Journal of International Management最新文献

The establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has opened new avenues of research interest in International Business and International Management. However, scholarly work in this fledgling area of research has been disparate and often lacking in the assessment of core international business implications of the emergence of the AfCFTA on member states as well as non-member states. This is because, as yet, no systematic attempt has been made to explore the AfCFTA in the context of IB research, or project future IB research directions. Hence, in this paper, using the PRISMA method we have systematically identified the current published research and scholarly work on the AfCFTA and provided a robust picture of the current state of knowledge and available literature on the AfCFTA while at the same time outlining potential areas for future international business research.

The performance implications of internationalization have been a matter of debate in management literature for decades. Similar to developed market multinational enterprises (DMNEs), scholars found that emerging-market internationalizing firms (EMIFs) have initial costs and subsequent benefits of internationalization such that internationalization-performance (I-P) relationship is U-shaped. Emergingness of EMIFs gives us the opportunity to theorize how these internationalizing firms develop novel capabilities relevant to their state of evolution and resource conditions. Relying on resource management theory, we propose two capabilities – management of R&D investments (RIM) to balance between market and resource seeking motivations and re-deployment of strategic resources (SRD) to catch-up with the competitors. We use 20 years data from 837 Indian firms to empirically test whether the proposed capabilities steepen the I-P relationship and shift the turning point of the U-shaped curve to left. We find empirical support for our hypotheses, and thereby contribute to the literature on resource management in EMIFs and empirical analysis of non-linear relationship.

In this study, we aim to better understand the springboard perspective by examining how emerging market firms manage the process of ‘recursive’ cross-border acquisitions. Based on the attention-based view of the firm and resource dependence theory, we propose that ‘recursive’ CBAs augment activity load, limiting decision-makers' information processing capacity. As a result, acquiring firms depend on external resources in the form of more professional advisors. This relationship strengthens when the target firm has a greater degree of product diversity but weakens when the acquiring firm has context-specific experience. From 2000 to 2022, we used a multi-country sample of 2621 CBAs from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa and found support for our hypotheses.

This study explores the effect of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) on entrepreneurship productivity, which reflects the quality of entrepreneurship and is measured through the ratio of opportunity-to-necessity entrepreneurship, in emerging markets. Using data across 67 emerging markets during 2002 and 2018, we find that inward FDI has a positive effect on entrepreneurship productivity and this effect is positively moderated by both financial market efficiency and labor market flexibility. However, these effects are not found in developed economies. This study not only enriches our knowledge of the antecedents of entrepreneurship productivity and the value of inward FDI, but also helps explain why some emerging markets benefit to a greater extent from inward FDI than others. Moreover, it provides guidance for emerging market governments taking advantage of inward FDI to improve entrepreneurship productivity.

Business ecosystem participants face a significant challenge in navigating the dynamic environment due to high levels of interdependencies. Integrating dynamic capabilities theory and the business ecosystem perspective, we examine how business ecosystem participants increase performance in such an environment. Using longitudinal data from the Brazilian automotive cluster, we find that a higher degree of modularity and supplier involvement both lead to improved performance of business ecosystem participants. Moreover, we show that strategic agility acts as a mediator, positively influencing the indirect relationships between modularity and performance, as well as supplier involvement and performance. These indirect relationships are further moderated by the digitalization level. This research contributes to the business ecosystem literature by demonstrating that agility and digitalization are important drivers of business ecosystem participants' performance.

In response to the fast growing number of African returnees and the important roles that they play in transferring international knowledge back to the African continent, this qualitative, exploratory study unpacks the role of African returnees in delivering international knowledge obtained from another social context of the Global South through their work and/or study experience, and identifies social factors that facilitate or hinder international knowledge transfer from a social capital perspective. Drawing on qualitative interview data collected from 20 Ghanaian returnees plus an expert interview, observation notes and archival data, we develop an enhanced social capital model in the Global South context. Our model strengthens the understanding of the role of diaspora in international knowledge transfer in general, and that of African returnees in knowledge transfer in the Global South in particular. Specifically, this study offers insights on the interconnections among the three dimensions of social structure (i.e., market relations, social relations and hierarchical relations), African returnees' relations in their social structure, the sources of social capital derived from social relations through opportunity, motivations and ability, and the value created for successful knowledge transfer as a result of the integrative effects of returnees' social capital.

This study aims to identify the factors influencing the reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) of local market information from overseas subsidiaries to their multinational enterprise (MNE) headquarters. For this objective, this study uses both knowledge transfer capacity and relational capital as overarching theoretical concepts. Survey data are collected from Chinese MNEs operating in Africa, which is often referred to as an unknown ‘blue ocean’ economy. Results show that the components (i.e., knowledge development capabilities and possession of prior relevant knowledge) of knowledge transfer capacity increase relational capital. Specifically, knowledge development capabilities highly facilitate the overseas subsidiaries' RKT, and relational capital functions as a vehicle promoting such phenomenon. Findings can provide valuable theoretical contributions and practical implications to MNEs intending to enter ‘blue ocean’ markets.

This study examines the influence of acquiring firm CEOs' psychological attributes on the geographic distance of target firms in cross-border acquisitions. Drawing on the regulatory focus theory, we argue that CEOs with a higher dispositional prevention focus are more vigilant and loss-aversive, avoiding target firms at a greater geographic distance in cross-border acquisitions. Furthermore, building on the concept of regulatory misfit, we examine the moderating effect of acquiring firm CEOs' context-specific experience and the munificence of acquiring firms' industries in priming the dispositional prevention focus. In a sample of 218 cross-border acquisitions by public firms from the United Kingdom from 2006 to 2014, we find support for our hypotheses. This study emphasizes the role of micro-foundations in cross-border acquisitions and deepens the understanding of cross-border acquisition location choice decisions.

Organizational paradox has received substantial scholarly attention; however, the literature has not yet explored the idea that it can be ingrained and manifested as an international organizational culture. In this study, we conceptually explore and empirically examine paradoxical organizational culture and its impact on international firm performance. In this vein, this study advances our knowledge of international organizational culture by extending paradox theory. We propose a “paradoxical organizational culture” as a type of international organizational culture characterized by the sustained and visible coexistence of contradictory cultural features within an international organization. We also argue that the effectiveness of paradoxical organizational culture is amplified, not dampened, by authoritarian leadership. Quantitative analyses based on cluster groups were used to examine the relationships among paradoxical culture, leadership, and firm performance. The empirical results, based on original survey data collected from China (2256 individual respondents from 394 Chinese international firms), support our claims. Our study is expected to provide implications for those interested in the concepts of paradoxical organizational culture and authoritarian leadership in the international business context.

This article is set to examine the effects of foreign market conditions – i.e. foreign market customer demandingness and foreign market stakeholder engagement – on business model innovation of emerging market international businesses (EMIBs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, it examines the impact of foreign market customer demandingness and foreign market stakeholder engagement on business model innovation of EMIBs. Second, it tests the moderating roles of international marketing agility and entrepreneurial bricolage on these relationships and third, it looks into the (direct and indirect) impact of business model innovation on EMIBs' international performance. We use the COVID-19 pandemic as a context and the dynamic capabilities view to formulate and test our hypotheses using longitudinal survey data between March and December 2020, on 211 Vietnamese manufacturing businesses engaged in cross-border activities. The results provide robust empirical support for all our hypotheses. Our findings suggest that foreign customer demandingness and foreign market stakeholder engagement can determine the adoption of new business models by EMIBs'. We also provide evidence on the mediating role of EMIBs' business model innovation in the relationship between foreign market conditions and international performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, while international marketing agility can moderate positively the relationship between local market exposure and business model innovation by international businesses, entrepreneurial bricolage was found to moderate negatively this relationship. Our findings have important theoretical and practical implications for both international businesses and EMIBs.