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IJoEM Call for Papers ‘Jumping over the gap? CEE enterprises on their domestic and international arenas’

 

Special Issue Editors:

 

Desislava Dikova (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien)

Mirosław Jarosiński (Warsaw School of Economics, Poland)

Beata Stępień (Poznań University of Economics, Poland)

 

The latest Global Competitiveness and Europe 2020 Competitiveness Reports still show institutional and performance gaps between Central and European countries and the world leading economies (World Economic Forum, 2014a, 2014 b). The most significant differences, that separate CEEs countries from best performers, are the weak institutions supporting business development and insufficient innovation capacity and drivers. The latter factors are especially unsettling, as they create knowledge-based economy fostering value creation that draws from other than cost – related advantages (OECD 2007).

 

Regardless of institutional constraints many Central and Eastern European enterprises pro-actively develop their strategies and employ innovative performance solutions together with creating successful business models on both domestic and international arena (Mair & Schoen 2007). Most often however, like the example of Poland indicates, the local firms are not that much advanced in their internationalisation processes (Jarosiński 2014).

 

However, comparing strategies of enterprises originating from the CEEs region with those headquartered in Western Europe shows differences in their performance, especially when entering novel markets (Koles & Kondath 2014, Mathews 2006, Nowiński & Rialp, 2013, Stępień 2013). Despite various research in this area (Dikova, Jaklič, Burger & Kunčič, 2015), we still cannot provide a clear answer what are the strongest factors shaping their competitive power and strategy on local and international scale.

 

Do these companies try to “copy the West” by implementing best practices and already proven strategies (Dunning, Kim & Park 2008, Williamson & Zeng 2009) or they create their own, unique business models by combining resources with local ways of conducting business (Ramamurti, 2012, Cuervo-Cazurra & Genc, 2008). Do the socialist legacy and institutional shortcomings still cast a shadow on CEEs companies’ behaviour (Robinson & Tomczak - Stepien, 2000a, 2000b) or are they used as a springboard for international expansion (Luo & Tung, 2007, Luo & Rui 2009, Contractor, 2013). Can CEE enterprise performance analysis bring a new light into theoretical understanding of competitive power and value creation, strategy and business models development, international business and the role of institutions?

 

Although some research on firms deriving from the CEE region has been done, we still see a broad gap in the literature concerning strategies, business models, effectiveness, innovativeness and many other aspects of domestic and international operations of firms deriving from the CEE. By this Special Issue we would like to provide an opportunity to present insights from the CEE region.

 

The following list contains several (but not limited to) research questions to answer in this Special Issue:

•What determines the competitive advantage of CEEs companies, operating locally and/or internationally?

•What differentiates the strategies of CEEs companies from their Western and Far East counterparts? What are the reasons and consequences of these differences for home (host) countries, companies, consumers?

•Are strategies and business models originating from CEE countries a novelty or copy – cat version of Western practices?

•What kind of a distinctive value can CEE companies offer to international consumers?

•How do national context and local institutions influence CEE companies’ performance on both domestically and internationally

•Is the institutional context of CEEs a drawback or a stimulus for an international expansion?

•What is the impact of the socialist legacy on consumer behaviour and organizational strategies locally and internationally?

•What are the internationalization drivers of CEE companies and how we can classify and explain them?

•What is the global impact of emerging MNEs from CEEs?

•Can we by studying the international strategies of companies originating from CEE countries broaden/ modify the OLI concept or the internationalization theory?

•What capabilities of companies, originating from CEEs can be successfully transferred across borders?

 

Deadlines, Submission Guidelines and Co-Editor Information

 

Submissions to the Special Issue must be submitted through the IJoEM website. The deadline for submissions is March 30th, 2016. For general submission guidelines, see http://www.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=ijoem. No late submissions will be accepted. The preference is made for submissions which debate with the literature cited below. Please indicate that your submission is to be reviewed for the Special Issue on Jumping over the gap? Strategies of CEEs enterprises on domestic and international scale.

 

Papers will be blind peer-reviewed. We will make initial editorial decisions by July, 2016.

 

For questions about the special issue, please contact Mirosław Jarosiński [log in to unmask] or Beata Stępień [log in to unmask]

 

Indicative Contemporary Literature:

 

Contractor, F.J. (2013), "“Punching above their weight”: The sources of competitive advantage for emerging market multinationals", International Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 304–328.

 

Cuervo-Cazurra, A. and Genc, M. (2008), “Transforming disadvantages into advantages: developing country MNEs in the least developed countries”, Journal of International Business Studies Vol. 39 No. 6, pp. 957–979.

 

Dikova, D., Jaklič, A., Burger, A. and Kunčič, A. (2015), „What is beneficial for first-time SME-exporters from a transition economy: A diversified or a focused export-strategy?”, Journal of World Business.  doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2015.05.001

 

Jarosiński, M. (2012), “Early Internationalisation of Polish Companies – Research Results”, Journal of Management and Financial Sciences, Vol. 5 No. 7, pp. 34–39.

 

Jarosiński, M. (2014), “Characteristics of Polish Firms’ Internationalisation Processes”, in Kneľević, B. and Wach, K. (Eds), International Business from the Central European Perspective. University of Zagreb Publishing House, Zagreb, pp. 43–52.

 

Koles, B. and Kondath, B. (2014), "Strategy development processes in Central and Eastern Europe: a cross-regional perspective", International Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 386–399.

 

Luo, Y. and Tung, R.L. (2007), International expansion of emerging market enterprises: A springboard perspective, Journal of International Business Studies Vol. 38 No. 4, pp. 481–498.

 

Mair, J. and Schoen O. (2007), "Successful social entrepreneurial business models in the context of developing economies: An explorative study", International Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 54–68.

 

Nowiński, W. and Rialp, A. (2013), “Drivers and strategies of international new ventures from a Central European transition economy”, Journal for East European Management Studies, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 191–231.

 

OECD 2007, Innovation and Growth: Rationale for an Innovation Strategy, OECD, Paris. Ramamurti, R. (2012), “What is really different about emerging market multinationals?” Global Strategy Journal, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 41–47.

 

Robinson, I. and Tomczak-Stepien, B. (2000), “Cultural transformation at enterprise level: case study evidence from Poland”, Journal for East European Management Studies, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 130–151.

 

Robinson, I. and Tomczak-Stepien B. (2001), “The Socialist Legacy and Worker Perceptions of Transformation: An Analysis of Post-Socialist Polish Enterprise”, Journal of East-West Business, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 7–31.

 

Stępień B. (2013), “Creating Value for Customers on International Scale - from Host Country Perspective”, Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 129–133.

 

World Economic Forum (2014a), The Europe 2020 Competitiveness Report: Building a More Competitive Europe, World Economic Forum, Geneva.

 

World Economic Forum (2014b), The Global Competitiveness Report 2014–2015, World Economic Forum, Geneva.

 

 

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