Business Theory Research Articles

Rethinking disruptive innovation: unravelling theoretical controversies and charting new research frontiers

ABSTRACT For more than two decades, disruptive innovation theory (DIT) has stood as one of the most influential business theories of the 21st century. Despite its widespread impact and the extensive scholarly work it has inspired, DIT has encountered divergent views among academics, sparking debates over its evolution and applicability. This essay dives into these debates, methodically unraveling and highlighting key critiques and controversies shaping the discourse around DIT. These controversies include definitional ambiguity, the case-study conundrum, challenges in generalizability, issues in defining a unit of measure, biases in assessing DIT outcomes, and the exploration of its predictive and prescriptive potential. By synthesizing and recalibrating existing theoretical disputes and distinguishing between critique and controversies, we shed new light on often overlooked or unresolved issues, particularly outcome bias and the theory’s performative capabilities beyond its predictive or prescriptive scope. Introducing a novel “challenger-incumbent perspective,” our analysis extends the discussion beyond the traditional dichotomy between established organizations and disruptors. In conclusion, we pave the way for future research directions, aiming to deepen our understanding and enhance the practical application of this influential yet contested concept.

One more piece of the family firm debt puzzle: the influence of socioemotional wealth dimensions

The literature on debt financing in family firms is still inconclusive. Initial studies have usually focused on the influence of family involvement on firm’s debt levels by using the explanations of traditional economic theories. More recent studies have begun to focus on the role of family goals in family firm debt levels, particularly drawing on socioemotional wealth (SEW), which has helped in the development of financial theories of family business. Nevertheless, existing arguments have usually not considered SEW as a multidimensional construct that covers diverse family goals. In addition, literature has usually drawn on arguments considering SEW as a stock, but have not considered the importance given to SEW (SEWi), which specifically acknowledges SEW as a goal. Our paper responds to recent calls to extend theoretical arguments on the effect of diverse dimensions of SEWi on family firm behavior and to focus on the role of SEWi on the family firms’ debt. Specifically, we test how the CEOs’ assessment of the importance that their family attaches to the continuity, prominence, and enrichment dimensions of SEWi influences the level of debt. To do so, we use a sample of 126 Spanish unlisted family businesses. Our results show that the continuity dimension of SEWi leads family businesses to increase their debt level being a key determinant of this financing decision.

Institutional theory and multinational corporation internationalization strategy: a systematic review and future research agenda

PurposeThis study reviews the literature on institutional theory in international business and examines the institutional factors behind the success or failure of multinational corporations (MNCs) in emerging markets.Design/methodology/approachThis systematic literature review analysed 116 peer-reviewed articles published in leading journals between 2005 and 2022. The R package Bibliometrix and VOSviewer visualization software were used for analysis. A hybrid methodology combining bibliometric and content analyses was utilized to obtain a descriptive evaluation of the publication impact along with a keyword co-occurrence map, context-specific institutional effects and subsidiary strategies.FindingsThe Journal of International Business Studies, along with influential authors such as Mike W. Peng, Klaus Meyer, and Mehmet Demirbag, have taken the lead in advancing institutional theories for MNC internationalization in emerging markets. The clusters from the co-word analysis revealed dominant MNC entry modes, institutional distances and MNC localization strategies. The content analysis highlights how the institutional environment is operationalized across the macro-, micro- and meso-institutional contexts and how the MNC subsidiary responds in emerging markets. Meso-level interactions emphasize the relational aspects of business strategies in emerging markets.Practical implicationsContextualizing subsidiary strategies and institutional forms can help managers align their strategic responses to the dynamic relationship between subsidiaries and the institutional environment. The review findings will enable policymakers to simplify regulatory policies and encourage MNC subsidiary networks with local stakeholders in emerging markets.Social implicationsLegitimacy strategies such as corporate community involvement in emerging markets are crucial for enhancing societal support and removing stakeholders' scepticism for MNC business operations in emerging markets. Moral legitimacy should be implemented by managers, such as lending support to disaster management efforts and humanitarian crises, as they expand to new business environments of emerging markets.Originality/valueThis study is the first to explore institutional diversity and subsidiary strategic responses in a three-layered institutional context. The findings highlight the relevance of contextualizing institutional perspectives for international business scholars and practitioners as they help build context-specific theoretical frameworks and business strategies. Future research recommendations are suggested in the macro-, micro- and meso-institutional contexts.

ІНТЕРНАЦІОНАЛІЗАЦІЯ МАЛИХ ВЕНЧУРНИХ КОМПАНІЙ: 30 РОКІВ ДОСЛІДЖЕНЬ

The article highlights the evolution of research of small venture companies from the inception of international business studies in the 1960s to the present time with an emphasis on 1993-2024 as a period of isolated research on small firms. It provides an overview of the commonly used terminology in the field of international entrepreneurship and analyses the state of research on the topic in Ukrainian literature, which leads to identification of a research gap – internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises appears to fall out of the scope of international entrepreneurship and international business research. Based on the existing empirical research in the field, the article highlights the need for isolated studies on small venture enterprises and addresses this research gap in Ukrainian literature by providing a systematic review of internationalisation literature aimed at small venture companies as opposed to the multinational companies. A systematic review of the literature establishes a link between early research on international business and the current literature on international entrepreneurship, while providing the overview of international business theories that were adapted for the use in international entrepreneurship. It outlines a trending research direction in international entrepreneurship literature – international entrepreneurial opportunities. It discusses the characteristics of the entrepreneur, company and environment that form the basis of international opportunity. The article defines the place of international marketing and strategic management in the system of small business internationalization research and outlines promising future research directions recognised in international scientific literature. It follows the developments of G. Knight and S. T. Cavusgil in discussing integrationresponsiveness paradigm – originating from international business – and effectuation theory – coming from strategic management – as future research directions. Finally, it provides arguments for development of internationalisation of small venture companies research in Ukrainian literature.

Why corporate social responsibility should be recognized as an integral stream of international corporate governance

<abstract> <p>This paper reviews the existing corporate social responsibility (CSR) content in the field of international corporate governance (ICG) and suggests specific lines of potential integration of existing theory and research on topics such as green finance, sustainability, and bottom-of-the-pyramid studies. The approach began with an extensive review of the literature in ICG culminating in a review by <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="b1">Aguilera et al. (2019)</xref> in which three streams of ICG research were identified. Examples of existing elements of CSR were subsumed in these dimensions, and an argument was made for more integration. CSR was not an important part of international business theory and research in the early days of the field. However, sufficient research exists now in CSR and of CSR topics in the field of international business to justify that CSR should be recognized as an important stream in ICG. This integration would be beneficial since calling attention to the development of theory and research and data availability in CSR can inform international business (IB) and ICG researchers and enable them to tackle previously under-researched issues from other disciplines and areas of the world.</p> </abstract>

Editor’s Opinion: JBIB, Macroeconomic Biblical Integration, and the Problem of Schengen Exclusion

The project of the Journal of Biblical Integration in Business is the attempt to bring the discipline of Scripture and Christian theology to the theory and practice of business. JBIB articles, including some in this edition, demonstrate how businesses might better conduct their marketing, finance, management, and even accounting efforts by the application of biblical principles. In this article, the author seeks to extend the JBIB experiment to the area of macroeconomics and the commercial activity of nations. At a fundamental level, the activities of these parties are the same; they buy, sell, negotiate, finance, hire, communicate, strategize, and perform other commercial functions in much the same way that businesses do. One premise of this opinion is that the Word of God bears on the commercial choices of nations in much the same way that it does on the business activity of individuals and corporations. In this article, the author attempts to extend the discipline of biblical integration to macroeconomic decisions of nations utilizing the example of the continued refusal by various European governments to admit Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen Agreement.

INTERNATIONALIZATION OF EMERGING MARKET MULTINATIONALS: A CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE UPPSALA MODEL AND THE SPRINGBOARD PERSPECTIVE

Objective: This study focuses on the internationalization process of an important emerging markets multinational (EMM), aiming to understand how such companies manage to achieve relevant positions in the global economy. In seeking to understand its strategy and internationalization process, we tackle the debate on whether traditional behavioral international business theories are adequate to explain EMM internationalization processes. Method: An in-depth case study was performed with one of the largest global players in the beauty industry, Natura & Co. The case study method was selected given that an in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information was needed to investigate the phenomenon. Primary and secondary data were collected, analyzed, and triangulated. Main Results: This study brings the construct of organizational psychic distance to the discussion and how can it impact internationalization choices. Moreover, it illustrates how some EMMs are successfully applying concepts described by both traditional and EMM theories in their internationalization strategies Relevance / Originality: The study illustrates an empirical case from Latin America, a region poorly explored academically. Additionally, the case explains how a Brazilian company has managed to compete globally and become one of the biggest global players in the beauty industry. Theoretical / Methodological Contributions: The case discusses, for the first time, the construct of organizational psychic distance and its impact on internationalization choices. It also defies the boundaries of the existing theories and enriches the literature by portraying the springboard perspective as complementary to the Uppsala model so that both theories can dialogue and be extended.

Circular Economy and Business Models: Managing Efficiency in Waste Recycling Firms

Business orientation toward sustainable development goals and the circular economy are relevant research topics today in business theory and practice. The waste recycling sector is a key industry in the circular economy framework for promoting clean production and environmental sustainability. This study analyzes business performance in the recycling sector, focusing on efficiency indicators. The associations between firm efficiency and risk variables were also evaluated. The study goes through several methodological stages, including a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) multistage method and multivariate modeling: tobit regression, bootstrap models, and generalized method of moments (GMM). The main results indicate that the average efficiency of waste recycling firms is at a medium level. Large-sized firms achieve higher levels of efficiency than medium-sized and small firms, supporting the economies of scale hypothesis. The evidence also suggests that risk variables (rating score and Zscore) and capital structure are key determinants of firm efficiency in the waste recycling industry.

After Business Ethics

Lamenting the deplorable state of business ethics is, itself, a staple of the deplorable state of business ethics. But if, as its many critics claim, business ethics continuously fails to deliver on its promise, what could take its place in management education? After business ethics—How else can we integrate ethics into the curriculum? This article argues that an ethical grounding of business theory and corporate practice requires a critique of conventional economics, replacing the mechanistic paradigm that predominated economics over the last 200 years with a humanistic alternative.

Ethical Theories in Business Ethics: A Critical Review

Numerous ethical theories have been proposed as a foundation of business ethics, and this often brings about appreciable perplexity. This article seeks to identify specific problems for a sound foundation of this discipline. A first problem is this multiplicity of ethical theories, each with its own metaethics, often accepted without a serious discussion of their philosophical grounds. A second problem is the fragmentation of theories; some centred on duties or obligations, others on consequences, virtues, or moral sentiments. In addition, some theories focus on universal principles, while others take the singularity of each situation as their focal point. A third problem is that not every ethical theory covers the personal, organizational and societal dimensions of business ethics, and this introduces reductionism. These problems cannot be satisfactorily addressed through ‘ethical pluralism’, in which all theories are accepted, without falling into ethical relativism. ‘Ethical pragmatism’, which welcomes any ethical theory only on the basis of their practically, is also questioned. Furthermore, there is the problem of integrating ethics into business theory, which is often extrinsic to the economic function. After analysing these problems, the article concludes by exploring some proposals that might serve to build a sound and complete ethical theory which includes human goods (objective values), principles (or norms) and virtues. The necessity of reconsidering the human action for a closer integration of ethics into business theory is also suggested.

Global Value Chain Governance Dynamics: A Co-Evolutionary Perspective on the Transition from Relational to Modular Governance in Construction

Global value chain (GVC) governance theory explains how GVCs are controlled and organised. A large body of research examines how GVC governance varies across industries, however, GVC governance dynamics within industries receive less attention. This study bridges the gap between GVC and international business theories to focus on GVC governance heterogeneity as a source of competitive advantage. Through mixed-methods including grounded theory, structural equation modelling, and comparative case studies, the research reveals the interplay between network-orchestration and network-dependence as lead firms shape GVC governance transitions. Insights can help managers optimise complex GVC governance structures, particularly in the context of digitalisation.

Business and Regional Innovation Culture: An Overview of the Conceptualization of Innovation Culture

The primary aim of this paper is to identify key similarities and differences in the conceptualization of culture across the major theories of regional socioeconomic science, including economic, business, administrative, social, cultural and political dimensions acting at the regional and local scales. The second goal is to present an overview of the knowledge base and third to cohesively examine and partially recreate the topic using the semi-systematic review method. The final objective of examining the aforementioned issues is to clarify the dynamic correlation in the structuring of business and innovation culture, as well as to identify the characteristics that contribute to the sustainable culture of business and regional innovation systems, including long-term sustainable development. The research shows that the coexistence and combination of innovative culture at the business and regional levels should be perceived as a dynamic and co-evolutionary process involving a variety of factors. Local organizations and institutes that foster entrepreneurship are among the elements that enhance the innovation culture; however, having all of the resources in isolation is insufficient for an efficient ecosystem. This study proposes the establishment of a framework that will enhance the growth of innovation, cultural evolution and regional ecosystem performance. The Institutes of Local Development and Innovation (ILDI) are a policy idea that might give effective micro–meso-level solutions for the region. These policy proposals will diagnose the regional business culture under the prism of strategy, technology, and management levels. The specific investigation attempted in this paper demonstrates that several converging fruitful paths have already been created in the relative international literature. These paths could be combined and deepened further by studying the close evolutionary interconnection between business and regional innovation culture as it emerges at a global scale in the present.

The impact of digitalization on internationalization from an internalization theory lens

Digitalization is challenging traditional international business theories, shifting emphasis from the flows of goods and services to the flows of data, information, and knowledge, changing the distribution of international activity. From the internalization theory lens, we suggest that digitalization is reducing market imperfections, but this effect varies across industries, positing a linkage between industry digital intensity and internationalization. Digitalization effects can also influence the location-bound constraints of FSAs. Examining one non location-bound FSA, innovation, and one location-bound FSA, brand, we argue that it is the moderating effects, or interaction, of these FSAs and industry digital intensity that drive internationalization. Furthermore, we highlight that these interaction effects change over time, as digital innovations have diffused. We test these arguments on a sample of 2370 U.S. firms over an 18-year period. The findings support our arguments that the conditions under which MNEs increase internationalization is dependent upon the combination of industry digital intensity and innovation and brand. In addition, these interaction effects appear to change over time as digitalization has evolved and become more widespread. Our findings indicate a more nuanced set of relationships within internalization theory in a digital world.

The Effect of Affiliate Programs and Consumer Behavior on Profit Margins: The Mediating Role of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Customer Loyalty

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of affiliate programs on profit margins in online businesses, with a focus on understanding the mediating role of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Customer Loyalty. The study aims to bridge the knowledge gap and provide insights for business practitioners and researchers to design more effective affiliate program strategies. This research adopts a comprehensive approach, reviewing current literature on affiliate programs and online businesses. The study focuses on the mediating role of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Customer Loyalty in the relationship between affiliate programs and profit margins. The research methodology includes data analysis and interpretation to unravel the impact of affiliate programs on CAC, customer loyalty, and profit margins with 200 respondents as participant and use SMART-PLS 3.0 as statistical tools. The findings of this research reveal that implementing affiliate programs can result in higher acquisition costs due to commissions paid to affiliate partners. However, effective affiliate programs can create customer attachment, leading to increased customer retention and maximizing customer lifetime value. Affiliate programs contribute to overall business profitability by increasing sales volume, broadening the customer base, and generating additional revenue. Moreover, the study highlights the significant positive effect of consumer behavior on customer acquisition cost. However, the influence of customer acquisition cost on profit margins is not significant, contrary to traditional business theory. This research makes an important contribution to the understanding of the influence of affiliate programs in online businesses and the mediating role of CAC and Customer Loyalty in driving profit margins. The study offers valuable insights for business practitioners and researchers to design more effective affiliate program strategies and maximize profit margins in the competitive e-commerce environment. Further research is needed to explore the relationship between customer acquisition cost and profit margins in more depth and identify other related factors.

Structural Modifications of International Business Theory and Policy in the Time of Covid-19

The main aim of this work is the presentation of the structural modifications of contemporary international business. International trade in the XXI century has been strongly affected by the force of the economic crisis and COVID-19. The changes are evident in the growing importance of international trade to national economies and to domestic groups within those economies, in the closer linkages between trade and other international issues. Despite the undeniable benefits of the multilateral WTO forum for trade liberalization, the rapid increase of North-South bilateral and multilateral Free Trade Areas (FTAs) begs a systematic explanation for why some forums are prioritized relative to others. This work presents the mercantilist tendencies in the international trade policy, the theory of public choice in foreign trade policy, protectionist pressures in different political systems, the level of protectionist pressures, food producers’ pressure, and conflicts between the tendencies to sustainable international trade liberalization and environmental protection, the increasing importance bilateral agreements in the foreign trade policy and international economy in the time of COVID-19.

A growth pattern of foreign investment motivations by individuals

PurposeThis paper aims to introduce a growth comprehensive pattern to explain the phenomenon of individual foreign investment, first at the global level and then at the regional level. The patterns are developed based on a number of main theories with grounded theory (GT) as the foundation, distributed on the two pull and push forces of international business theory and migration theory; simultaneously, it is classified on the three levels (attribute–consequence–value [ACV]) of means-end theory.Design/methodology/approachAn embedded method is applied to generate two complementary datasets from two approaches: in-depth interviews and secondary data analysis.FindingsIn this structure, the investor plays a central role as the decision-maker based on the entrepreneur's motives for internationalization (economics-driven and psychology-driven factors) and the householders' motives for emigration (aspiration and access capabilities). The external forces considered are a push from the home country (structures) and pull from the host country (immigrant investment programs [IIPs]), in which the factor of (dis)trust/misconception as a moderator has an additional impact on this mobility. Demographic factors such as gender, region, generation/age, level of education, religion and occupation generally describe the characteristics of each specific target group.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is to develop a conceptual framework.Originality/valueThe results of this study, in addition to fulfilling its own objectives, will also serve as the foundation for further research in several scientific fields such as economics, sociology and politics.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2022-0786

The Verification and Application of the Research about How ESG Performance Influences the Corporate Value

The essay aims to verify the relationships between corporate performance and ESG investing so that the meaning of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance can be highlighted. And the conclusion can be applied to classical business theories and business analysis. The article uses regression and sensitivity analysis to research the problem. There will be three assumptions of the idea, the relationships with financing constraints and corporate efficiency. And the sensitivity of ESG performance. We will conclude that ESG investment positively correlates with corporate efficiency and negatively correlates with financing constraints. And the sensibility of ESG investment is higher in private enterprises than in state-owned enterprises.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF INTUITION AT THE WORKPLACE: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

To make good decisions, employees must manage their own intuitions and be able to anticipate decision-making in their work environment. How well this is accomplished has significant consequences for the workplace. A closer examination indicates that individuals utilize various types of intuition. People’s work context is frequently omitted from studies on the use of intuition, resulting in a literature that omits vital aspects of decision-making. To assist applicable research in the workplace, our contribution to the management literature is a comprehensive overview of intuitive decision-making types. Current psychological assessment scales constitute a mature discipline, but they frequently lack the professional applications needed in business administration and economics. Considering this, the primary objective of this article is to assemble and assess many types of intuition and combine them into a new lens for research in the theory and practice of business using a multidimensional approach. It is comprised of rational choice theory, classical intuitive decision making, emotional decisions (gut feelings), fast heuristic decisions, unconscious thought, and anticipation. The overview of several scientifically proven measuring scales produces a theoretical foundation for future empirical study in business administration and economics based on these findings.

Diagrammatic Abstractions: Jay Forrester’s Urban Dynamics and Its Contribution to Architecture and Urban Planning in the Late 1960s and Early 1970s

In the 1960s and ’70s, Jay Wright Forrester (1918–2016) created a rigorous new method he called Urban Dynamics, in which he applied systems theory to urban planning by an extensive use of diagrams and computation. This article discusses how Forrester’s theories migrated from business theory to urbanism in educational settings and into real-life planning scenarios in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). By focusing specifically on how Forrester adopted systems drawings that incorporated data and the use of computation for urban planning, the article argues that Urban Dynamics marked a changing approach to urban planning, favouring general managerial knowledge over competences specific to urban design. By conducting a visual analysis of Forrester’s diagrams, the article demonstrates how Forrester’s diagrams for his Urban Dynamics model were instrumental in concealing political ideals that blurred the border between the real and the ideal.

Internationalization of Enterprise Resource Planning Vendors

International business theory suggests that multinational corporations are usually disadvantaged compared to local firms when competing in a host market. However, we find that foreign enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors in the Chinese high-end ERP market perform significantly better than local vendors. To understand this gap, the authors first analyze the ERP business model and its four characteristics as a service and use Dunning's OLI paradigm to specify the ownership-specific, internalization-incentive, and location-specific advantages (O-, I-, and L-advantages) required for foreign ERP vendors to compete in the host country's high-end market. Then, after conducting case studies of the two foreign vendors with the highest share in the Chinese high-end ERP market, SAP and Oracle, they confirm that the O-advantages from strong brand and reputation, high research and development capabilities, professional partners, I-advantages from wholly owned subsidiaries, and L-advantages from economically developed regions cause SAP and Oracle to excel in the Chinese high-end ERP market.