Journal of International Management最新文献

International Market Selection (IMS) is a strategic and complex decision by which firms choose the markets in which to be present. Despite the undisputed academic and managerial relevance of IMS, extant reviews do not include the most recent empirical literature, do not consider different perspectives linked to alternative units of analysis and research domains, and ignore important changes in the international business environment. This research aims to carry out a holistic and systematic assessment of recent IMS empirical research, propose an IMS framework, and provide directions for future research. We contribute to the international business and management literature by updating and upgrading our understanding of IMS, by expanding the IMS conceptualization, proposing an integrative conceptual framework, and developing research propositions, and by suggesting a comprehensive, updated, and radically original research agenda.

The stability of multinational corporations is under threat due to the intensifying turbulence of global competition, which prevents intellectual capital from actively promoting performance. To meet the challenges brought by diverse and tumultuous environmental contexts, multinationals urgently need to develop new approaches that will resolve risks at headquarters and mitigate the adverse effects of the crisis on cross-border business operations. Building on the resource-based theory and dynamic capabilities theory, this research aims to seek possible solutions that would optimize the structure of intellectual capital in various subsidiary regions so as to maximize their effectiveness in sustaining parent company performance in the presence of turmoil. Taking listed multinational corporations (MNCs) as the research subject, this paper explored the impact of intellectual capital of foreign subsidiaries on their parent company performance through the mediating and moderating dynamics of slack resources and institutional distance respectively. Furthermore, we explored the above mechanism by comparing a developed-economy MNC and a developing-economy MNC contexts. Through investigating a dataset of 1237 listed foreign subsidiaries during the period 2012 to 2021, we found that foreign subsidiaries' intellectual capital behaved in largely different mechanisms comparing developed and developing economies such that, subsidiaries' intellectual capital in developed economies was found to be contributing to parent company performance, whereas, subsidiaries' intellectual capital in developing economies fail to play a positive role on parent company performance. Meanwhile, the results showed that, absorbed slack played an indirect-only mediating role on the relationship between subsidiaries' intellectual capital and parent company performance in developing countries, and unabsorbed slack resources played a competitive mediating role for the full sample. Whereas, institutional distance fails to play moderate role in the effect of foreign subsidiaries' intellectual capital on parent company performance. Our study has implications for MNCs in the post-COVID era. It can help them minimize external threat and develop strategies and measures to maximize the structure of intellectual capital in different host locations, thereby enhancing their multinational performance.

3D printing is a relatively new digital technology which can transform the way firms organize their innovation and production operations locally and globally. While 3D printing is being adopted by diverse organizations worldwide, empirical academic research on investment in early-stage 3D printing technology firms is still limited. In this paper, we consider the geography of the 3D printing ecosystem to illuminate the financing of investment into early state firms developing innovation in this technology. Using a hand-collected dataset of 500 firm-level investments, we hypothesize 3D printing investment is drawn to countries with greater innovative capacity, countries with greater human capital competencies, and countries with higher wages. We find that larger investments tend to benefit companies developing 3D printing technology in higher wage locations and in countries with higher innovative capacity level, suggesting that investments in the 3D printing ecosystems take places mostly in locations that already have an ecosystem in place. Our study is one of the first to examine detailed patterns of global investment in a new digital technology ecosystem - 3D printing, an increasingly important technology for innovation.

There has been much debate on the role of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’ (BOP) markets. MNEs are advised to overcome institutional voids by making maximum usage of informal institutions. In practice, the empirical support for MNEs' success and their contributions to the sustainable development of BOP markets has been limited. In this article, we focus on a realistic path –including the role of MNEs in this journey– to overcome the ‘poverty premium.’ The poverty premium refers to goods being available to BOP customers only at a very high cost, especially when using credit, and we attempt to address the root causes of this barrier. We present an actionable, transaction cost economics (TCE) based approach for MNEs and other market actors to strengthen and leverage contract-enforcing institutions in the long-term, using illustrative examples of the digital and financial inclusion journey observable in India. Our study confirms the continued need in BOP markets to build on conventional economics and management thinking, for the poorest people to be lifted out of poverty. Here, efficient formal institutions do matter.

Despite the burgeoning studies on corporate social responsibility (CSR), little is known about how its three dimensions (i.e., environmental, ethical, and social) influence brand performance. This article examines how corporate social responsibility influences brand performance in Ghana. Results from data collected from 1106 distributing, wholesaling, retailing and vending firms involved in telecommunications activities in Ghana indicate that brand knowledge positively impacts organisational brand value. Additionally, we find that environmental CSR is positively related to brand knowledge and brand loyalty. The study further revealed that ethical CSR has a positive impact on brand knowledge and brand loyalty. Also, social CSR is positively related to brand knowledge and organisational brand value. This study advances our understanding of how CSR dimensions affect brand performance.

This study proposes an integrative framework for analyzing the interdependence of multiple institutional supports for necessity- and opportunity-based female entrepreneurship across countries. The proposed framework incorporates three streams of national institutional systems to capture cross-country variations in national economic institutions, social welfare systems, and socio-cultural attitudes that jointly promote both types of female entrepreneurship. We conducted a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, which covered 150 country-year observations for 65 countries between 2011 and 2014. The findings suggest that while the two types of female entrepreneurship are associated with different configurations of national institutional supports, there are multiple equifinal pathways for each type to prosper. This study enriches the literature on female entrepreneurship by explicating its institutional embeddedness across countries, thus providing policymakers with important policy implications for supporting female entrepreneurship.

This study examines the impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on regional trade in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Digital Technologies (DT) sector across 43 African countries from 2014 to 2021. Employing the augmented gravity model and confidence-level estimations, it highlights AfCFTA's mediating role in enabling ICT&DT trade on the continent. Using hierarchical regression analysis of a panel dataset comprising 5,160 observations, the findings imply that trade openness and productive capacities not only facilitate trade in the ICT&DT sector but also result in positive spillover effects across various economic sectors. This study contributes to the international business literature by refining the application of the gravity model to capture the need for sector-specific analyses to unpack institutional dynamics and dis-enablers of trade. It identifies AfCFTA as a pivotal yet underexplored element in the global trade landscape, highlighting its potential as Africa seeks a more prominent role on the global stage. The research stresses the significance of digital empowerment and policy reforms to maximise the benefits of regional integration under AfCFTA.

International entrepreneurship (IE) theory assumes that international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) and international networks provide foundations of early internationalisation. However, the doubt remains whether the five disaggregated dimensions of IEO play an equally relevant role in SMEs' early access to foreign markets, as well as whether International Networking Orientation (INO) can act as a differentiating factor and foster this relationship. In this sequence, this study aims: i) unpack the distinct impacts of IEO dimensions on early internationalisation, and ii) examine the moderating effects of INO on the relationship between IEO dimensions and early internationalisation, and we also iii) unpack INO effects with competitors and with non-competitors. Using a sample of 171 Portuguese SMEs and resorting to the development of logistic regression models, our results supported that the direct effects on early internationalisation vary across the dimensions of IEO – while innovativeness, autonomy, and competitive aggressiveness positively affect SMEs' early internationalisation, the direct effects of risk-taking and proactiveness were not statistically significant. Besides, we found corroborating evidence that INO with competitors presents a positive moderating effect between innovativeness and early internationalisation. This study reinforces the perspective of SMEs configuring diversified intangible strategic assets to accelerate internationalisation processes, bringing several theoretical and managerial implications.

Emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) often engage in strategic asset-seeking acquisitions to promote innovation catch-up. However, it is unclear why only some EMNEs improve their innovation performance when they face the liability of emergingness (LoE) in overseas markets. To resolve this puzzle, we investigated how EMNEs leverage internal and external LoE to achieve high innovation performance through strategic asset-seeking acquisitions. Application of configurational analysis to data from 162 acquisitions initiated by Chinese multinationals between 2013 and 2017 reveals four scenarios associated with different levels of innovation performance. The results highlight that Chinese multinationals' post-acquisition innovation performance is greater (lower) when both internal and external LoE are low (high), and that entrenched diplomatic relationships are needed to benefit from strategic asset-seeking acquisitions when external LoE is high. Our methodological contribution generates findings that explain variations in EMNEs' innovation performance when pursuing strategic asset-seeking acquisitions, and these findings corroborate the theoretical stance that the effects of strategic asset-seeking acquisitions on innovation performance should be viewed through the lens of the complexities and nuances of LoE.

Research on corporate social innovations (CSI) acknowledges the tensions caused by different stakeholder expectations but is silent on the strategies multinational enterprises (MNEs) adopt to address these tensions. We advance a configurational perspective that recognizes the interdependencies between stakeholder engagement, dynamic capabilities and impactful CSIs. We develop a framework of stakeholder engagement strategies delineating how MNEs manage tradeoffs between conforming to internal stakeholder expectations through strategic intent and being inclusive by routinizing CSIs. The analysis draws on 32 cases of CSI aimed at reducing inequality and enhancing sustainability. These cases were initiated by MNEs headquartered in North America, Africa, Europe, the UK and Australia. We identify combinations of engagement strategies and dynamic capabilities linked to impactful CSI. Our findings highlight the multiple ways in which MNEs can manage different stakeholder preferences to achieve societal impact.