integration predetermine the constant search by enterprises for ways to gain competitive advantages in order to increase the loyalty of existing customers and obtain new ones, to seek access to new markets, and ultimately, increase profits. In such circumstances, the study of key success factors becomes an extremely important task for both business representatives and scientists. The purpose of the article is to review existing views on the process of defining and forming key success factors, as well as the issue of separating the essence of the concepts of “key success factors” and “key performance indicators”. To write the article, Ukrainian and foreign scientific publications in the field of marketing, management, international business and entrepreneurship have been analyzed. The article is devoted to the problem of increasing the competitiveness of Ukrainian enterprises through the development of key success factors. The article groups the main approaches to defining the concept of “key success factors”. The author’s interpretation of the concept of “key success factors” has been provided. Characteristics, that competitive advantages have to meet in order to be considered strategic success factors, have been identified. The main areas of key success factors have been formed and considered. It has been concluded that the competitive advantage of any product or service is constantly changing and unique, and therefore requires constant analysis of the market and economic situation, taking into account many factors that affect them. Recommendations have been provided on the effective use of key success factors by management of Ukrainian enterprises in order to increase the enterprise’s financial performance, improve its image, stabilize its economic condition, etc. The article presents scientific and practical significance for business representatives who seek to identify, investigate and improve the key success factors of their own enterprises and gain additional competitive advantages

Crossing borders and boundaries: Translation ecosystems in international business

The field of International Business (IB) has traditionally focused on the crossing of national boundaries. In this Perspective, we argue that organizational, knowledge domain, and language boundaries are equally important for understanding translation activities in cross-border business. We integrate three kinds of translation (organizational translation and knowledge translation from Organization Studies and interlingual translation from Translation Studies) to deepen our understanding of core IB phenomena and pose new research questions. We introduce the framework of a translation ecosystem for integrating the micro perspective of translating agents, the meso perspective of organizational units, and the macro perspective of the larger social and linguistic contexts that influence translation. This framework allows IB scholars to identify important but invisible boundaries in cross-border business. The translation ecosystem requires the kind of multi-level research that has been recognized as crucial for taking the field forward and offers the potential for making contributions both to IB and to translation research beyond the disciplinary boundaries of IB.

Hidden Threats and Overlooked Solutions: Unnoticed Risks and Firm Action in Latin America

Work on institutional distance has documented a number of challenges that multinational corporations face when they begin operations in distant countries. Although it has also focused principally on how socio-political risks generated by the difficulties can be mitigated by political ties, the manners in which local firms address these problems has been overlooked. At the same time, scholars in this field have not fully documented the array of socio-political challenges firms face. The field of international business needs theories that go beyond those based on new institutional economics to discover new sources of risk and how they are mitigated. I argue that the varieties of capitalism approach provides the proper framework for undertaking this type of work. I use this approach to examine how an Argentine multilatina developed a network organizational structure that effectively mitigated these risks in inter-firm relations and finance in Argentina and failed to mitigate such risks in the areas of inter-firm relations and employee relations in Brazil. I also coin the term indigenous assets to describe the type of knowledge MNEs need to acquire before entering new countries. This article concludes by explaining the relevance of its findings for theory and praxis.

Why Do They Come Back? Returnees’ Presence, Talent Management and Firms’ Innovative Capabilities

Investigation of returnees from developed countries and their effects for firms from emerging markets receives much attention in international business field. In particular, due to obtained international human and social capital, returnees contribute to economic and non-economic performance, internationalization, corporate social responsibility activities, innovativeness, and competitive advantage of companies in emerging markets where those returnees work. Returnees’ effect on innovative capabilities, i.e. antecedents of innovativeness, is dependent on the extent to which these individuals can share their knowledge and experience. As highly-skilled returnees may be considered talents, talent management (TM) system may facilitate knowledge sharing and eliminate possible issues in cross-cultural adaptation and integration. Using a sample of 80 Russian companies with returnee employees at different management levels, we show that TM practices aimed at attraction, development, and retention of returnees are positively associated with innovative capabilities and innovativeness of companies. Moreover, TM for returnees moderate positively the relationship between innovative capabilities and innovativeness in firms with returnee employees.

Foreign Subsidiary Governance: Toward A Research Agenda

Foreign subsidiaries have been well-studied in the field of management and international business. A small but growing research niche addresses on the governance of foreign subsidiaries particularly looking into board and top management team (TMT) compositions and roles. This paper aims to systematically review and integrate the literature on foreign subsidiary board and TMT. We first identify key parts of foreign subsidiary governance based on an examination of 58 relevant articles published during the years of 1990-2021. Second, we construct a framework to organize the articles with regard to antecedents and consequences of foreign subsidiary board and TMT structure and functioning. Third, we discuss the findings and identify the gaps in the current literature. We stress that foreign subsidiary governance is understudied and is quite fragmented across various business disciplines and institutional contexts. In particular, the complexities of how foreign subsidiary boards and TMTs are structured in conformance to home and host country challenges are not yet rigorously examined. Finally, we conclude by proposing new theoretical directions and research avenues. Keywords: foreign subsidiary corporate board, foreign subsidiary TMT, emerging markets, institutions.

Corporate Social Irresponsibility in Host Countries: The Interplay of Home and Host Institutions

Corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) by multinational enterprises (MNEs) has been attracting increasing attention by policy makers as well as scholars. Building on institutional perspectives and the ‘distance’ research in the international business (IB) field, our study examines how the institutional characteristics of home and host countries, their interplay, as well as cross-national institutional distances affect MNEs’ CSI in host countries. We test our hypotheses using panel data of 1,087 listed firms based in 48 countries, with CSI incidents occurring in 150 host countries during 2007-2018. We find that both stronger home and host institutions are negatively associated with CSI occurring in the host markets, but the mitigating effect of host (home) institutions on CSI will be weaker when home (host) institutions are stronger. We further find that as institutional distance between home and host countries increases, MNEs’ involvement in CSI incidents in the host countries grows. We contribute to CSI research and ‘distance’ literatures by offering theoretical mechanisms and empirical evidence on whether and when MNEs respond to varied stakeholder and institutional pressures in their CSI engagements.

Flexible Pattern Matching Approach – Advancing Theorizing and Qualitative Rigor in IB Studies

Along with the development of the international business (IB) field, a huge range of research methods has evolved and been integrated into IB studies as building blocks. Even though qualitative methods are promising in studying multinational contexts to reveal more in-depth information and richer contextualization, the number of qualitative IB studies remains modest partly because of the challenges involved. In this paper, we discuss the flexible pattern matching approach (FPMA) as an option to a rigorous cross-cultural data analysis and theorizing from multi-cultural and context heavy data in qualitative IB studies. This paper presents the logic of the FPMA and its strength in studying multinational contexts. We outline a six-step roadmap for theorizing with FPMA in IB studies. We also discuss the limitation and future research agenda.

Capitalizing on the uniqueness of international business: Towards a theory of place, space, and organization

The field of international business (IB) has been successful in developing a unique body of knowledge on the multinational corporation and on country-level contexts. A recurring debate concerns its claim to uniqueness, and to associated scholarly characteristics that distinguish IB from other fields of research. I discuss what makes IB research unique by looking at what IB theory can explain and predict. To that end, I leverage key theoretical arguments and empirical insights to advance an understanding of IB centered around a firm’s ability to create added value in more than one location. I introduce a stylized model of the multi-locational firm embedded in multiple business systems characterized by equifinality. As a result of the qualitative disjunctures that separate one place from another, multi-locational firms are confronted with additional managerial and organizational challenges. These challenges are rooted in the process of “othering”. Theorizing on the critical constructs of place, space, and organization, I argue that IB offers the most generalizable approach to understanding firms doing business in more than one location. IB’s ultimate uniqueness lies in the potential of advancing a general theory of the firm in space.

MNEs’ corporate governance disclosure: a strategic response to corrupt environments

PurposeThis study aims to examine how corruption influences the voluntary disclosure of corporate governance (CG)-related information by developed country multinationals (DC-MNEs) and emerging market multinationals (EM-MNEs) investing in six Latin American countries.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses information from 300 MNEs included in the 2018 ranking of the 500 Largest Latin American companies (America Economía, 2018). Each MNE’s final annual report for the financial year ending 2018 was examined and coded to obtain the corporate governance disclosure index. Fractional probit regression was applied to test the hypotheses of the research.FindingsDC-MNEs disclose more CG-related information in corrupt environments than EM-MNEs. This differentiated behavior occurs because DC-MNEs face higher legitimacy pressures in corrupt environments than EM-MNEs and because EM-MNEs are more experienced than DC-MNEs in dealing with such corrupt environments.Practical implicationsWhile both EM-MNEs and DC-MNEs need to continue investing in corrupt countries to grow, they need to disclose CG-related information as a strategic tool to manage the legitimacy issues triggered by corruption in the markets they operate.Originality/valueDespite corruption being pervasive in emerging markets, its implications for firms’ strategic behaviors are still under-researched. This paper extends the scope of corporate governance and international business fields by studying how MNEs respond to relevant dimensions of the macro environment. This research shows that voluntary disclosure of CG-related information is a strategic response of the MNEs to gain legitimacy in corrupt environments.

When are global decisions strategic?

AbstractResearch SummaryA robust academic field must set and revisit boundary conditions that define where, when, and to whom its insights apply. This is particularly true for a field such as global strategy where the ubiquity of the key terms invites indiscriminate use of the phrase. This essay argues that it is useful to define the field of global strategy as the subset of questions that meet the criteria for both “global” and “strategic” decisions. We offer an a priori approach to identifying and formulating problems that are unique to the global strategy field, suggest how our approach may help scholars better understand the “strategicness” of global decisions, and ultimately, offer a way for individuals with varied disciplinary or topical interests to connect with the field's core.Managerial SummaryIt has been observed that few executives can clearly articulate their firm's global strategy. This observation is disappointing given the development of theoretical insights from the fields of international business and strategic management that suggest alternative ways in which organizations can reliably and repeatedly create, capture, and deliver value. The existence of this shortcoming suggests that it will be beneficial to develop unambiguous statements that define what constitutes a global, a strategic, and a globally strategic decision. This essay offers a priori definitions of these terms in the hope of helping individuals both consider the unique and distinctive elements of global strategy and better understand the core decisions that guide an organization's pursuit of its global objectives, scope, and sources of advantage.

Strategizing and economizing in global strategy

AbstractResearch summaryThe strategic management and international business fields have followed, in some respects, quite similar intellectual trajectories, as reflected in the push for a field of “global strategy.” However, a key distinction in the strategy literature—namely, Williamson's distinction between “strategizing” and “economizing”—has not been explicitly recognized in the international business/global strategy fields. We argue that progress can be made in global strategy by recognizing this distinction and exploring the interaction between “strategizing” and “economizing.” To lend credence to this claim, we offer a simple model of the entry decision which highlights both economizing and strategizing aspects of this decision. We also offer recommendations on economizing‐strategizing research in global strategy.Managerial summaryMultinational enterprises gain competitive advantage either by improving the efficiency with which they operate (by having unique resources, lowering costs, or improving managerial practices) or by exercising their market and bargaining power. Most research has emphasized the former source of competitive advantage. However, in actuality, the two sources are intertwined. We detail how they are intertwined by means of a simple numerical example of the entry decision facing a company that can choose between competing or collaborating with the local firm. We show that strategizing plays into the entry decision in this case.