CALL FOR PAPERS

Special Issue of the Journal of International Business Studies

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS IN A DIGITAL WORLD

Special Issue Editors:

• Klaus E. Meyer (Ivey Business School, Canada, [log in to unmask]) 
• Jiatao (JT) Li (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, [log in to unmask]) 
• Keith D. Brouthers (King’s College London, UK, [log in to unmask]) 
• Ruey-Jer “Bryan” Jean (National Chengchi University, Taiwan, [log in to unmask]) 

Deadline for submission: September 30, 2020

The business world is changing rapidly as digital technologies, like the internet and mobile technologies, become faster, cheaper and more responsive to our needs. These changes are beginning to impact businesses everywhere in the world. Digital technologies have allowed firms to disrupt sales and distribution systems, changed consumer buying behavior and increase/decrease demand for different products and services. Firms have benefited from digitalization in many ways including through greater access to cheaper resources, increased market reach and faster/more effective communications.

Despite these changes our understanding of how the digital world impacts international business has not kept pace. Digitalization is changing the way firms do business and there is little research exploring the ways in which international business is being impacted by these changes. There is an urgent need to develop new theories, modify existing theories and determine how firms can benefit from digitalization as they do business around the world.

Suggested Topics for Submissions

We encourage research on any international aspect of the digital economy and at multiple levels of analysis, such as the individual employee or entrepreneur, firms, value chains as well as ecosystems. Different patterns of firms and different institutional and regional setting are encouraged. We encourage submissions that draw on a variety of theoretic and disciplinary approaches to the study of international business and the digital economy. Suggested topics include, but are not restricted to:

• Sources of competitive advantage in the digital economy: How MNEs can leverage digital platforms, ecosystem and other advanced technologies such as AI and big data individually or in combination to create competitive advantage? What strategies, capabilities, business models and organizational processes are needed for MNEs to internationalize successfully in the digital economy?
• How can MNEs generate and appropriate value from platform-based ecosystems? How can MNEs govern and manage relationships with different participants and members in the digital platform ecosystem across different countries?
• How can MNEs create their own platform ecosystem or participate in existing platform ecosystems to create competitive advantage? How do institutional environments in home and host countries shape MNEs’ digital platform and ecosystem strategies?
• How, and to what extent, does digitalization and new technology affect MNEs’ governance structures and choice of entry mode? How is the headquarter-foreign subsidiary relationship being affected and evolved in the digital economy?
• How, and to what extent, can digital MNEs from developed and emerging markets overcome liabilities of foreignness, liability of outsidership and liability of country of origin to achieve competitive advantage when venturing into different foreign markets?
• Internationalization of digital MNEs: what patterns and theoretical explanations capture these new types of businesses (ibusiness)? How do their strategies such as ownership, entry modes and location choice differ from more traditional MNEs and more traditional theories?
• How can entrepreneurs leverage digital technologies like AI and big data to accelerate international growth and enhance international performance?
• How does the digital economy influence the development of Born Global and International New Ventures?
• How does the digital economy impact institutional environments both at home and abroad? How do MNEs help shape these changes and how do firms respond?
• How, and to what extent, do new technologies affect global value chains? How, and to what extent do new technologies affect labor markets and employment practices? 
• What are the primary sources of risk for digital international business models, and what strategies can firms use to mitigate such risks?
• How do digital businesses handle the extra-territorial effects of national regulatory environments for data management, intellectual property, and free speech?
• How can firms respond to the growing pressure in information security and hacking?

Workshop and Symposium

To help authors develop their papers, we intend to organize a paper development workshop in the summer of 2021. Furthermore, we plan to have a symposium at a major conference in 2022 for the final selected papers for publication, aiming to increase their visibility and impact.

Submission Process

All manuscripts will be reviewed as a cohort for this special issue. Manuscripts must be submitted in the window between September 15, 2020, and September 30, 2020, at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jibs. All submissions will go through the JIBS regular double-blind review process and follow standard norms and processes.

For more information about this call for papers, please contact the Special Issue Editors or the JIBS Managing Editor ([log in to unmask]).

About the Guest Editors

Klaus E. Meyer is Professor of International Business at Ivey Business School. Professor Meyer is a leading scholar in the field of international business conducting research on the strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs), especially foreign entry strategies, in emerging economies, especially Eastern Europe and East Asia. He has published over 80 articles in leading scholarly journals, in particular in Journal of International Business Studies, Strategic Management Journal and Journal of Management Studies, and he published eight books, including the textbook “International Business” (with Mike Peng, published by Cengage Learning, 3rd ed., 2019). He has served as Area Editor of the Journal of International Business Studies since July 2016. In 2012-2015, he was Vice President of the AIB and chaired the 2014 AIB conference in Vancouver, Canada.

Jiatao (JT) Li is Chair Professor of Management and Lee Quo Wei Professor of Business, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is a Fellow of the AIB and an area editor of the Journal of International Business Studies. He also served as an Associate Editor of the Strategic Management Journal from 2009 to 2016. Prof. Li is an expert on global business strategy. His current research interests are in the areas of organizational learning, strategic alliances, corporate governance, innovation, and entrepreneurship, with a focus on issues related to global firms and those from emerging economies. His work has appeared in leading academic journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, and Journal of Management. He serves as Vice President of AIB for 2016-19 and as Program Chair of the 2018 Academy of International Business annual conference in the US. 

Keith D. Brouthers is Professor of Business Strategy at King’s Business School, King’s College London and a Fellow of the Academy of International Business. Keith specializes in international strategic management. His current research interests include entry and establishment mode choice, export channel selection, and the internationalization of digital firms. His research has been published in leading academic journals including Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. He is a consulting editor for the Journal of International Business Studies, served as Vice President of the AIB from 2004-2006 and was a senior associate editor of Journal of Management from 2006-2008.

Ruey-Jer “Bryan” Jean is Professor of International Business at the Department of International Business, National Chengchi University, Taipei. He received his PhD from University of Manchester, UK. His research focuses on interorganizational relationship management and international new ventures in digital and data-rich environments, with a focus on emerging markets. He has published widely in peer-reviewed academic journals, including Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, Management International Review, International Business Review, Journal of International Management, International Marketing Review, Journal of Business Research and Journal of International Marketing.

Indicative Bibliography

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Brouthers, D. K., Geisser, D. K., & Rothlauf, F. 2016. Explaining the internationalization of ibusiness firms. Journal of International Business Studies, 47(5): 513-534.

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Chen, L., Shaheer, N., Yi, J., & Li, S. 2019. The international penetration of ibusiness firms: Network effects, liabilities of outsidership and country clout. Journal of International Business Studies, 50(2): 172-192.

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Li, J., Chen, L., Yi, J., Mao, J., & Liao, J. 2019. Ecosystem-specific advantages in international digital commerce. Journal of International Business Studies, advance online.

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