BRQ-Business Research Quarterly
Call for Papers for a Special Issue
Inter-Regional Internationalization:
Ties and Flows between Latin America and Europe
Submission Deadline: July 30, 2016
Guest editors
Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, Northeastern University, USA
Jose Pla-Barber, University of Valencia, Spain
Aims and Scope
The objective of this special issue of BRQ-Business Research Quarterly is to advance our understanding of the business relationships between Latin America and Europe. Despite a long colonial relationship between these two regions that involved not only Spain and Portugal but also France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and that have been the subject on numerous historical accounts (e.g., Jones and Lluch, 2015) our understanding of more recent relationships among these two regions is relatively sparse. This is in part because there are few studies on Latin American business in the management field (see reviews in Fastoso & Whitelock, 2011; Perez-Batres, Pisani, & Doh, 2010).
It is also in part because the reinforcement of business relationships between these two regions has been relatively recent (Pla-Barber and Camps, 2012). On the one hand, many multinationals firms in developed countries, in North America, Asia and Europe, have begun to see in Latin America a central destination in building strategies to promote their investments, even in areas that go beyond the traditional exploitation of natural resources, for example telecommunications and financial services. Companies such as Oracle, Cisco, Telefonica, BBVA, Huawei, Banco de Santander, Tata, etc. have developed strong ties and business flows in the region.
On the other hand, Latin American firms have only recently become multinationals, and many of them have focused on expanding within Latin America and into the US (Casanova, 2009; Cuervo-Cazurra, 2008; Santiso, 2010). Many Latin-American companies such as Cemex, Arcor, Embraer, Natura, Bradesco, Falabella, AJE group, Belcorp, etc. have achieved remarkable success in their home markets and, based on this success, have become Multilatinas, pursuing a more aggressive expansion on a global scale. Some of these Multilatinas will develop even more vigorous strategies in their pursuit of international expansion and will become leaders in their industries, challenging multinationals from advanced economies (BCG, 2014).
Thus, with this special issue we want to shed light on the relevance of these two phenomena placing a special focus on the business ties and flows between Europe and Latin America. This process of internationalization across regions is a complex strategy, as firms have to confront the liability of regional foreignness (Asmussen and Goerzen, 2013), which imposes a cost on being an outsider to the region, both due to regional agreements that foster institutional coordination (Rugman and Verbeke, 2008), such as treaties, trade pacts, labor mobility and common standards and practices, as well as familiarity with and access to regional business networks due to ‘outsidership’ (Johanson and Vahlne, 2009).
The growing interaction between European Multinationals, Multilatinas and the local institutions on both sides of the Atlantic raises interesting questions than can help extend our understanding of international business. We are open to a wide range of topics on these processes of internationalization across regions, with the following list representing only some examples:
• What are the internationalization patterns of Multilatinas in Europe? What are their comparative ownership advantages/ disadvantages? What are the barriers and institutional constraints these companies confront? How do they compare with firms from other regions?
• What are the internationalization patterns of European MNE going into Latin America? What are the determinants of European outward FDI into Latin America? How does it compare with investment from other regions?
• How can these companies overcome the liability of interregional foreignness? How do historical ties between Latin America and European countries such as France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain or the UK, modify the relationships?
• How can we account and measure the degree of inter-regional adaptability? And more importantly, as both the firms and the institutions at their home and host regions evolve, what are the implications for the competitive environment?
• How do multinationals create and transfer innovation and knowledge across regions? How are the colonial and cultural links facilitating or hindering relationships?
• How do local institutions affect corporate governance in these investments across regions? How are free trade agreements changing investment behavior?
This BRQ special issue will consider conceptual as well as empirical papers with different theoretical perspectives and research methodologies. The main objective is to publish a well-balanced mix of papers with sound, robust and relevant contributions to the International Business literature. We are particularly interested in papers that extend and modify our current understanding of theories by analyzing the business relationships among these two regions.
Submission process
Papers for the special issue should be prepared according to BRQ guidelines for authors (https://www.elsevier.com/journals/brq-business-research-quarterly/2340-9436/guide-for-authors). Publication of the special issue is planned for 2017. Original submissions are due July 30th, 2016, and must be sent online via the Elsevier Editorial System (http://ees.elsevier.com/brq). Authors should indicate that they would like their submission to be considered for the special issue “Inter-Regional Internationalization: Ties and Flows between Latin America and Europe”
Further information
For additional information on the special issue please contact both coeditors: Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra ([log in to unmask]) and Jose Pla-Barber ([log in to unmask]).
For information on the journal please visit http://www.journals.elsevier.com/brq-business-research-quarterly/.
References
Asmussen, C.G., and Goerzen, A. 2013. Unpacking dimensions of foreignness: firm-specific capabilities and international dispersion in regional, cultural and institutional space. Global Strategy Journal 3(2): 127-149.
Cuervo-Cazurra, A. 2008. The multinationalization of developing country MNEs: The case of multilatinas. Journal of International Management, 14(2), 138-154.
BCG, 2014. Redefining Global Competitive Dynamics. The Boston Consulting Group.
Fastoso, F., & Whitelock, J. 2011. Why is so little marketing research on Latin America published in high quality journals and what can we do about it?: Lessons from a Delphi study of authors who have succeeded. International Marketing Review, 28: 435-449.
Casanova, L. 2009. Global Latinas: Latin America's Emerging Multinationals. Palgrave MacMillan: New York.
Johanson, J. and Vahlne, J. E. 2009. The Uppsala Internationalisation Process Model Revisited: from liability of foreignness to liability of outsidership. Journal of International Business Studies, 40(9):1411-1431.
Jones, G. Lluch, A. (Eds.). 2015.The Impact of Globalization on Argentina and Chile: Business Enterprises and Entrepreneurship. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
Pérez-Batres, L.A., Pisani, M.J., & Doh, J.P. 2010. Latin America’s contribution to IB scholarship. Academy of International Business Insights, 10(1), 3-7.
Pla-Barber, J., and Camps, J. 2012. Springboarding: a new geographical landscape for European Foreign Investment in Latin America, Journal of Economic Geography, 12(2): 519-538.
Rugman, A and Verbeke, A. 2008. A regional solution to the strategy and structure of multinationals. European Management Journal, 26(5): 305-313.
Santiso, J. 2013. The Decade of the Multilatinas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Dr. José Pla-Barber
Professor of International Business
Department of Management.University of Valencia.
Avda naranjos s/n. Faculty of Economics.
46022. Valencia. Spain.
Tlf.+34 963828312
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