Coronavirus and international business: An entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective

Covid‐19 (Coronavirus) is a health pandemic that has significantly affected the global economy and fundamentally changed society. The impacts of coronavirus are most apparent at the international business level due to the restrictions on travel and mobility of labor. This has necessitated an entrepreneurial outlook for businesses in order to survive in the current market environment. The aim of this article is to discuss the implications of the coronavirus for international business by taking an entrepreneurial ecosystem point of view. This enables a reflection on how the pandemic has impacted various entities of the ecosystem in terms of stakeholder engagement. Suggestions for acting in a more dynamic and innovative manner are provided that highlight the importance of utilizing entrepreneurial ecosystems in times of crises.     

Building service businesses in Africa: Introducing the business builder model

The success of Silicon Valley has served as a driving force for entrepreneurs and investors worldwide. Many have attempted to create their own version in developing markets by setting up Silicon Valley‐style tech incubators. In recent years, Africa has seen an influx of these start‐up incubators, which has resulted in an emergence of major tech hubs in different parts of the continent. These areas have taken on names synonymous with the booming tech industry: Cape Town in South Africa is known as the Silicon Cape, Nairobi in Kenya as the Silicon Savannah, and Lagos, Nigeria as the Silicon Lagoon. Despite the influx and success of some of these incubators, there is also a multitude of examples where success and longevity are rare. The lifespan of these start‐ups are short and they seldom realize any profit. Limited access to capital markets, poor infrastructure, and weak regulatory environment are just a few reasons cited for this. Although there is a multitude of articles and publications that feature success cases and reasons behind propelling success, there are far fewer that focus on failures. As such, with this article we aim to shed light on the various reasons why these businesses fail by analyzing the literature and demonstrating them with real‐world examples of both successes and failures in the market. Using the information analyzed, we then propose a solution for successfully investing in tech startups in the developing world, the business builder model.     

Corporate social responsibility research in international business journals: An author co-citation analysis

This paper aims to describe the development of research on corporate social responsibility in international business (IB) journals and to suggest future research directions. We conducted a bibliometric study of articles published in twelve leading international business journals over three decades in a longer time frame (1996–2015). Five research trends were found in IB journals: business ethics, integration of stakeholder management, the evolution of the CSR concept, the political and social demands of CSR, and the financial implications of CSR. Our results thus have several implications and suggest numerous opportunities for future research.     

国内外创新孵化主流模式和发展趋势研究

企业创业过程中面临着如何穿越"死亡谷"的难题,孵化器作为陪伴与支持创业企业成长的科技服务之一,在其中发挥着重要作用。本文对当前国内外的创新孵化模式进行了系统梳理与回顾,提出了六种当前主要的孵化模式,并基于对每种孵化模式的深入剖析提出了孵化器发展的六种趋势,最后形成了对孵化器如何成功运作的建议与启示。     

Twenty-five years of business systems research and lessons for international business studies

Since 1992, the national business systems (NBS) approach has been increasingly used to analyse not only firm characteristics, structures and strategies within NBS, but also the nature of international business and its interactions with both national and transnational institutions. In reviewing 25 years of NBS literature, we heed calls in IB journals urging researchers to use NBS notions and findings in IB research. Our systematic review of 96 articles analyses the patterns and contributions of NBS literature, revealing four thematic junctures: (1) comparative business systems, (2) firm internationalisation and the management/organisation inside MNCs, (3) the role of internationalisation in the development of organisational capabilities and innovation and (4) the emergence of transnational communities in and across firms and societies. Themes are described in terms of (a) the research questions (RQ) they focus on, (b) how NBS approach investigates the RQ and what are the major findings, (c) how IB frames and approaches the same RQ, (d) how does the NBS approach extend the perspectives of IB and (e) what are the problems faced by NBS in terms of developing further insights into the RQ. Our review contributes to the recent endeavour of IB research to institutionalism, encouraging a productive dialogue between IB and NBS research.     

How international entrepreneurship characteristics influence Internet capabilities for the international business processes of the firm

This research explores the relationship between international entrepreneurship characteristics and the use of Internet capabilities for the international business processes of the firm. It has been suggested, that the accumulation of a firms Internet capability can assist international operations, especially when operating in fast changing dynamic Internet environments. However, international entrepreneurship characteristics which are seen as a precursor to leveraging Internet capabilities are still vague. Given this finding, eight case studies of small and medium sized travel and tourism firms were selected to investigate the influence of international entrepreneurship characteristics, and Internet capabilities for international business processes. Based on the eight in-depth case studies, the results signify that successful international entrepreneurial firms which encompass high levels of international innovativeness and proactiveness behaviour integrate Internet capabilities to a greater degree. Our findings also indicate that the prior international business experience, international risk-taking propensity and international networking characteristics are not necessarily precursors to successful integration of Internet capabilities for international business processes. On the contrary, international business experience and international networks actually lead to a reliance on traditional mechanisms of internationalisation and can dilute the development of Internet capabilities for international business processes.     

International perspectives on the profile of highly talented international business professionals

There is a global demand for talented managers and leaders. To meet this demand, higher education institutions are developing talent programs. However, international perception of talent is diffuse. In this study, our profile of highly talented international business professionals was internationally validated by 172 participants, representing East Asia and Western Europe. Results indicate consensus on three domains: communicating, achieving results, and seeing patterns and interrelationships in a global context. Strikingly, diverse country-specific interpretations of the accompanying behaviors were observed. The findings contribute to the talent literature and offer insights for educational practitioners when developing competence frameworks for talent or professionalization programs.     

A longitudinal meta-analysis of corruption in international business and trade: Bridging the isolated themes

ABSTRACT

This article chronicles the academic debate on corruption in international business and trade. It identifies three themes: contributing factors, consequences, and combating corruption. We found convergence in the literature and that authors tend to remain loyal to their chosen theme. As a result, we found a distressing dearth of research that transcends, integrates, or validates the interrelationships between them. Through our work, we propose the bridging of themes, demonstrating how they interrelate, thereby validating their interdependencies and the broader lens needed through which to observe corruption in international business.     

基于Groupon的中国网络团购运营模式及发展对策研究

中国的网络团购模仿美国Groupon团购模式发展迅速,随之而来也出现很多问题。本文通过对美国Groupon的运营模式和中国网络团购的运营模式比较分析,对目前中国网络团购中存在的主要问题进行分析,并且作出相应的对策研究     

余额宝引发对中国商业模式的思考

随着互联网的时代、移动的时代,每个人身上都带着一个移动终端,这个移动终端看似是一部手机、一部ipad,为现代的商业提供了无数的发展可能,在原来我们想都不敢想的商业机会都如雨后春笋般地涌现出来。在阿里巴巴联合天弘基金通过支付宝开发出一支类似活期基金产品一一“余额宝”之后,在短短的一个月时间内就募集资金超百亿,就连貌似坚不可摧的商业银行帝国似乎也被撼动了,“余额宝”这样看似普通的理财产品怎么能够掀起投资狂潮,它背后的潜在诱因是什么？支付宝的到来对于中国商业模式是怎样的一种冲击？而它给投资者带来的是长期的利益还是更加狭隘的渠道？历史经验告诉我们,繁荣往往伴随着危机暗流涌动,本文通过对几个问题的浅析来讨论余额宝引发对中国商业模式的新思考。     

MNEs and the practice of international business diplomacy

Scholars of international relations and international political economy have long documented international business diplomacy (IBD) as a practice of multinational enterprises (MNEs), although the specific practices involved have not been consistently established in international business scholarship. We apply "practice theory" to position IBD within the realm of MNEs’ global non-market strategy (NMS), arguing that IBD constitutes a set of practices in the implementation of global NMS, and that the most appropriate practices depend upon two key dimensions of the global institutional governance regime faced by the MNEs: the governance level and the degree of rule formality.     

农产品品牌创建主体与经营模式的分析

本文首先分析了农产品品牌创建中涉及到的农业企业、农业行业组织、农业合作组织、农户和政府等相关主体及其在农产品品牌创建中承担的角色。并进一步从产业链的角度,结合农产品品牌创建各主体的功能来探讨农产品品牌化经营的可行模式,并在此基础上给出一定的政策建议。     

The demise of the American hegemony in international business research has been greatly exaggerated

The drivers for the internationalization of business teaching and research were multinational corporations, the Cold War, and the relative price advantage of non-America business schools. Yet, the internationalization largely failed to reflect local contexts. The consequent paucity of original local business thought, international or not, exposes non-American business schools to the raid of American-based massive open online courses which will prune off the mainstay courses at emerging market business schools. Deprived of a substantial share of their fee-paying students, the remaining docents at those schools will be less likely to publish altogether, including in fields that might sustain independent thought. Therefore, American-like international business research is likely to have a longer life, more narrowly focused on English-speaking countries and Europe, with even less of a contribution from emerging markets.     

商业模式创新视角下的现代服务业发展分析研究——以宜信集团为例

在竞争激烈的市场经济时代,商业模式之争已成为企业取胜市场的关键;商业模式创新作为实现可持续竞争优势的最佳途径,也已成为新的竞争焦点和学者研究的热点。本人通过文献回顾来构建自己的理论框架以及阐述商业模式创新理念的内涵,并通过对宜信集团商业模式的案例研究得出相关结论,最后概述我国现代服务业的发展前景。     

Commercialization of eHealth innovations in the market of the UK healthcare sector: A framework for a sustainable business model

Demographic trends with extended life expectancy are placing increasing pressures on the UK state‐funded healthcare budgets. eHealth innovations are expected to facilitate new avenues for cost‐effective and safe methods of care, for enabling elderly people to live independently at their own homes and for assisting governments to cope with the demographic challenges. However, despite heavy investment in these innovations, large‐scale deployment of eHealth continues to face significant obstacles, and lack of sustainable business models (BMs) is widely regarded as part of the greatest barriers. Through various empirical methods that include facilitated workshops, case studies of relevant organizations, and user groups, this paper investigates the reasons the private market of eHealth innovations has proved difficult to establish, and therefore it develops a framework for sustainable BMs that could elimiesnate barriers of eHealth innovation commercialization. Results of the study suggest that to achieve sustainable commercialization, BM frameworks and innovation diffusion characteristics should be considered complements but not substitutes.     

我国典型物流公共信息平台商业模式的比较研究

文章从六个角度对我国四个典型物流公共信息平台的商业模式进行了比较研究,总结了不同类型平台的商业模式。研究表明,平台类型是其选择商业模式的基础,只有那些与平台自身类型相适应的商业模式才能保证平台的可持续发展。最后归纳出平台发展的几点建议,即以中小企业为主、采取灵活的价格撮合机制、确立政府协会企业联合运营模式、完善隐私保护和信用机制、提供差异化的服务以及利用云计算进行流程整合是平台的生存之道。     

Walking the talk about corporate social responsibility communication: An elaboration likelihood model perspective

Large organizations, including listed businesses, financial service providers as well as public services entities are increasingly disclosing information on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues through corporate websites or via social media. Therefore, this research uses valid measures from the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to explore the individuals’ attitudes toward online corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications. The data were gathered from a structured questionnaire among three hundred ninety-two respondents (n = 392). A structural equations modeling partial least squares (SEM-PLS 3) approach was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that the timeliness, relevance and accuracy of information as well as the source expertise were highly significant antecedents that were affecting the research participants’ attitudes toward CSR communications. This contribution implies that there is scope for content curators to publish quality online information on their business activities to improve their trustworthiness and positive credentials among stakeholders.     

Influence of country and company characteristics on international business decisions: A review,conceptual model,and propositions

This research advances four propositions and a conceptual model of country and company characteristics influencing key International Business Decisions (IBDs). The IBDs in this study are country selection and evaluation, entry mode, segmentation-targeting-positioning, and the marketing mix – the first two in the international business domain, and the latter two in the international marketing field. The conceptual model and related four propositions are advanced, based on an extensive literature review and subsequent in-depth review of 169 published research papers on major IBDs and their determinants, namely, country characteristics, including opportunities, risks, and various distances between the host country and home country, and company characteristics, which include international business experience, assets/resources, and expansion/growth strategies. Managerial implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

The increasing internationalization of the international business classroom: Cultural and generational considerations

This article reviews the dynamic demographics of the international business classroom across five Anglo countries: the U.S.A., the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Figures indicate that business education is becoming increasingly international, and that the countries of origin of international business students are changing. Cultural impacts of this increasing internationalization upon international business pedagogy—as well as issues of generational expectations of the classroom experience—are considered, benefits and challenges of the increased cultural diversity in the classroom are discussed, and practical suggestions for instructors teaching in future international business classrooms are detailed.     

Sketchy communication: An experiential exercise for learning about communication in business

To be an effective communicator, students need to learn how to select the appropriate means of communication and be aware of potential obstacles. The model of communication process can be an effective framework for students to understand many pitfalls of the communication process. The described activity enables students to experience communication at different levels of richness (e.g., face to face, instant messaging, email) and with varying levels of feedback and noise. After completing the activity, students will understand the importance of precise, rich messages, seeking and providing feedback, and the difficulties that can occur at every step in communication.