CALL FOR PAPERS
Special Issue of the Journal of International Business Studies
Rethinking firm international involvement in a changing world of complex
realities
Special Issue Editors:
* Noman Shaheer (University of Sydney, [log in to unmask])
* Sali Li (University of South Carolina,
<mailto:[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask])
* Liang Chen (University of Melbourne, [log in to unmask])
* Keith D. Brouthers (King's College London,
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> )
* Peter W. Liesch (The University of Queensland, [log in to unmask]
<mailto:[log in to unmask]> )
* Supervising Editor: Dan Li (Indiana University,
<mailto:[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask])
Deadline for Submission: January 31, 2024
Motivation for the Special Issue
Recent special issues (SI) at the Journal of International Business Studies
(JIBS) have highlighted the important roles that digitalization (Meyer, Li,
Brouthers, & Jean, 2023) and changing institutional norms and standards
(Dau, Chacar, Lyles, & Li, 2022) have for international business (IB) theory
and practice. While digitalization is creating new pathways for firms to
become involved in foreign markets (Kano, Tsang, & Yeung, 2020; Li et al.,
2019; Luo & Tung, 2018; Nambisan, Zahra, & Luo, 2019), impediments to these
digitally-enabled pathways are emerging, such as privacy concerns, laws and
regulations, perceptions of individuals and groups of MNEs from certain
countries of origin. The changing informal institutions and rising
geopolitical tensions are becoming the new barriers for multinational
enterprises (MNEs) in their global expansion (Alvarez & Rangan, 2019;
Buckley, 2020; Contractor, 2021; Liu & Li, 2020; Nambisan & Luo, 2021; White
et al., 2022). These concurrent movements are reshaping firm involvement in
international markets (Liesch, Buckley, Simonin & Knight, 2012) by
simultaneously increasing opportunities and creating new barriers. Changing
how established and new firms become involved in IB, these trends and the
tensions they create challenge the established view of the theory of the
MNE.
By international involvement, we refer to a broad spectrum of arrangements
taking place within, across, and beyond firm boundaries to enable the firm's
participation in foreign markets (Brouthers & Hennart, 2007; Liesch et al.,
2012). International involvement is not limited to foreign investments and
the traditional modes of entry and operation (e.g., exporting, joint
ventures, wholly owned subsidiaries) but includes all means of cross-border
value-creating activities, such as outsourcing, licensing, alliances,
capital access, innovation outposts, user acquisition via digital channels,
and managed ecosystems (Brouthers, Chen, Li & Shaheer, 2022). Traditionally,
international involvement has been studied through the lens of international
market entry and operation modes (Brouthers & Hennart, 2007; Kirca et al.,
2011; Tihanyi, Griffith, & Russell, 2005; Zapkau, Schwens, & Brouthers,
2020), by which firms organize the way they access markets or resources in
foreign countries (Erramilli & Rao, 1993). This has been a prominent
research domain in IB, with numerous award-winning papers at JIBS (e.g.,
Agarwal & Ramaswami, 1992; Anderson & Gatignon, 1986; Brouthers, 2002; Kogut
& Singh, 1988). International involvement is not only fundamental to the
questions of why MNEs exist and how they evolve, but also shapes our
collective wisdom on internationalization processes (e.g., establishment
chain).
However, scholars contend that traditional entry mode research and
theorization has seen little progress (Shaver, 2013), and our understanding
of how and why firms increase/decrease involvement neglects the processes
involved (Autio, Mudambi, & Yoo, 2021; Connelly, Ketchen, & Hult, 2013;
Jacobides & Hitt, 2005; Welch, Nummela, & Liesch, 2016). While Hennart and
Slangen (2015) advocate for research opportunities on entry mode choices,
new pathways of international involvement in the era of digitalization and
extremely disrupted (de)globalization are putting our literature at a
juncture that may require novel theorization. Shaver's (2013) question
becomes more compelling than ever: Is the entry mode literature producing
"more of the same" rather than revealing new trends and forms of
international involvement, and theorizing their nature and behaviors?
Reflecting on recent advances in digitalization and
institutional drivers of integration/decoupling, Brouthers et al. (2022)
develop a theoretical framework based on the theories of Embeddedness,
Exploration and Exploitation (EEE) to better recognize and conceptualize a
broader range of non-traditional entry modes that MNEs, small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and born-global ventures have utilized to
involve themselves in foreign markets in today's economy. However, this
development is challenged by Hennart (2022), who argues that most
'non-traditional entry modes' constitute changes in kind rather than
substance and that a more sophisticated version of transaction cost
economics (TCE) can effectively explain the transfer of capabilities and
knowledge in these modes. This debate has aroused a broad discussion through
a variety of channels, including JIBS and AOM IM Division online research
panels. There is compelling interest in rethinking international involvement
as well as a widespread recognition of the need for developing, extending,
and integrating traditional and emerging theoretical frameworks to explain
these transitions.
This special issue intends to accelerate the conversation and
investigate the question - Do we need new theories, extensions to existing
theories, or combinations of new and old theories, to understand how
international involvement is evolving in our changing world of complex
realities, and if we do, what might these theories entail?
Aims and Scope of the Special Issue
We seek scholarly contributions that can help advance our understanding of
international involvement in the new era of digitalization and globalization
with extreme disruptions to the international environment (or ecosystem). We
are interested in contributions that can connect debates about the
theorization and modality of market entry and involvement to ongoing
conversations and practices in the IB field. We welcome submissions using a
diversity of research methods including quantitative and qualitative
approaches and conceptual/theoretical contributions. Possible topics that
would be suitable for this SI include (but are not limited to):
1. New ways of international involvement. Digitalization and
conflicting institutional drivers are forcing both large MNEs and smaller
born global and born digital ventures to reevaluate their international
involvement (Jean, Kim, & Cavusgil, 2020; Kozlenkova et al., 2017; Watson et
al., 2018). Technologies such as Blockchain, Metaverse, or 3D printing are
continuously creating new ways through which firms can structure their
involvement in foreign markets. Indeed, to this effect, UNCTAD has started
tracking the top digital MNEs as they changed the nature of cross-border
investment at a "breakneck" speed (Zhan, 2022). At the same time,
geopolitical tensions, risks of cyberattacks, stakeholder concerns about
privacy, liabilities of country-of-origin, and differences in digital
regulations across countries are emerging as impediments that lead to a
diversity of technology standards across countries and the emergence of
'splinternet' (Luo, 2022; White et al., 2022). Faced with these conflicting
circumstances, what are the new international involvement possibilities (for
example, user entrepreneurs, platform complementors and social media
influencers) and how do they enable new enterprises to create and capture IB
opportunities? How do digitalization and conflicting institutional drivers
redefine globalization and deglobalization, and how do their effects vary
across firms from different countries? Will the institutional drivers of
decoupling require MNEs to be ambidextrously involved with the increasingly
divided geopolitical systems? More fundamentally, what are the implications
of these new forms of involvement for organizational theories? We look for
theoretically grounded approaches to identify, explain, and integrate novel
ways of international involvement to extend our knowledge of the theory of
MNEs.
2. A general theory of entry modes. Debate among diverse theoretical
perspectives such as TCE, resource-based view (RBV), knowledge-based view
(KBV) and institutional theory, has cast different views on how firms should
utilize entry and operation modes. Brouthers et al. (2022) incorporate the
embeddedness dimension into the RBV to develop an EEE framework for
non-traditional entry modes, while Hennart (2022) stresses the applicability
of TCE in a broader range of entry modes and management practices. With this
debate now ongoing, we invite attempts to develop a general theory to
reconcile these (and other) theoretical views on entry modes, or to draw
clearer and more practical boundaries for these theories. With this
conceptualization not limited to TCE or EEE, we welcome other conceptual
frameworks that explain mode choice or ways of international involvement.
3. Reevaluating traditional entry mode research. We have gained a
profound understanding on traditional entry modes, but there may still exist
topics worthy of novel research. Examples include the managerial
decision-making process for choosing traditional entry modes, the impact of
past investments modes, the role of expatriates in developing and/or
managing entry modes and the consequences of entry mode choices. Echoing
Shaver's (2013) question, we would like to see novel research, utilizing
more fine-grained data or new methods, to examine the efficacy of the
existing theoretical lenses and to generate new insights into these familiar
phenomena.
4. Exploring non-traditional entry modes. While Brouthers et al. (2022)
have developed an EEE framework to categorize several important
non-traditional entry modes, little empirical research has been conducted to
test such a framework. Can the EEE framework effectively explain the
antecedents and consequences of entry modes (non-traditional and
traditional)? Or will TCE still demonstrate substantial predictive power for
non-traditional modes? How can we better extend prior research from global
strategy into this new context to investigate such topics as the role of
culture (Tihanyi, Griffith, & Russell, 2005)? How could international
marketing research help us better understand non-traditional entry from a
demand-side perspective (Samiee, Katsikeas, & Hult, 2021), regarding, inter
alia, consumers' data privacy concerns (e.g. Madan, Savani, & Katsikeas,
2022) and discrimination against foreign products (e.g. Fischer,
Zeugner-Roth, Katsikeas, & Pandelaere, 2022)? In addition, as most entry
modes are conflated with location choices, will the requirement of
embeddedness in a local context help shed new light on entry decisions?
5. Integrating traditional and novel ways of international involvement.
We are interested in scholarly attempts to reconcile traditional and new
ways of international involvement to offer a more comprehensive view of IB
realities. In particular, MNEs are pursuing different configurations and
constellations of traditional and non-traditional ways of international
involvement (Stallkamp & Schotter, 2021; Shaheer & Li, 2020; Shaheer, Li, &
Priem, 2020; Wormald, Agarwal, Braguinsky, & Shah, 2021). These combinations
are increasingly important in today's economy where MNEs are responding to
conflicting international drivers by exiting from certain countries while
reentering with other ways of involvement. These transitions require
researchers to go beyond the traditional conceptualization of international
involvement as a one-time choice of a single mode. Instead, researchers may
explore more nuanced and complex patterns for configuring multiple ways of
international involvement.
6. Advancing international involvement research through process
interpretations. The context in which new ways of international involvement
are evolving is dynamic, and it shifts with geo-political interferences.
Firms must accommodate these shifts and dynamism by better understanding and
recognizing differences in Western and non-Western perspectives that may
have, at least in part, given rise to the heightened geo-political tensions
(Tung & Stahl, 2018; Tung, 2021). Taking such multidimensional perspectives
is critical for making sense of a complex and changing global context and
for orchestrating international involvement activities. Research paradigms
that explicitly take account of multiple perspectives and changing contexts
are available, but assumptions must be challenged and new research questions
asked (Langley, Smallman, Tsoukas, & Van de Ven, 2013; Kriz & Welch, 2018).
This SI provides opportunities to reflect on past mode research and to
advance new research agendas that strengthen the IB field through advancing
IB process theorizing on international involvement (Welch et al., 2016).
Using process approaches to address how established and new firms are taking
advantage of new ways of international involvement, while navigating the
tensions caused by geo-political barriers, substantiates the IB field in the
marketplace of ideas and applications.
Deadline and Submission Instructions
Authors should submit their manuscripts between January 15, 2024, and
January 31, 2024, via the Journal of International Business Studies
submission system at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jibs. All submissions
will go through the standard double-blind review process.
The guest editors plan to host a paper development workshop at the AIB
annual meeting for manuscripts that have advanced through the revision
process in 2024. We also plan to have a symposium at one of the host
universities of the editorial team for the final selected papers for
publication, aiming to increase their visibility and impact.
Questions about the Special Issue may be directed to the guest editors or
the JIBS Managing Editor ([log in to unmask]).
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About the Guest Editors
Noman Shaheer is Lecturer in International Business Discipline at the
University of Sydney. His recent research on digital internationalization
appears in Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Business
Venturing, Journal of International Marketing, and Harvard Business Review.
He has received several prestigious awards including the Lazardis award for
the Journal of Business Venturing's Best Paper, AIB /Temple Best Paper
Award, Buckley & Casson Dissertation Award, AOM International Management
Division Best Dissertation Award and Alan M. Rugman Most Promising Scholar
Award.
Sali Li is Professor and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Darla Moore
School of Business, University of South Carolina. His current work explores
how digital platforms iterate and internationalize, with a particular focus
on digital start-ups from China. His research has been published in leading
academic journals including Academy of Management Review, Strategic
Management Journal, Journal of Management, Journal of International Business
Studies, Journal of Management Studies, etc. He has received several
prestigious research awards including the Lazardis award for the Journal of
Business Venturing's Best Paper of the Year, and AIB /Temple Best Paper
Award. In addition, he serves as an Associate Editor at Journal of
Management and Journal of World Business.
Liang Chen is Associate Professor of Strategic Management at the University
of Melbourne, Australia. His recent research on platform ecosystems and
digital strategy appears in Strategic Management Journal, Journal of
Management, Journal of International Business Studies, and Harvard Business
Review. He has also shown enduring research interests in multinational
firms, emerging markets, global strategy, corporate strategy, and the theory
of the firm. Liang is a JIBS ERB member and Best Reviewer, a winner of the
AOM IM Division Emerging Scholar Award, and a finalist of the Alan M. Rugman
Most Promising Scholar Award. He is Senior Editor of International Business
Review and of Management and Organization Review, and a consulting editor at
Journal of International Management.
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 and is the
recipient of the JIBS Decade Award (2012) as well as a JIBS Fiftieth
anniversary research scholarship award (2019). His current research
interests include entry and establishment mode choice, export channel
selection, and the digital economy. Keith's 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.
Peter W. Liesch is Professor of International Business at the UQ Business
School, The University of Queensland, Australia and a Fellow of the AIB. His
research interests are firm internationalization and international business
operations in their entirety. He was awarded a JIBS Fiftieth Anniversary
Medal (2019). He is an Area Editor of the Journal of International Business
Studies, and has co-edited Special Issues with the Journal of International
Business Studies, Journal of World Business, Management International Review
and others. His publications appear in the Journal of International Business
Studies, Journal of World Business, and other IB journals, and in the
Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Operations Management, Journal of
the Academy of Marketing Science and Journal of Management Studies.
Dan Li is the L. Leslie Waters Chair and Professor of International Business
at the Kelley Business School, Indiana University. Her research and teaching
focus on global strategy, particularly in the areas of international
strategic alliances, and institutional influences on activities of both
established multinational enterprises and international new ventures. Her
work has been published in the Journal of International Business Studies,
Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Organization
Science, Journal of Management, Journal of Business Venturing, among others.
She is an incoming Area Editor of JIBS and previously served as the
Editor-in-Chief of Business Horizons and an Associate Editor and Special
Issue Editor of Global Strategy Journal.
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