Recent advances in digitalization and increasing integration of international markets are paving the way for a new generation of firms to use non-traditional entry modes that are largely marginalized in previous entry mode studies. While extant research revolves around the level of resource commitment and control in foreign activities, non-traditional modes are encapsulated by the extent of embeddedness required for exploring new and/or exploiting existing resources. In particular, we draw attention to four such categories of non-traditional entry modes the literature has touched on, i.e., capital access, innovation outposts, virtual presence, and the managed ecosystem. We explore the key attributes, antecedents, and strategic implications of these modes. Our paper highlights the need for enriching current entry mode research by considering a broader range of entry mode activities available to firms as well as employing new theoretical perspectives to understand the complex phenomena of internationalization. 

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/s41267-022-00521-x.pdf

Charting new courses to enter foreign markets: Conceptualization, theoretical framework, and research directions on non-traditional entry modes

Digital Transformation and International Strategies

Abstract The growing platform economy has revived the debate on the applicability of internalization theory in contemporary contexts. In moving this debate forward, we draw on insights from hybrids research and property rights theory to complement the internalization school. Our core contribution lies in a reconceptualization of platforms as a hybrid organizational form enabling the exchange of property rights between platform owners and complementors. Using social platforms as an example, we propose that improvement in a host country’s intellectual property protection will increase the multinational platform’s (MNP) level of internalization, and that the platform firm’s governance capabilities may weaken the effect of institutions on its operation mode. Our theoretical analysis yields new insights beyond the received view of internationalization that builds on the assumption of internalized proprietary resources. We conclude that internalization theory, as an overarching paradigm in IB, remains adaptable to new organizational forms in the digital economy. 

/pdf/externalization-in-the-platform-economy-social-platforms-and-22xmzsj6.pdf

Externalization in the platform economy: Social platforms and institutions

Countless enterprise blockchains fail to live up to high expectations, often because the supporting governance structures are insufficiently established or have become stagnant. Based on interviews with 153 blockchain executives and an analysis of publicly documented use cases, this article offers a guide for blockchain scholars and practitioners. Its framework highlights the coordination and control challenges that exist in blockchain governance contexts and presents four generic governance modes to address them: chief, clan, custodian, and consortium. Managers can use these governance modes as a basis for four strategic moves (connecting, isolating, loosening, and tightening) to navigate blockchain governance challenges.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00081256221080747

The Boon and Bane of Blockchain: Getting the Governance Right

Innovation intermediaries as collaborators in shaping service ecosystems: The importance of dynamic capabilities

Governance and Design of Digital Platforms: A Review and Future Research Directions on a Meta-Organization:

The success of firms’ participation in open source software (OSS) development depends heavily upon their ability to maintain a constant flow of voluntary contributions. The emerging literature on contributors’ continued participation suggests that contributors’ willingness to stay in OSS projects is shaped by their experience of prior participation. We extend this literature by examining how gatekeepers’ interactions with contributors influence their continued participation in firm-hosted OSS projects. Predictions are formalized in an analytical model that analyzes how contributors’ belief updating process is affected by gatekeepers’ code acceptance and knowledge sharing activities. By utilizing data on 9,271 newcomers’ participation in Google-owned OSS projects on GitHub, we find that gatekeepers’ knowledge sharing and code acceptance in initial interactions have positive effects on newcomers’ continued participation in OSS projects. In addition, these effects persist among newcomers who work for the OSS firms and are magnified if gatekeepers have high expertise. 

Shaoqin Tang

Papers

Governance and Design of Digital Platforms: A Review and Future Research Directions on a Meta-Organization:

The Influence of Gatekeepers on Continued Participation in Open Source Software Projects