Rethinking internationalization processes: toward a circular framework

Abstract

Why should models and theories that have set images and boundaries of the internationalization process in the past remain constant over time within International Business research? Despite a recent emphasis on its nonlinear nature, many still view internationalization as a forward-moving process, overlooking its dynamic nature involving enter, re-enter, and exit decisions during the process. To discuss this issue, this paper rethinks the existing International Business literature to retain its explanatory power as an essential discipline by developing a circular framework to capture firms' non-linear internationalization process. The authors propose a circular framework with the decision-making process as the unit of analysis and four statuses: Enter, De-Internationalization, Re-Internationalization, and Operation Internationalized. The decision-making process guides firms through the statuses simultaneously or individually, in the same or a diverse temporal dimension. With this circular framework, the authors wish to contribute to future International Business research; research that can keep up with the “real” world.