Showing papers on "Internationalization published in 2014"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors cross-fertilize the IB and SOEs literatures in their analysis of foreign investment behavior and introduce two arguments: the extraterritoriality argument, which helps explain how the MNC dimension of SOMNCs extends the SOE literature, and the non-business internationalization argument to explain how SOE dimension of SOEs and multinational companies (MNCs) in at least two ways.
Abstract: The globalization of state-owned multinational companies (SOMNCs) has become an important phenomenon in international business (IB), yet it has received scant attention in the literature. We explain how the analysis of SOMNCs can help advance the literature by extending our understanding of state-owned firms (SOEs) and multinational companies (MNCs) in at least two ways. First, we cross-fertilize the IB and SOEs literatures in their analysis of foreign investment behavior and introduce two arguments: the extraterritoriality argument, which helps explain how the MNC dimension of SOMNCs extends the SOE literature, and the non-business internationalization argument, which helps explain how the SOE dimension of SOMNCs extends the MNC literature. Second, we analyze how the study of SOMNCs can help develop new insights of theories of firm behavior. In this respect, we introduce five arguments: the triple agency conflict argument in agency theory; the owner risk argument in transaction costs economics; the advantage and disadvantage of ownership argument in the resource-based view (RBV); the power escape argument in resource dependence theory; and the illegitimate ownership argument in neo-institutional theory. After our analysis, we introduce the papers in the special issue that, collectively, reflect diverse and sophisticated research interest in the topic of SOMNCs.
438 citations
TL;DR: This article found that firms that are affiliated with a business group, have more firm-and group-level international experience and have more technological and marketing resources are more likely to shift from exports to FDI.
380 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors systematically review and critically examine 72 journal articles published from 1980 to 2012 on the internationalization of family firms and propose an integrative theoretical model integrating the concept of socioemotional wealth with the revised Uppsala model.
Abstract: This article systematically reviews and critically examines 72 journal articles published (from 1980 to 2012) on the internationalization of family firms. Stemming from existing literature, core aspects and main gaps are identified. We aim to overcome the inconclusiveness of findings of previous research by offering an integrative theoretical model integrating the concept of socioemotional wealth with the revised Uppsala model. Our framework helps understand behaviors of internationalizing family firms by focusing on when and how they internationalize, especially related to risk attitudes, the role of knowledge and networks. Ultimately, we provide future research themes flowing from our suggested model.
324 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined undergraduate students' participation in study abroad and on-campus global/international activities within nine large public research universities in the United States and found that participation in activities related to internationalization at home may yield greater perceived benefits than study abroad for students' development of global, international, and intercultural competencies.
Abstract: Colleges and universities are increasingly internationalizing their curricular and cocurricular efforts on campuses; subsequently, it is important to compare whether internationalization at home activities may be associated with students' self-reported development of global, international, and intercultural (GII) competencies. This study examined undergraduate students' participation in study abroad and on-campus global/ international activities within nine large public research universities in the United States. Framed within several intercultural development theories, the results of this study suggest that students' participation in activities related to internationalization at home—participation in on-campus global/international activities such as enrollment in global/international coursework, interactions with international students, and participation in global/international cocurricular activities—may yield greater perceived benefits than study abroad for students' development of GII competencies.
280 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors integrate the international business and entrepreneurship literatures by examining the independent influences of innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking on the ability of a firm to broaden its scope across international markets.
257 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw from entrepreneurship research and present alternative conceptualizations of opportunities as a basis for more in-depth study of international opportunities in International Entrepreneurship (IE).
Abstract: Recent research in the field of international entrepreneurship (IE) has emphasized the concept of international opportunity. The entrepreneurial behaviors focused on international opportunities have been found to be critical in IE.International opportunities, however, are often depicted in rather abstract and unspecified ways, and the research suffers from narrow theoretical discussion in relation to the concept of opportunity.To address these issues, the authors draw from entrepreneurship research and present alternative conceptualizations of opportunities as a basis for more in-depth study of international opportunities in IE. To further articulate a future research agenda, the authors review the state of knowledge on opportunities in the IE field by contentanalyzing articles published between 1989 and 2012.All the analyzed articles incorporate the concept of opportunity into their studies. It is found that, although the IE research has investigated many relevant elements, it is rather limited in the articulation of the conceptual features of international opportunities and opportunity-focused behaviors. Building on these observations, the authors propose a definition of international opportunity and research questions and strategies to advance IE research on international opportunities.
241 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the speed of international operations in terms of learning acquired in the course of past international activities and find that the speed depends on the type of experiential learning that results from decisions implicit in the internationalization process: choice of location and modes of operation.
Abstract: By analyzing internationalization as a dynamic process, we attempt to explain the speed of international operations in terms of learning acquired in the course of past international activities. We consider that the speed of the internationalization process depends on the type of experiential learning that results from decisions implicit in the internationalization process: choice of location and modes of operation. Firms develop two types of learning activities with respect to the selection of foreign markets and modes of operation: diversity and depth of accumulated international activities. We propose that depth of international activities has an inverted U-shaped impact on the speed of the internationalization process, while diversity of international activities has a U-shaped influence on the speed of internationalization process. The results of our longitudinal study of 889 firms over 23 years (1986–2008) suggest that diversity of international activities promotes long-term learning by exposing the firm to richer experiences, although such learning only takes place over time. Depth of international activities may accelerate the internationalization process in the short term, but it eventually restrains its potential for development in the long term. Our research highlights the short-term vs long-term consequences of different types of decisions related to the internationalization process.
239 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a longitudinal data set (from 1997 to 2005) of newly established Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was analyzed and it was shown that no single strategy is superior per se but that internationalization strategy moderates the relative importance of resources to SMEs' survival in the export market.
Abstract: Does “born-global” internationalization enhance or threaten a firm’s chances for survival in the export market? Despite the ongoing debate about born-global firms, we know little about what drives their survival in the export market. In particular, different theories yield conflicting predictions regarding whether born-global internationalization is superior or inferior to born-regional internationalization or gradual internationalization. Analyzing a longitudinal data set (from 1997 to 2005) of 1959 newly established Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we show that no single strategy is superior per se but that internationalization strategy moderates the relative importance of resources to SMEs’ survival abroad. Although resources are important for the survival of all SMEs, the relative importance of slack resources and innovation resources are most important for born-global firms followed by born-regional firms, and are the least important for gradual internationalizers.
229 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a critique of existing research on the internationalization process of the firm and propose an agenda for future inquiry, based on a process lens applied to a well-established sub-field of international business.
Abstract: This paper provides a critique of existing research on the internationalization process of the firm and proposes an agenda for future inquiry. In recent years, process approaches have received increasing attention in management research, leading to a more refined understanding of the distinction between process and variance paradigms. We apply a process lens to a well-established sub-field of international business, namely the internationalization process of the firm. We review how this research tradition has evolved over four decades. The review commences with a reassessment of the seminal ‘stage models’ that date back to the 1970s. It then proceeds to classify subsequent research on the basis of whether it includes process data and/or process theorizing. It is found that the majority of studies in this review do not combine process data with process theorizing. We show how, even in studies that contain some process elements, a process approach is not always sustained throughout the paper. On the basis of this review, six research themes are proposed, which would form the basis for a process agenda for future research.
218 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role of structural and relational embeddedness of international networks in firm internationalization was examined and it was found that firms with chief executive officers who had developed strong and diverse international networks exhibited greater knowledge of foreign markets prior to internationalization.
Abstract: In this study we draw on the social network and international entrepreneurship literatures to examine the role of structural and relational embeddedness of international networks in firm internationalization. Based on a sample of 169 small- and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic, we found that firms with chief executive officers who had developed strong and diverse international networks exhibited greater knowledge of foreign markets prior to internationalization. However, contrary to our expectations, no relationship was found between network density and such knowledge. In addition, our findings indicate that foreign market knowledge prior to the first international venture had a positive impact on venture performance.
213 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a dynamic theoretical model that has mutual causality at its core and is based on ideas originating in complexity theory, which can adapt and transcend, as any alteration can take the system to the edge of chaos.
Abstract: Research on organizational learning, innovation and internationalization has traditionally linked these concepts through linear causality, by considering any one of them as the cause of another, an approach that might be considered contradictory and static. This paper aims to clarify these relationships and proposes a dynamic theoretical model that has mutual causality at its core and is based on ideas originating in complexity theory. The final model results from case studies of two clothing sector firms. The authors consider that the three concepts constitute a complex system and can adapt and transcend, as any alteration can take the system to the edge of chaos. Adaptability is fostered by concentration, improvement and discussion. Transcendence is fostered by attention, dialogue and inquiry. The different paces of the two case study companies led their systems to two different models: the incremental complex adaptive system model and the global complex generative system model. The incremental model is characterized by adaptive learning, incremental innovation and low internationalization; and the global system is characterized by generative learning, radical innovation and global internationalization. The paper ends with an exploration of the academic and management implications of the model.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a new, theory-driven and multidimensional conceptualization and operationalization of the Uppsala model for speed of internationalization, which is embedded in the main concepts of the original Uppala model.
TL;DR: This article revisited the terms of the debate about the de-westernization of communication studies and related issues such as the globalization, internationalization, cosmopolitanism, and indigenization of academic knowledge.
Abstract: The goal of this special issue is to revisit the terms of the debate about the “de-westernization” of communication studies and related issues such as the globalization, internationalization, cosmopolitanism, and indigenization of academic knowledge.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the internationalization of high technology small and medium enterprises (HTSMEs) and explore how they develop and use networks to penetrate their first foreign market relying on information collected via direct interviews with the CEOs or founders of 58 HTSME firms that operate internationally.
TL;DR: In this paper, a new and systematic analysis of the likely associations between decision modes, information use, and network attachment among internationalizing SMEs is presented, and the analysis is subsequently contextualized in terms of two contingencies.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that "unplanned" internationalization does not necessarily involve non-logical decisions; but, entrepreneurs can follow an effectual rather than causal logic and may base their decisions on the affordable loss principle rather than on the maximization of expected returns.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors find evidence that family controlled and family managed (FCFM) firms negatively moderate the relationships between internationalization and governance mechanisms, while non-family managed (NFM) firms do not.
Abstract: This article documents that blockholders with both ownership and management control in family firms have different goals compared to blockholders with only ownership (but no management) control. We theorize and find evidence that family controlled and family managed (FCFM) firms negatively moderate the relationships between internationalization and governance mechanisms, while family controlled and nonfamily managed (FCNFM) firms do not. The findings indicate that family owners in FCFM firms have greater opportunities to reap private benefits of control indicating the presence of secondary (principal-principal) agency problems, while these problems are mitigated in FCNFM firms. In emerging economies like India where family firms are ubiquitous, they highlight the need to recognize differing blockholder influences on internationalization-governance relationships and to develop more nuanced theorizing for understanding them.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the dynamics of commitment, growth and survival of newly internationalizing Belgian firms based on an extensive longitudinal data set, and find that global startups have the highest initial and rapidly rising export commitment per market and are also more likely to continue exporting over time than geographically focused start-ups and traditional staged exporters.
TL;DR: This paper analyzed how exporters begin their internationalization leveraging information collected through interviews with 109 Chinese textile manufacturers and found that firms that found their first international clients through a proactive search are likely to export faster, more intensively, and to a larger number of markets.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors empirically investigated what drivers affect the decisions of high-tech start-ups to internationalize from the outset, and their degree of born-globalness, and observed that the niche strategy and the network relationships built up by the entrepreneur are key drivers for both an early internationalization and the scope of international expansion.
TL;DR: This paper examined the impact of early foreign market entry on new ventures' performance outcomes and highlighted the importance of incorporating time-based dimensions of international venturing for a better understanding of the performance implications of early internationalization.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the extent to which foreign national culture and related local issues are incorporated into the CSR policy of 37 multinational corporations, examining strategy development and implementation across global locations.
Abstract: We add to the global–local debate by highlighting concerns with the empirical and conceptual validity of the construct ‘integrated’ as it operates within corporate social responsibility (CSR). We do so by investigating the extent to which foreign national culture and related local issues are incorporated into the CSR policy of 37 multinational corporations, examining strategy development and implementation across global locations. This research suggests that integrated internationalization strategies do not resolve global and local CSR issues. In fact, they reinforce outcomes similar to global strategies, where core issues identified by headquarters are legitimated and local issues are marginalized, an outcome that appears somewhat at odds with the spirit of local responsiveness embedded in CSR thinking.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reexamine organizational learning theories to reconcile the conditions under which prior internationalization experience leads to performance gains for multinational corporations (MNCs) in terms of performance gains.
Abstract: This study reexamines organizational learning theories to reconcile the conditions under which prior internationalization experience leads to performance gains for multinational corporations (MNCs)...
TL;DR: This article examined how family control affects whether firms tend to go international and found that family involvement in management has an inverted-U-shaped relationship with the likelihood of internationalization and that the percentage of family ownership has a U-shaped relation with internationalization.
Abstract: Applying the socioemotional wealth perspective of family businesses, this study examines how family control affects whether firms tend to go international. Departing from prior research that has treated family involvement in management and family ownership as interchangeable and inseparable, we suggest that they are two different aspects of family control, which independently and differently affect firms’ internationalization strategies. A sample of private Chinese firms supports our predictions that family involvement in management has an inverted-U-shaped relationship with the likelihood of internationalization and that the percentage of family ownership has a U-shaped relationship with the likelihood of internationalization.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the impact of knowledge acquisition from international markets on entrepreneurial growth both at home and abroad and suggest that the effects of international knowledge acquisition will vary with firm age, and find that knowledge acquisition has a positive effect on growth via new products/services development in young firms, but a negative effect in mature firms.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the impact of family influence and various governance factors on internationalization of Austrian firms and found that family firms with medium family influence are the most internationally active companies.
Abstract: Despite family firm’s dominant role in economies worldwide, there is little empirical knowledge on their internationalization. Drawing on a sample of Austrian firms, this paper investigates the impact of family influence and various governance factors on internationalization. The findings reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between family influence and internationalization. Family firms with medium family influence are the most internationally active companies. This indicates that concerning internationalization the advantages of being a family firm are highest when the family’s ownership share and involvement in management and governance boards is not too extensive. Additionally, neither the incumbent generation, nor the level of non-family executives in the management board, nor the existence of a supervisory board has a significant influence on going international. Since advisory boards seem to foster internationalization, they might be an adjuvant means of equipping family firms with the necessary capabilities, know-how and contacts to operate internationally.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an historical interpretation of how transnational exchange in the social sciences has evolved, and explore the "globalization" of social sciences, and present an analysis of the role of transnational exchanges in this process.
Abstract: Exploring the ‘globalization’ of the social sciences, this article first presents an historical interpretation of how transnational exchange in the social sciences has evolved. Earlier forms of int...
TL;DR: In this paper, a critical analysis of the accounts of a group of international students enrolled at the National University of Singapore, a key strategic site in Singapore's bid to reconfigure itself into a knowledge hub, is presented.
Abstract: Higher education is playing an important role in Singapore's most recent cycle of modernization: to re-make itself into a global city through the continued accumulation of capital, ‘talent,’ and knowledge. This paper is a critical analysis of the accounts of a group of international students enrolled at the National University of Singapore, a key strategic site in Singapore's bid to reconfigure itself into a knowledge hub. We discuss international student negotiations of Singapore's global city imaginings against a policy context that foregrounds a desire for regional students in the state's imagination and aspiration. In inquiring what political work international education is called upon to do to further Singapore's progressive developmentalism, we open up an analytical space for understanding the global city as both a cosmopolitan metropolis that is continually being refashioned by the desires and aspirations of new student actors, and a place of transit from which students leave having acquired valuab...
TL;DR: For instance, this paper found that international students are not actively engaged as cultural resources although they would like to do more to help others learn about their countries and cultures, and that the level of desired engagement as a cultural resource was the highest among South and Central American students, and the lowest among European students.
Abstract: This study used a cross-sectional survey to examine the perceptions of undergraduate and graduate international students enrolled at a public university in the Midwest, regarding international students’ perspectives on how their university engages them as cultural resources, and how such engagement might impact students’ perceptions of the value they receive from U.S. higher education. The data suggest that international students are not actively engaged as cultural resources although they would like to do more to help others learn about their countries and cultures. The level of desired engagement as a cultural resource was the highest among South and Central American students, and the lowest among European students. The study identifies multiple areas of opportunities for higher education to facilitate international students’ active contributions to the university’s strategic goal of global engagement and internationalization while also positively impacting the manner in which international students per...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a model for value construction in higher education that connects quality with relevance, access, and investment, and argue that, in order to evaluate and improve quality, a model of value is needed.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to analyze the internationalization of quality practices in higher education. In light of insufficient theorization about quality in the global dimension, the paper presents a model for value construction in higher education. Design/methodology/approach – The authors reviewed different models for quality in higher education vis-a-vis emerging international quality practices in higher education. Findings – After reviewing quality models and international quality practices, the authors argue that, in order to evaluate and improve quality in higher education, a model of value in higher education that connects quality with relevance, access, and investment is necessary. Research limitations/implications – Thus far, quality in higher education has been explored in isolation from access, relevance, and investment. The integrative approach suggested here may prove generative for researchers and help address complex educational interrogations. Practical implications – Higher education l...