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INDUSTRIAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Call for Papers
Neointernationalization of B2B Firms:
Recognizing and Accommodating Disruption to Traditional Internationalization Trajectories
Deadline for submission: May 1st, 2025
Overview and purpose of the special issue
The global economic order established following World War II has encountered major disruptions and undergone substantial structural reconfiguration (Petricevic and Teece, 2019). Against this backdrop, the global landscape dynamics have been extensively fractured with the effects of several recent circumstances leading to fundamental shifts in the traditional internationalization trajectories such as: (a) global pandemic, resulting in more nationalistic and protectionist policies and institutional adjustments to preserve employment and the financial interests of home markets (Cuervo-Cazurra et al., 2020; Delios, Perchthold, and Capri, 2021); (b) heightened geopolitical tensions, driving organizations to fuel decoupling efforts between specific regions, notably exemplified by the strained relations between China and the United States (Contractor, 2022; Witt et al., 2023), and (c) the retreat of globalization, giving rise to a more regionally fragmented world economy stemming from the escalation of uncertainty, and increased expenses in international transactions (Ciravegna and Michailova, 2023); and, (d) global degrowth, to stabilize the global economy by recalibrating growth opportunities from high-income countries toward low- and middle-income countries where growth opportunities remain (Hickel et al., 2022).
That said, these developments are profoundly influencing the fabric of the business landscape. With the trajectory of the world economy’s globalization becoming increasingly uncertain, business to business (B2B) enterprises operating beyond their national boundaries are under pressure to recognize and accommodate these disruptions by reconsidering their ‘global’ value chains (GVCs) and reassessing their traditional internationalization pathways (Petricevic and Teece, 2019). In this regard, this call for papers invites scholars to integrate geopolitical frictions with business views, intending to guide B2B firms navigating in these highly uncertain and disruptive business landscape considering new realities and trajectories of internationalization. Albeit the fact that previous research considering these disruptions and uncertainties extensively as a threat (e.g., Luo and Van Assche, 2023; Vertinsky et al., 2023), it should not be undervalued how resilient and adaptive organizations can be (Contractor, 2022; Zamborsky et al., 2023). Therefore, it remains unclear how B2B firms should adapt and how globalization might carry on under these conditions of neointernationalization.
These disruptions and uncertainties in the geopolitical sphere could also result in viable alternatives for B2B firms by considering new areas of opportunities, encompassing offshoring, reshoring, nearshoring, friendshoring, and safe-shoring. In the last two decades, the globalization’s influence on the global competitive landscape largely produced a pronounced trend towards outsourcing and overseas production, especially in the realms of manufacturing and sourcing (Gereffi, Lim, and Lee, 2018). In line with this, a multitude of organizations have been actively engaged in offshoring practices which involve the relocation of various value chain activities to foreign locations over the past few decades, as they have heavily attempted to benefit from the availability of cheaper raw materials, lower labour costs, and less stringent regulatory environments (Merino, Di Stefano and Fratocchi, 2021; Mukherjee, Kumar, Pandey, and Lahiri, 2023). Nevertheless, global value chain disruptions and radical shifts in the attractiveness of the specific locations have pushed companies reconsider their offshored manufacturing locations, which results in decisions relating to reversing their prior manufacturing offshoring decisions and bringing their activities back home (Barbieri et al., 2022; Ellram, Tate, and Petersen, 2013).
In the contemporary globalized context, the singular emphasis on cost as a primary determinant in decision-making processes related to internationalization has been supplanted (Mukherjee et al., 2019). This shift is attributed to the growing recognition among organizations of the multifaceted nature of their reputations, encompassing ethical and sustainability considerations, as well as other strategic imperatives (Ellram, 2013; Kafouros et al., 2022). Furthermore, firm-specific factors, such as strategic priorities and customer responsiveness, exert a significant influence on this decision-making process (McIvor and Bals, 2021). Consequently, the concept of nearshoring, referring to the relocation of the value chain activities to a nearby location to the home market, has gained attraction by addressing sustainability and ethical concerns associated with offshore production (Ellram et al., 2013; Gray et al., 2013).
The burgeoning concept of friendshoring presents a novel perspective on the globalization paradigm, suggesting a nuanced equilibrium between globalization and de-globalization, as some multinational enterprises (MNEs) prefer to maintain neutrality by not aligning with any particular side amidst geopolitical tensions and instead, are relocating to regions perceived as ‘friendly’ or ‘neutral’, such as Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe (Bilgili et al., 2023; Zamborsky et al., 2023).
Despite the fact that friendshoring and decoupling have a more expansive global presence, yet they are commonly feasible merely in the regions characterized by minimal perceived risk, potentially compromising agility. At that point, another nascent topic of safe-shoring, may conversely addresses this inherent trade-off by emphasizing the importance of agility and resilience through maintaining a flexible approach and leveraging the advantages of low factor costs in areas characterized by economic volatility as they are able to quickly move globally in reaction to risk events (Kutschera et al., 2023).
Sample topics
We are calling for scholarly contributions that can illuminate the challenges and opportunities inherent in the evolving landscape of globalization, thereby enhancing our comprehensive understanding of the future trajectory of the internationalization arena, which may encompass novel practices such as offshoring, reshoring, nearshoring, friendshoring, and safe-shoring.
This special issue invites submissions of both conceptual and empirical manuscripts, employing diverse methodologies such as quantitative, qualitative, case studies, or triangulation of methods. We encourage multidisciplinary approaches. All manuscripts should be directly relevant to the recognition and accommodation of the disruptions to traditional internationalization trajectories that we are characterizing as neointernationalization.
Potential research questions for submission to this special issue include, but are not limited to, the following:
Preparation and submission of paper and review process
Papers submitted must not have been published, accepted for publication, or presently be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Submissions should be about 6,000-8,000 words in length. Copies should be uploaded on Industrial Marketing Management’s submission system by using the dropdown box for the special issue on VSI: Disruption and Neointernationalization. All papers will be handled according to the guidelines (Kadic-Maglajlic et al., 2023) for guest editing of special issues of Industrial Marketing Management.
Authors are advised to refer to the Guide for Authors prior to submission. Papers that do not comply with the Guide for Authors or are poorly written will be desk rejected. Manuscripts within the scope of the special issue (as described above) and for which there is a reasonable chance of conditional acceptance after no more than two rounds of revisions will enter the double-blind review process.
Important dates
Guest editors
References
Barbieri, P., Boffelli, A., Elia, S., Fratocchi, L., & Kalchschmidt, M. (2022). How does Industry 4.0 affect international exposure? The interplay between firm innovation and home-country policies in post-offshoring relocation decisions. International Business Review, 31(4), 101992.
Bilgili, T. V., Bilgili, H., Allen, D. G., Loncarich, H., Kedia, B. L., & Johnson, J. L. (2023). Friends, foes, or “frenemies”: Intercountry relations and cross‐border acquisitions. Global Strategy Journal, 13(2), 349-390.
Ciravegna, L., & Michailova, S. (2022). Why the world economy needs, but will not get, more globalization in the post-COVID-19 decade. Journal of International Business Studies, 1-15.
Contractor, F. J. (2021). The world economy will need even more globalization in the post-pandemic 2021 decade. Journal of International Business Studies, 1-16.
Cuervo‐Cazurra, Á., Doz, Y., & Gaur, A. (2020). Skepticism of globalization and global strategy: Increasing regulations and countervailing strategies. Global Strategy Journal, 10(1), 3-31.
Cui, V., Vertinsky, I., Wang, Y., & Zhou, D. (2023). Decoupling in international business: The ‘new’ vulnerability of globalization and MNEs’ response strategies. Journal of International Business Studies, 1-15.
Delios, A., Perchthold, G., & Capri, A. (2021). Cohesion, COVID-19 and contemporary challenges to globalization. Journal of World Business, 56(3), 101197.
Ellram, L. M., Tate, W. L., & Petersen, K. J. (2013). Offshoring and reshoring: an update on the manufacturing location decision. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 49(2), 14-22.
Eurofound (2019), Reshoring in Europe: Overview 2015–2018, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
Gereffi, G., Lim, H. C., & Lee, J. (2021). Trade policies, firm strategies, and adaptive reconfigurations of global value chains. Journal of International Business Policy, 1-17.
Gray, J. V., Skowronski, K., Esenduran, G., & Johnny Rungtusanatham, M. (2013). The reshoring phenomenon: What supply chain academics ought to know and should do. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 49(2), 27-33.
Hickel, J., Kallis, G., Jackson, T., and O’Neill, D.W. (2022), Degrowth can work – Here’s how science can help, Nature, 612 (7940), 400-403.
Kafouros, M., Cavusgil, S. T., Devinney, T. M., Ganotakis, P., & Fainshmidt, S. (2022). Cycles of de-internationalization and re-internationalization: Towards an integrative framework. Journal of World Business, 57(1), 101257.
Kutschera, H. J., Borowski, A., Krubasik, G., & Wolf, R. (2023, November 22). Put safe-shoring into practice. Strategy & Part of PwC Network, https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/de/en/functions/operations/safe-shoring.html.
Luo, Y., & Van Assche, A. (2023). The rise of techno-geopolitical uncertainty: Implications of the United States CHIPS and Science Act. Journal of international business studies, 1-18.
McIvor, R., & Bals, L. (2021). A multi-theory framework for understanding the reshoring decision. International Business Review, 30(6), 101827.
Merino, F., Di Stefano, C., & Fratocchi, L. (2021). Back-shoring vs near-shoring: A comparative exploratory study in the footwear industry. Operations Management Research, 14, 17-37.
Mukherjee, D., Kumar, S., Pandey, N., & Lahiri, S. (2023). Is offshoring dead? A multidisciplinary review and future directions. Journal of International Management, 101017.
Mukherjee, D., Lahiri, S., Ash, S. R., & Gaur, A. S. (2019). Search motives, local embeddedness, and knowledge outcomes in offshoring. Journal of Business Research, 103, 365-375.
Petricevic, O., & Teece, D. J. (2019). The structural reshaping of globalization: Implications for strategic sectors, profiting from innovation, and the multinational enterprise. Journal of International Business Studies, 50, 1487-1512.
Witt, M. A., Li, P. P., Välikangas, L., & Lewin, A. Y. (2021). De-globalization and decoupling: Game changing consequences?. Management and Organization Review, 17(1), 6-15.
Witt, M. A., Lewin, A. Y., Li, P. P., & Gaur, A. (2023). Decoupling in international business: Evidence, drivers, impact, and implications for IB research. Journal of World Business, 58(1), 101399.
Vertinsky, I., Kuang, Y., Zhou, D., & Cui, V. (2023). The political economy and dynamics of bifurcated world governance and the decoupling of value chains: An alternative perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, 1-27.
Zámborský, P., Yan, Z. J., Michailova, S., & Zhuang, V. (2023). Chinese multinationals’ internationalization strategies: New realities, new pathways. California Management Review, 66(1), 96-123.
[1] Please direct your questions to the managing guest editor.
