Search

Recent advances in technology (e.g., the Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Cloud Services, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain), the shift towards digital products, and the increased use of digitalisation by firms have enhanced consumers' experience and transformed how companies operate, create products/services, and offer value to multiple stakeholders on a global scale. These technological innovations have led to the phenomenon known as the Metaverse. The Metaverse does not refer to any one type of technology but is a broad (and often speculative) shift in how we interact with different technologies in the same space. In the context of International Business (IB), the recent emergence of Metaverse appears to make geographical, sectoral, and operational barriers less relevant, raising complex questions about how current IB theories can explain the world-spanning, sectorally fluid, and centrifugal behaviour of firms in the era of digital globalisation. In this paper, we obtain a critical understanding of the important opportunities and challenges that the Metaverse and the fluidity of digital technologies bring to the IB field. Specifically, we discuss how traditional theories can be effectively utilised to explain firms' internationalisation, and adapted to reflect the new technological era. We propose a framework for new approaches to IB research to help advance research on Metaverse and IB, which can provide important opportunities for future work in this field. Keywords Metaverse * Digitalisation * Emerging technologies * Digital globalisation * IB theory * Internationalisation, 1 Introduction The traditional business environment has undergone significant changes at national and global levels over the past two decades. The accelerated development of the internet infrastructure and the World [...]

Despite the increasing importance of social innovation, research seeking to illuminate how firms engage in social innovation in emerging markets is limited. Utilizing survey data from 143 Pakistani micro-multinational firms operating in other emerging markets, this study examined how these firms undertook social innovation practices in host emerging markets. The findings indicate that the social innovation practices of these firms in host emerging markets are influenced by dynamic marketing capabilities. Furthermore, this influence is mediated by social embeddedness in the host market. Moreover, this mediated influence is positively moderated by a socially supportive culture of the host market. The impact of marketing capabilities on value creation in host emerging markets involves the serial mediation of social embeddedness and social innovation practices. The study demonstrates how resource-constrained emerging-market micro-multinational firms can generate value in host emerging markets, thereby validating the efficacy of dynamic marketing capabilities in the context of social innovation in emerging markets. The study also discusses practical and policy implications. Keywords Emerging market * Marketing capabilities * Micro-multinationals * Social embeddedness * Social innovation * Socially supportive culture * Value creation, 1 Introduction Social innovation refers to organizational activities or initiatives developed to address the social needs of societies (Crupi et al., 2022; Mulgan, 2006; Nguyen et al., 2023; Phillips et [...]

Our paper revisits one of the fundamental questions of International Business (IB) scholarship, investigating the ways through which multinational enterprises (MNEs) establish legitimacy when entering a foreign market. We address this question in a novel context of Central and Eastern European (CEE) firms venturing into Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), employing a multiple case study approach. We investigate the process of legitimacy formation by Polish firms entering SSA for market-seeking reasons. We find that the firms studied use their initial liabilities of foreignness, outsidership, and origin as starting points for pragmatic, moral, and cognitive legitimacy-building by developing narratives that neutralize the distance between themselves and important local stakeholders. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the contingent nature of 'liabilities' in IB literature and shed light on the role of narratives in the internationalization process. Keywords Central and Eastern Europe * Legitimacy * Multinationals * Sub-Saharan Africa, 1 Introduction Our paper revisits one of the important questions of IB scholarship, investigating the ways through which multinational enterprises (MNEs) establish legitimacy when entering a foreign market. We study [...]

This study examines (i) the relationship between first social mover multinational corporations (MNCs) and corporate social innovation (CSI); (ii) the impact of MNCs' CSI on social value creation; and (iii) the moderating role of local embed-dedness on the relationship between the first social mover MNCs, CSI, and social value creation. The study builds from the behavioral theory of social entrepreneurship. Primary data was collected from 150 MNCs operating in Nigeria--a social and resource-constrained emerging market in sub-Saharan Africa. Findings show that there is a positive relationship between first social mover MNCs and CSI. The findings also show that CSI has a positive relationship with social value creation. Furthermore, the findings reveal that local embeddedness strengthens the path between first social mover MNCs, CSI, and social value creation path. These findings have important implications for CSI and international management research as well as the growth and management of MNCs operating in emerging markets in sub-Saharan Africa. Keywords Corporate social innovation * First social mover MNCs * Social value creation * Local embeddedness * Sub-Saharan Africa * Nigeria, 1 Introduction Corporate social innovation (CSI) has become a mainstay in global strategy as society expects multinational corporations (MNCs) to be socially responsible (Cajaiba-Santana, 2014; Crupi et al., 2022; Mirvis [...]

Corporate Social Innovation (CSI) has emerged as a research priority for multinational enterprises (MNEs) due to the increasing popularity of sustainable development solutions addressing wicked problems in the 21st century. Although most studies on CSI have focused on data from developed economies, emphasising the younger generation's forward-looking, sustainable, and environmentally friendly attitudes, there exists a gap in our understanding of the attitude of the older generation towards CSI practices of MNEs operating in emerging economies. The UN's SDG 3 advocates for the well-being of all at all ages. Despite this, healthcare outcomes in global-south countries fall below standard. Therefore, we conducted an in-depth critical analysis of textual data concerning CSI practices of 115 healthcare MNEs operating in 13 emerging economies. We quantified the number of CSI practices in their annual reports and operationalised the dependent variable using an entropy index to calculate the density and percentage score of CSI. Drawing on Upper Echelons, our analysis revealed that older CEOs are likelier to promote, initiate, and implement CSI in greater depth and breadth. These findings present a compelling case supporting the argument that CEOs and board members tend to contribute more to society as they age. We offer empirical evidence supporting the strengthening roles of senior board members and female board chairs. Our findings complement existing CSI studies from developed countries and illustrate how CEO and board characteristics influence the depth and breadth of CSI in emerging economies. Keywords Corporate social innovation * Multinational enterprises * Weak institutional contexts * CEO age, 1 Introduction The concept of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has emerged as a research priority for international business (IB) scholars due to the increasing urgency for sustainable solutions to grand [...]

International business scholars have long recognized the potential influence of cultural differences on foreign divestment; however, the empirical results are mixed. Our study helps resolve this contradiction and contribute to the existing literature in three ways. First, we advocate the use of cultural friction metric, instead of the more traditional cultural distance approach. This overcomes a key limitation in the modelling the impact of cultural differences. The friction construct metric includes an index of firm-specific factors, referred to as the degree of 'cultural interaction'. This index moderates the impact of cultural distance, reflecting firm--level differences. We also build on calls for more Positive Organizational Scholarship by challenging the negative bias in the international business literature and propose a curvilinear effect of cultural differences on divestment probability. Lastly, we investigate a potential boundary condition--the moderating effect of entry mode on the main hypothesis. Our empirical sample include 2120 Finnish foreign subsidiaries operating in 40 countries during 1970-2010. Our analyses confirm that the cultural differences, when measured by the friction metric, appear to be a significant and superior predictor of subsidiary divestment probability, and that the relationship appears to be U-shaped. Our robustness analyses also highlight the importance of which cultural framework is applied and controlling for selection bias. Keywords Foreign divestment * Subsidiary performance * Cultural friction * Cultural distance * Cultural distance paradox * Entry mode, 1 Introduction Foreign direct investments (FDIs) have an important strategic role in multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, a significant number of these investments are subsequently divested (UNCTAD, 2021). As such, foreign [...]

Born global firms (BGs) contribute significantly to economic growth, but few studies have examined the post-internationalization stage of BGs. In addition, studies of the impact of changes in strategic aspects as BGs mature on BG performance and survival have yielded conflicting results. To address this gap in knowledge, the present study examines the relationships between intelligence generation and innovation orientation, and branding strategies as moderated by maturity. The data were received from 133 senior managers of BGs of various ages. The analysis shows that BG maturity negatively moderates the relationship between intelligence generation and functional branding strategy but does not influence the relationships of innovation orientation with branding strategies. Furthermore, emotional branding showed stable association with both financial and market performance indicators. This study demonstrates that maturity affects the orientations and performance of BGs and calls for a reassessment of the competitive international strategy of BGs at the post-entry stage. Keywords Born global * Maturity * Intelligence generation * Innovation orientation * Branding strategies * Performance, 1 Introduction Research on born global firms (BGs) has gained substantial momentum in the three decades since Rennie (1993) first coined the term. These young and rapidly internationalizing firms are [...]

The entry mode decision is a critical topic in international business. Several studies have tested the antecedents of entry mode choices and compared the outcomes after entry. However, the results reported in these studies are contradictory and difficult to explain. Furthermore, the reviews using qualitative approaches cannot statistically combine empirical results and fail to fully discuss these relationships. Additionally, the mediating effects remain unexamined in the existing studies. Drawing upon transaction cost economics and the resource-based view, this paper presents a meta-analysis that combines entry mode choices, antecedents and post-entry outcomes to address these issues. This meta-analysis is based on 1499 effect sizes from 230 published empirical studies. This study focuses on 15 antecedents as well as post-entry performance and survival of entry mode choices. In addition to bivariate relationships (i.e. how a single antecedent affects entry mode choices), the paper uses meta-analytic structural equation modelling to analyse the mediating effects of entry mode choices on the antecedent - outcome relationship. Keywords Meta-analysis * Ownership mode choice * Establishment mode choice * Post-entry outcome, 1 Introduction A growing number of multinational enterprises (MNEs) are attracted by the opportunities and resources of international markets. In this context, choosing a suitable entry mode into a foreign [...]