International Business Domain Research Articles

Comparative capitalism and the empirical taxonomy of context: enhancing the institutionalist blueprint

PurposeCritiques of international business (IB) have long pointed to the weaknesses in the understanding of context. This has ignited debate on the understanding of institutions and how they “matter” for IB. Yet how institutions matter ultimately depends on how IB applies institutional theory. It is argued that institutional-based research is dominated by a narrow set of approaches, largely overlooking institutional perspectives that account for institutional diversity. This paper aims to forward the argument that IB research should lend greater attention to comparing the topography of institutional configurations by bringing political economy “back in” to the IB domain.Design/methodology/approachUsing principal components analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, the authors provide IB with a taxonomy of capitalist institutional diversity which defines the landscape of political economies.FindingsThe authors show institutional diversity is characterised by a range of capitalist clusters and configuration arrangements, identifying four clusters with distinct modes of capitalism as well as specifying intra-cluster differences to propose nine varieties of capitalism. This paper allows IB scholars to lend closer attention to the institutional context within which firms operate. If the configurations of institutions “matter” for IB scholarship, then clearly, a quantitative blueprint to assess institutional diversity remains central to the momentum of such “institutional turn.”Originality/valueThis paper provides a comprehensive survey of institutional theory, serving as a valuable resource for the application of context within international business. Further, our taxonomy allows international business scholars to utilise a robust framework to examine the diverse institutional context within which firms operate, whilst extending to support the analysis of broader socioeconomic outcomes. This taxonomy therefore allows international business scholars to utilise a robust framework to examine the institutional context within which firms operate.

INSIGHT INTO AN UNDERSTANDING OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDY FOR DEGREE STUDENTS

International business comprises trade practices wherein companies buy and sell products, services, technologies, and other commodities across global markets in various countries. Such trading takes place among those nations in which multinational companies seek to widen their consumer base, enhance their earnings, enter untapped markets, harness valuable resources, and gain a competitive edge over other companies. International business is affected by several complex regional and global factors, such as e-economic legislation, racial diversity, economic conditions, legal frameworks, and technological developments. Therefore, it is highly advisable for businesses seeking to venture into international markets to engage experts in the domain of international business, who are well equipped with sufficient knowledge of the essential requirements for successful international trading. In this context, the current paper explores the relevance of international business studies programs for prospective students as well as the additional inputs they require to incorporate their academic knowledge into the successful steering of international commerce.

Persistence and strengths of informal networks: clientelism in the post-Soviet Union

In this theoretical study, we challenge two prevalent assumptions in the international business domain: the 'disappearance of informal networks' and the 'strength of weak ties' assumptions. Drawing on cultural as well as informality studies, we explore the phenomenon of clientelism and its characteristics in the post-Soviet Union. We argue that informal ties based on patron-client relations are neither disappearing nor is weakness a characteristic that makes them strong. We propose that diverse clientelistic ties appear to persist in the post-Soviet Union, as they are culturally embedded and dynamically adjust to changes in the environment. Finally, we argue that the nature of clientelism is paradoxical: on the one hand, it is prone to favouritism, but when it comes to weak governments, clientelistic practices may, on the other hand, be seen as an effective means to overcome social boundaries by connecting persons of different social classes.

How Can SMEs Use Crowdfunding Platforms to Internationalize? The Role of Equity and Reward Crowdfunding.

Despite the exponential growth of crowdfunding in recent years, research on the role it plays in business internationalization is still embryonal. Building on the Resource Based View (RBV) and Knowledge Based View (KBV), this study explores how SMEs can use equity crowdfunding (ECF) and reward crowdfunding (RCF) to internationalize and the related potential limitations. Using an inductive qualitative research design, based on multiple case studies of Italian SMEs, our study showed that ECF and RCF models help SMEs in acquiring the financial resources needed to internationalize and, at the same time, offer significant added value to their internationalization. Our findings support the idea that ECF and RCF play a key role in helping companies to overcome their resource limitations in regard to internationalization, not only in terms of the provision of financial resources but, above all, by compensating for any lack of knowledge on aspects relevant to the internationalization process. Furthermore, our results show the limitations of SMEs use of crowdfunding in order to internationalize (i.e., a lack of ad hoc e-commerce policies in relation to equity crowdfunding and to the regulation of the pre-ordering mechanism in the reward model). This paper concludes by discussing the theoretical and managerial contributions to the international business domain, and highlighting fruitful avenues for future studies.

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.

Diversity in Global Mining: Where We Are and What We Need to Do

We explore how diversity plays out in a historically male-dominated domain of international business – mining – by analyzing the diversity statements and initiatives reported by 25 of the top 50 global mining firms in terms of market value. We find that home country organizational field configurations play a pivotal role in determining how mining firms perceive diversity and the specific diversity dimensions they focus on. We distinguish between accommodative, defensive and reactive configurations to understand regional variation in the way mining firms manage diversity. We provide actionable recommendations to key stakeholders on adopting a proactive approach towards advancing diversity.

Culture is in the eye of the beholder: using metaphoric representations of cultural values to enhance consumer digital engagement

ABSTRACT Drawing on the conceptual metaphor theory and national cultural values (masculinity and power distance), a field experiment was conducted to promote an experiential product to 4,108 consumers in the UK and in the US. The research contributions are novel in three ways: first, the digital advertising literature is extended into the international business domain by using metaphoric representations of cultural values; second, consumer digital engagement is examined through a lens of cultural values; and third, a real digital product and actual consumer data were used to conduct a field experiment with real-time data collected across two countries. The findings suggest that consumers do not automatically engage with metaphors that are aligned with their cultural values, but marketers can increase consumer digital engagement by using metaphors to remind consumers of their cultural values. This study has implications in terms of effective digital advertisement designs that engage consumers in different cultural contexts.

Intercultural service encounters: a systematic review and a conceptual framework on trust development

PurposeA significant body of research has now been accumulated in the intercultural service encounter (ICSE) literature. However, no study to date has provided scholars and practitioners with a systematic review to map and better understand the ICSE domain.Design/methodology/approachTo fill this gap, the authors systematically review and critically examine the state of academic research on ICSE.FindingsBased on a systematic review of 31 journal articles published over the last two decades, the results illustrate that ICSE research is a vibrant and rapidly growing stream of the broader international business domain, and it is topically and methodologically diverse. This review also identifies significant knowledge gaps related to the adoption of different theoretical orientations by researchers examining ICSE at different levels of analysis, a lack of contextual positioning, as well as poor methodological rigor.Originality/valueBased on the findings, the authors introduce a multilevel and multidisciplinary conceptual framework that integrates the concepts of emotional intelligence (EI) and intercultural communication competence (ICC) as the key variables that explain trust development during the interaction between two key culturally different stakeholders: service providers (employees) and service receivers (customers). Finally, the authors discuss the contributions and implications for both academics and practitioners.

Heuristics in international business: A systematic literature review and directions for future research

This paper aims at depicting the status of research on heuristics in the international business domain to understand the main topic areas in which heuristics are addressed and delve into the types of heuristics used by managers and entrepreneurs when dealing with international business activities. These are characterized by a high degree of uncertainty, drawing attention on the adoption of heuristics for decision-making. To this aim, the paper systematically reviews studies published in top-ranked international business journals between 1997 and 2018. The systematic literature review shows that the main research areas in which heuristics are developed concern foreign market entry, post-entry international expansion, foreign market selection, and international entrepreneurship. The paper also discusses the type of heuristics that are utilized by decision-makers when dealing with the uncertainty related to the internationalization process. The results of this study show that the international business literature develops the concept of heuristics in very various ways, tending to develop a plurality of approaches, without recurring or dominant forms. It is, however, possible to identify the types of heuristics and heuristically-based decisions, and a significant subset of the analyzed studies show a positive view on their effectiveness in the uncertainty of internationalization processes.

Services in International Business Studies: A Replication and Extension of Merchant and Gaur (2008)

International trade in services is a dominant feature of the global economy but it has not received a corresponding level of attention in international business research. In this study, we review the status of research on the internationalisation of services and service firms in the international business domain in order to derive questions for future research. We replicate and extend Merchant and Gaur’s (Management International Review 48, p. 379–396, 2008) review of research on the internationalisation of non-manufacturing firms for the following 10 years (2009–2018) for five leading international business journals. In addition to providing a qualitative content analysis of the literature, we extend the study to all research published by 2018 to identify research gaps and emerging research themes. Overall, we find that while research on service internationalisation has increased, the field remains fragmented and lacks theoretical and conceptual development applicable to the internationalisation of services. This creates opportunities for future research.

A geographic relational perspective on the internationalization of emerging market firms

The growth of outward foreign direct investment from emerging markets has led to increased scholarly attention on the internationalization of emerging market firms (EMFs). We break from the recent strategic approach on internationalizing EMFs to develop a problematization approach, which permits us to introduce a geographic relational perspective. We use this perspective to highlight process thinking, complex social realities, and relational practice as means by which to better develop theory on the internationalization of EMFs. Our emergent approach emphasizes the need to view EMF internationalization as deeply situated in multifaceted contextual influences, as influenced by path dependence and as manifested in practice. These three relational tenets (contextuality, path dependence, and practice) are central to our geographic relational approach’s ability to generate new challenging research questions for understanding EMF internationalization. Consequently, we add novelty to the international business domain by bringing space and process to the forefront of the EMF research agenda.

Commentary: considering the social value of IB

Purpose In this viewpoint, the author critically aims to examine the papers by Sinkovics and Archie-Acheampong (2019, this issue) “The social value creation of MNEs – a literature review across multiple academic fields” and by Rygh (2019, this issue) “Social value creation by multinational enterprises: the next “big question” for international business research?” and offer an appraisal of the papers’ merits as well as thoughts for further development of research on social value creation, critical international business and work that can conceivably contribute to scholarship on global grand challenges. Design/methodology/approach The author’s approach is a reflexive review of two papers in the Critical Perspectives on International Business special issue “social value creation of MNEs.” The underpinning tenet is that by shifting the domain of international business (IB) research from an exclusive focus on the MNEs’ economic success or failure to the role and responsibility of MNEs in global communities, IB’s contributions can be strengthened. Findings A reorientation of the IB disciplinary focus toward global grand challenges will contribute by improving the engagement with other allied disciplines such as political science, sociology and international relations and exchanging ideas and insights with those disciplines, providing a platform to speak to not just business communities but also policy and civil society communities and bring a sophisticated knowledge base to those discussions, and connecting some of our personal interests, beliefs and values with those of our disciplinary research. Research limitations/implications The papers covered in this special issue on social value creation underscore the diversity, plurality and richness of IB. In the early days of IB, scholars such as Hymer (1960), Vernon (1971) and others naturally position IBs and MNEs within a broader societal context and were open to exploring the various interactions and cross currents between and among business, government and civil society in the global environment. Against this background, this special issue and its papers thus widen the scope of our field again. Practical implications IB scholars may be able to broaden their contributions to include values-based and even normative judgements into their research process. Social implications If assumptions and biases are made explicit, critical and normative issues may suitably be incorporated in IB work and thus contribute to tackling grand societal challenges. Originality/value The papers discussed in this viewpoint and the “social value creation” special issue more broadly offer contemporary contributions regarding the role and responsibilities of business in the global commons. This is of significant value for further conceptual and empirical work that is critically and societally engaged.

A systematic approach to international market selection: measuring the attractiveness of emerging economies in the case of the timber industry

Managers need to screen and evaluate foreign markets before deciding on market entry and subsequent entry modes. Therefore, international market selection (IMS) has been the topic of much research in the international business domain. However, surprisingly few researchers have empirically studied the IMS process by providing detailed descriptions of how this process is conducted. Reviewing the literature on the subject, this paper aims to look at IMS from a practical point of view. Accordingly, the paper introduces a model, which includes the IMS criteria with their relevant weights needed to assess emerging markets for doing timber business. The Delphi method was used to gain the opinions of the experts in the field to develop a model that can assess the market attractiveness of a country for a firm in the timber industry looking to enter new markets.

Influence of country and company characteristics on international business decisions: A review, conceptual model, and propositions

This research advances four propositions and a conceptual model of country and company characteristics influencing key International Business Decisions (IBDs). The IBDs in this study are country selection and evaluation, entry mode, segmentation-targeting-positioning, and the marketing mix – the first two in the international business domain, and the latter two in the international marketing field. The conceptual model and related four propositions are advanced, based on an extensive literature review and subsequent in-depth review of 169 published research papers on major IBDs and their determinants, namely, country characteristics, including opportunities, risks, and various distances between the host country and home country, and company characteristics, which include international business experience, assets/resources, and expansion/growth strategies. Managerial implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Toward A New Model For Firm Internationalization: Conservative, Predictable, and Pacemaker Companies and Markets

AbstractThrough this article we develop a new model for the internationalization of firms, called the Conservative, Predictable and Pacemaker (CPP) model, for extending research in the domain of international business. The main purpose is to provide a new typology that can be used as a theoretical lens for future research and to motivate researchers to think beyond the established models, which are repeatedly used in many studies. This article is based on primary data collected from firms in the information technology sector in Puerto Rico. The CPP model may be useful for industry analysis and research dealing with the growth and internationalization of firms across industries and countries. © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Successful Internationalization of Intesa Sanpaolo Bank in Central and Eastern Europe: Acquisitions, Insidership and the Uppsala Model

The study of internationalization processes of multinational enterprises and its evolution is one of the most important topics in the domain of international business. According to the Uppsala model and the business network view, being an insider in local networks is a fundamental issue for service companies such as banking groups because of their strong intangible dimension. That’s why VUB Bank is an extraordinary bank. It has a little office in Prague, the only one in Czech Republic, and, at the same time, owns 233 branches in Slovakia. But this bank is a subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo, the biggest Italian banking Group, one of the leaders in the European market. Starting from this empirical observation, and using an inductive methodology, this paper will try to explain how the Intesa Sanpaolo Group successfully created a business network in Slovakia, its first market by total assets in Central and Eastern Europe. Our study shows that Banking Groups can overcome the liability of outsidership through a progressive commitment and a “local-passport strategy” based on the acquisition of existing companies.

The History of a Mother Factory

IntroductionThe term 1 is widely used in the Japanese industry. Every year, an increasing number of articles referencing appear in the Japanese mass media. Moreover, academic research, particularly in the international business domain, also uses the term. When the Japanese production system began to garner attention in the 1980s and its advantages were realized, became known as the organization that facilitated the transfer of that system (Yamaguchi, 1996). Since that time, the term has been used in academic research outside of Japan as well (Liker, Fruin, & Adler, 1999).However, the term has never been clearly defined and is used in many ways. For example, articles in the Japanese mass media have variously described as a factory that acts as parent for developing production technologies and human resources and strengthens the function of guiding and controlling overseas factories, 2 a factory that engages in product development or product prototyping, creates prototypes of new products, and leads other mass production plants in development of the latest manufacturing technologies,3 and a factory that develops new technologies and transfers them to overseas factories.4 Because the term has diverse meanings, it is likely to be used differently in the Japanese mass media, Japanese academic research, and non-Japanese academic research. 5 However, no studies have examined the differences in the usage of the term. Unless such differences are clarified, use of the term without common agreement on its meaning could lead to misunderstandings.This study identifies the different usage of the term in the Japanese mass media, Japanese academic research, and non-Japanese academic research and concludes that difference exists in the way each of these three groups defines the mother factory. Initially, all three groups commonly held to the definition of mother factory as a unit that continuously supports overseas factories; however, over time, all but those in Japanese academic research departed from this original meaning.Usage of the Term Mother Factory in the Japanese Mass MediaFirst, let us examine the usage of the term in Japanese newspapers and magazines. We used newspaper company's database6 to search the number of articles each year that used this term.7 Figure 1 presents the results of this search while Table 1 indicates when the term was first mentioned and the company that was being referenced. Based on these results, it can be seen that has been widely used since it appeared in the newspaper in 1983 for the first time. We consider four periods: between 1980s and early 1990s, between the late 1990s and early 2000s, late 2000s, and since 2010. Below, we more closely examine the usage of the term in each of these periods.The early days (1980s-early 1990s)Mother was initially used to denote a unit that continuously supports overseas factories as technology center. It first appeared in an article on Stanley Electric Co., Ltd., where mother factory was described as a model factory for overseas factories. Until 1992, was most commonly mentioned in relation to Honda Motor (eight articles), where mother factory was described as a unit that transfers company's production system to overseas factories,8 a unit that transmits Japan's superior production technologies to overseas factories as needed, 9 and a unit that provides guidance as needed for improving the productivity and quality of overseas factory lines.10 In other words, the initial meaning of the term in the Japanese mass media was a unit that continuously supports overseas factories as model factory.The second period (Late 1990s-early 2000s)However, the meaning of the term changed during the second period. …

Revisiting the standing of international business journals in the competitive landscape

Journal rankings are contentious, proliferating and bring about a significant change to research productivity and quality assessment. In this paper, we assess the quality and impact of International Business (IB) journals in relation to each other and management and business journals more broadly. In so doing, we overcome methodological limitations of previous journal rankings by adopting a novel approach that incorporates a worldwide meta-ranking. Its key advantage is the ability to look at the standing of journals both within and between subject-areas. Comparisons between subject areas are important because centralization of resource allocation decisions within institutions has ramifications for disciplines and staff involved. Results indicate that within the IB domain, JIBS continues to top the list, JWB has solidified its position and joined the upper tier of IB journals, the space below JIBS and JWB is increasingly contested, pointing to the emergence of a multi-tier set of “core” IB journals. In the wider competitive landscape of management and business journals, IB journals perform well in the upper tier, but there is a long tail of IB journals at the lower end of our meta-ranking.

Subsidiary driven innovation within shifting MNC structures: Identifying new challenges and research directions

The multinational (MNC) is well established as an arena primed for the creation and sharing of innovations. Within this arena, the creation of innovations is borne from leveraging the unique knowledge and opportunities of its globally dispersed subsidiaries.The recent emergence of more transactional and cost focused approaches to the allocation of organisational activities within the MNC, under what is termed a ‘global factory’ structure, now challenges this dominant view whilst also providing a good vantage point to look back at research to date and to project the future impact of these changes. In the absence of research which hybridises recent literature on innovation with current insights from the international business domain this review paper contributes to our understanding of the impact of this shift by identifying the implications of narrower subsidiary roles, increased monitoring and constraints on combinative capabilities for managing innovation across the MNC.A key contribution is presented via the modelling of current inhibitors of subsidiary innovation, advancing new and compelling insight into how a shift towards the fine slicing of value chain activities across the organisation threatens not only subsidiary driven innovation but also has longer term implications for MNC competitive advantage. We conclude the paper by highlighting critical issues for management in this emerging MNC landscape and by identifying the rich opportunities for relevant and responsive research presented by these new challenges.

Does Globalization Impact Entrepreneurship? Comparative Study of Country Level Indicators

The impact of increased level of globalization on entrepreneurship remains unexplored area within the domain of international business. In this paper we aim to explore the relationships between globalization and entrepreneurship based on a comparative study of globalization and entrepreneurship indicators at a country level. We use the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data for measuring level of entrepreneurship at a country level, and the KOF index of globalization for measuring level of globalization of a country. We find no statistical evidence for correlation between the level of globalization and the level of entrepreneurship at a country level when tested for all countries in our sample. When testing for low-GDP countries however we find a negative effect of globalization on entrepreneurship. The framework presented in this paper provides a starting point for study and analysis of the relationship between the level of globalization and the level of entrepreneurship.