International Business Review最新文献

We analysed the impact of exporters’ social media use on export costs and relationships with foreign customers using data collected in 2013 and in 2021. Our empirical results show that better information and communication technology (ICT) capabilities positively influence social media use, enhance communications, and lead to stronger relationships with foreign customers, but do not directly reduce export costs. We highlight the significant mediating role played by exporters’ cross-country social media communication in relationship building with foreign customers. Some divergences were evident in relation to the effects on export costs in 2021 compared to 2013. In 2013, social media communication, but not relationship building, notably reduced export costs; in 2021, in contrast, marked by the increased use of social media by consumers and companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the scenario was reversed: relationship building, but not social media communication, exerted a notable influence on costs. Commented, in conclusion, are the theoretical and practical implications of exporters using social media to improve their internationalization.

We investigate how the duality of innovation regimes in latecomer countries is institutionally shaped. We first specify the firm-level mechanism of commitment to both knowledge use and knowledge generation regimes with reference to the allocation of government grants across investments in machinery and equipment, and in research and development. Then, we theorize the interactive effects of global and national institutional systems on firms’ commitment to these innovation regimes. Our analysis of firm-level data from 16 latecomer countries classified as either hierarchical or collaborative national institutional systems indicates that, although firms are committed to both innovation regimes, the effect of global cultural rationalization steers firms toward the knowledge generation regime and away from the knowledge use regime. However, this movement away from the knowledge use regime due to rationalization is weaker in hierarchical systems. We contribute to the innovation regime literature by elucidating the firm-level duality in innovation regimes subject to global and national institutional effects.

This study examines whether overseas manufacturing subsidiaries are divested or kept under rising production costs and uncertain market demands in their host countries. We predict that even under increasing production costs, a subsidiary will not be divested but kept under high market demand uncertainty. A multinomial logit analysis of Korean overseas manufacturing subsidiaries finds that an overseas manufacturing subsidiary exposed to high labor cost growth in its host country is not divested but kept alive under high market demand uncertainty via cross-border production volume adjustments with other in-network subsidiaries in different countries. It also shows that the moderating impact of demand uncertainty on production shifts over divestment is pronounced more for the subsidiaries with low cross-country labor cost correlation, high product compatibility, and high ownership share. These findings imply that the longevity of subsidiary operations is shaped by geographic and organizational characteristics determining production shift conditions.

This study explores when conflict between foreign investors and local communities is likely to arise in large-scale agricultural land acquisitions (agricultural LSLAs) in developing countries. As prior studies emphasize stakeholder management of investors, we know relatively little about how the institutional environments surrounding LSLAs shape patterns of conflict. Combining insights from studies on informal community institutions, social movement, and comparative development, I develop arguments on how conflict is associated with liberal economic institutions and how this association is moderated by democratic institutions and inequality of both host and home countries. An analysis of 436 LSLAs between 2000 and 2019 based on Heckman’s sample selection models strongly supports the arguments. This study extends our understanding of conflict by incorporating interactions among multiple dimensions of institutions. It also contributes to the comparative development research by shedding light on the uniqueness of rural communities in developing countries compared with other non-elite actors.

Process research develops our understanding of the emergence, flow, and evolution of phenomena over time through ongoing activities and events. The field of international business has long been concerned with developing an understanding of various kinds of processes over time. Yet, several international business scholars have called for more studies that recognize the process-based nature of international business phenomena. This paper therefore discusses the challenges of process research in international business and offers insight into how they may be addressed. We draw on the broader methodological literature and on exemplar process studies in international business to explore and illustrate a repertoire of methodological tools that may be useful in assembling the three critical ingredients of high-quality process research: rich process data, insightful process theory, and credible but creative coupling between the two.

This paper addresses into the pivotal role of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in spearheading global sustainability, particularly by aligning their innovations with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We underscore a paradigm shift in international business, emphasizing the pressing need for sustainable practices among MNEs in the face of grand global challenges such as climate change, political instability, trade protectionism, and inequality. We discuss the innovation ecosystems and stakeholder approach as an essential conceptual framework for examining drivers and outcomes of MNEs’ sustainable innovations. The paper offers a fresh perspective on integrating corporate goals with broader sustainability targets by connecting with stakeholders of local communities in host countries who are attuned to idiosyncratic sustainability challenges.

This study investigates what knowledge resources and capabilities are needed at the unit and individual levels to manage international intra- and inter-organizational relationships in global account management (GAM). These GAM units and individuals need to manage various relationships with different locations within the globally spread supplier firm (international intra-organizational relationships) and with the global client (international inter-organizational relationships). We find that, in GAM units, international intra-organizational relationships are managed using relationship internal knowledge resources and capabilities, while international inter-organizational relationships are managed with external knowledge resources and capabilities. Interestingly, the opposite is found for GAM individuals. The core finding of our research is that managing the GAM relationships is not a one-size-fits-all affair. Balancing relationships and internal and external knowledge resources and capabilities is critical for GAM units and individuals to offer high-quality, innovative services. Implications of our research on GAM literature and the knowledge-based view are discussed.

Our study replicates a US study and an Australian study in the Italian context to address whether the home- country context influences the nature of dynamic capabilities (DCs) that are developed and deployed in small, entrepreneurial firms for these firms to internationalize. We measure a suite of dynamic capabilities and relate these to innovation in the firm which is put to internationalization. The Italian findings portray two logics, a dominant entrepreneur’s logic and a lesser significant entrepreneurial logic. The entrepreneur’s logic is centered on the entrepreneur and their vision and is dominant in the Italian model. The entrepreneurial logic, based on the bundling of DCs to learn from internal and external environments, is represented in all three countries. Our three-country comparison illustrates that dynamic capability development and deployment is indeed context-dependent. Notwithstanding contextual differences across Italian and Anglo-Saxon countries, which present spatial boundary conditions, the theoretical configuration of DCs, innovation and internationalization we replicated is retained, suggesting that it has potential to be developed further into an actionable theory of DCs for the small, entrepreneurial firm that internationalizes.

In the last three decades, cross-border mergers and acquisitions have been the most preferred vehicle for unprecedented internationalization and integration of the global economy. This paper synthesizes the empirical research examining the impact of formal institutions related to state effectiveness, corporate governance and investor protection, and inter-country institutional differences on cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Our review summarizes a total of 156 studies across strategy, international business, finance, and economics literature published from 1995–2023. It presents a synthesized framework across each phase of cross-border mergers and acquisitions. In parallel, we identify opportunities for future research that should address the limitations in the existing stream of research and push the boundaries through the novel integration of theoretical lenses.