Cycles of de-internationalization and re-internationalization: Towards an integrative framework

Internationalization is a complex process that is neither always forward moving nor monotonic. Firms often reduce the depth and scope of their international footprint or even completely withdraw from foreign markets. Although scholars have recognized that there are cycles of de-internationalization and re-internationalization (and increasingly pressures for back-shoring), the antecedents and motivators for these internationalization pathways have received limited attention. In this study, we first review prior explanations as to why firm behaviour exhibits cycles of de-internationalization and re-internationalization. We then formulate an integrative framework and propose a comprehensive agenda for future research aimed at advancing internationalization theory.     

Towards an integrative framework of conflict-handling behaviour: integrating Western and Chinese perspectives

Following in the footsteps of Frances Brew and the late Kwok Leung (1958–2015), we attempt to further integrate the Western dual-concern model of conflict and the Chinese dual-motive model of harmony. Our integrative framework of conflict-handling behaviour is designed to be more comprehensive in its coverage of conflict-handling styles than the integrative model developed by Brew in 2007, and more symmetric in its treatment of the Western and Chinese perspectives than the integrative model jointly developed by Leung and Brew in 2009. In developing our alternative integrative model, we try to take a further step in the process of universalization of an indigenous Chinese theory.     

Consumer brand confusion: A conceptual framework

A definition and theoretical framework for consumer brand confusion are developed. Brand confusion is distinguished from related terms, such as uncertainty, miscomprehension, infringement, and deception. The factors affecting the likelihood of brand confusion are extended beyond stimulus similarity to include individual and situational factors, and propositions regarding the effects of individual and situational factors are developed. The value of a better understanding of consumer brand confusion to managers and policy makers is discussed.     

Towards an integrated debiasing framework for consumer financial decisions: A reflection on debiasing research

Consumers are subject to cognitive biases, which impede the rationality of their financial decisions. This is problematic, given the onus on the individual to make investment and savings decisions. Thus, there is an impetus for research to identify mitigation strategies. This qualitative review surveys the debiasing literature to identify the prevalent debiasing approaches and proposes an integrated model towards debiasing. The identified core debiasing strategies (education and training, decision support systems, information aspects, experience, and financial advice) are organized and integrated into a single model using the ‘Antecedents, Decisions, Outcomes’ format developed by Paul and Benito. We also propose an agenda for future debiasing research.     

An integrative framework for customer switching behavior

Due to increased intensity of competition, retention of customers has become a major concern in many service industries. Although researchers have investigated customer switching intention and its influential factors, the complex structural mechanisms that reduce the likelihood of switching intention in the field of financial services, especially in the banking context, have remained understudied. This paper addresses the role of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, customer trust, and customer perceived value within a new conceptual model for customer switching intention in the banking services. In particular, the paper contributes to examine the potential moderating effect of switching barriers on the relationship between customer loyalty and switching intention as well as the relationship between satisfaction and switching intention of customers in the banking services. Data are collected through a questionnaire survey, and partial least squares-structural equation modeling is used for data analysis. Empirical results confirm the proposed model and hypotheses and show that switching barriers strengthen the impact of both customer loyalty and satisfaction on switching intention. The findings of this research offer a unified view of the structural relationships that contribute to reduced switching intention and provide more in-depth insights into the role of switching barriers in the banking context.     

Consumer reporting: A conceptual framework for the organizational level

In this paper, a conceptual framework for consumer reporting at the organizational level is developed. Consumer reporting is defined as the provision of information by an organization to its consumers with respect to the effects of its activities judged relevant by those consumers. In this context, the term organization covers business firms but also governmental agencies, hospitals, charities, and other non-profit organizations with relations to their consumers/clients.The concept of consumer satisfaction is regarded as the core element of consumer reporting. Several issues with respect to consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction as well as their measurement are discussed. It is concluded that perceptual indicators of consumer satisfaction should constitute the core of consumer reporting in establishing the consumer profile of the organization. However, additional information could be provided too, for instance situational indicators of consumer satisfaction or information about consumer dissatisfaction. All of this information should be geared towards the goal of accounting for the resulting organizational strategy and policies towards the consumers. Several practical examples are given to illustrate the items about which information can be provided and the fact that consumer reporting can be realized in practice.

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Berichterstattung von Organisationen für Verbraucher: ein konzeptioneller Rahmen

Zusammenfassung Eine solche Berichterstattung wird im vorliegenden Beitrag definiert als Informationen einer Organisation für ihre Konsumenten über diejenigen Wirkungen ihrer Aktivitäten, die von diesen Konsumenten für wichtig gehalten werden. Der Begriff Organisation steht hier nicht nur für kommerzielle Firmen, sondern auch für Behörden, Krankenhäuser, Stiftungen und andere nicht gewinnorientierte Organisationen mit ihren jeweiligen Beziehungen zu ihren Verbrauchern bzw. Klienten.Das Konzept der Verbraucherzufriedenheit steht dabei im Mittelpunkt. Deshalb werden zunächst dieses Konzept und die Methoden zur Messung von Verbraucherzufriedenheit diskutiert. Ergebnis ist dabei, daß das Konsumentenprofil einer Organisation durch perzipierte Indikatoren ermöglicht wird. Figur 1 gibt hierfür ein Beispiel. Das Konsumentenprofiel kann durch situative Indikatoren und durch Informationen über Verbraucherzufriedenheit ergänzt werden (Figur 2). Alle diese Informationen sollten zum Ziel haben, die Unternehmenspolitik gegenüber den Konsumenten zu verantworten.Zum Schluß werden einige praktische Beispiele behandelt, die einerseits zeigen, welche Informationen solche Berichterstattungen enthalten können, und andererseits, daß es in der Praxis bereits Ansätze in dieser Richtung gibt.

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Hans Kasper is Associate Professor of Marketing and Hein Schreuder Professor of Business Economics at the Faculty of Economics, University of Limburg, P.O. Box 616, NL-6200 MD Masstricht, The Netherlands.     

Consumer decision making within a goal-driven framework

Research and theory in consumer decision making has been dominated by a perspective that assumes that a consumer knows what product category he or she needs. This limited view has resulted in equating consumer decisions with brand choice. The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for considering a wider range of consumer decision-making processes by linking them to different goals that consumers might pursue. A hierarchical goal structure consisting of four levels of goals; abstract principles or values, action programs, more concrete product acquisition, and brand acquisition goals, is proposed as the theoretical construct which ties together a wide range of consumer decision making phenomena. An experiment in which consumers think out loud in contemplating two levels of more familiar or unfamiliar goals reveals that their thoughts are constrained by the proposed goal hierarchy. The goals provide a useful framework for understanding decision-making processes involving product level consideration, set generation, and the evaluation of those self-generated sets. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Consumer problems in the public sector: A framework for research

Studies of consumer problems to date have largely focused on the private marketplace. The purpose of this paper is to delineate the nature of problems faced by consumers of government services, and to set forth a research agenda for studying these problems. Public sector consumer problems are attributed to two basic sources of governmental ineffectiveness: organizational failure which stems from internal bureaucratic factors, and political failure which stems from conflicts in the body politic. These sources are seen to lead to four categories of consumer problems: disappointing goods, problems of awareness and coping, consumer preference problems, and problems of access and location.

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Zusammenfassung Die wissenschaftliche Beschäftigung mit Verbraucherproblemen ist bislang auf die private Versorgung über den Markt konzentriert. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt erstmals systematisch die Frage nach den Problemen, die aus einem Ungenügen der öffentlichen Versorgung von Verbrauchern mit Waren und Dienstleistungen erwachsen. Er lokalisiert die Ursachen für solche Probleme einerseits in der Bürokratie, andererseits in der politischen Willensbildung. Auf diese Faktoren werden vier Kategorien von Verbraucherproblemen zurückgeführt: Probleme der mangelhaften Gestaltung öffentlicher Leistungen, Probleme der begrenzten Zugänglichkeit angebotener Leistungen aus Gründen reduzierter Wahrnehmungs- oder Bewältigungsmöglichkeit, Probleme die mit differierenden Präferenzen unterschiedlicher Verbrauchergruppen zusammenhängen, und schließlich Probleme der räumlichen Versorgung mit öffentlichen Leistungen. Abschließend werden für jede der vier Problemgruppen die den jeweils zugrundeliegenden Ursachen gemäßen Lösungsmöglichkeiten abgeleitet.

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Dennis R. Young is an Associate Professor at the W. Averell Harriman College for Urban and Policy Sciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794, U.S.A. He wishes to thank Richard Zeckhauser, Charles Perrow, and Ed Ames for their particular comments and suggestions. The author is also grateful to his research assistant, Neil Katz, for diligent search of both the academic and popular literature.     

Internationalisation and risk: Literature review,integrative framework and research agenda

Based on an in-depth review of 134 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1971 and 2018, this article presents a systematic accumulation and analysis of existing research on internationalisation and risk. The review shows that although risk has received great attention in the internationalisation literature in recent years, important gaps remain in relation to the risk implications of internationalisation, the impact of risk on internationalisation strategy, and the strategies used to assess and manage risk in the internationalisation process. Our study contributes to existing knowledge by synthesising and organising existing research into an overarching integrative framework that provides a comprehensive understanding of the risk phenomenon, including the interrelations between risk and internationalisation and the sources and consequences of risk. In addition, the review contributes by identifying important gaps in the literature and suggesting directions for future research to improve our understanding of the complex interrelationship between risk and internationalisation.     

Assessing and managing the university technology business incubator: An integrative framework

This article provides a conceptual framework for assessing and managing the university technology business incubator (UTBI) as a tool for new venture creation. It is widely believed that UTBIs contribute to the nurturing of new technology-based firms (NTBFs). However, they have escaped systematic review in the United States due to a lack of historical data. To fill this gap, a new UTBI performance assessment framework is proposed, which is drawn from a combined survey of the existing body of knowledge in the areas of business incubation, the university's involvement in technology and business development support, and the commonly accepted approaches to organizational assessment that provide the necessary building blocks for the integrative framework. The proposed model is comprised of three performance dimensions: (1) program sustainability and growth; (2) tenant firm's survival and growth; and (3) contributions to the sponsoring university's mission. Further, the scope and effectiveness of the facility management policies, and the provision of services are assessed. The application of this framework is illustrated using four representative UTBI cases selected from a field of 30 five-year or older U.S.-based facilities and their 29 tenant firms out of the 84 firms contacted for the survey (35%). A comparative review of these four cases reveals that the framework provides a flexible methodology to assess the performance of UTBIs. The article concludes with a set of elements identified for evaluating UTBIs under the aforementioned three performance dimensions providing measurement indicators. This framework seeks to provide conceptual clarity for those responsible for assessing UTBI performance, directing their operations, or endeavoring to create them.     

Exploring location‐specific assets and exploiting firm‐specific advantages: an integrative perspective on foreign ownership decisions

Exploiting existing assets and exploring new assets are two major and often concurrent forces driving firms to invest abroad. Moving beyond prior attention to their separate effects on foreign ownership decisions, this study examines their integrative impact. I develop hypotheses aligning a set of firm‐specific advantages with asset‐seeking motives, and test these relationships on a sample of Taiwanese overseas investments. I find that wholly‐owned subsidiaries are preferred to joint ventures when multinationals are able to tap into host innovatory dynamism by employing extant technological capabilities and to access local natural resources by leveraging corporate scales. Nonetheless, multinationals face difficulties in deploying marketing knowledge in different contexts and thus are more likely to choose joint ventures for an aggressive foreign market entry. Copyright © 2007 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consumer value conflicts surrounding ethical food purchase decisions: a focus on animal welfare

Ethical attitudes in relation to meat purchases were studied among urban and rural consumers in Scotland. All subjects perceived at least some ethical issues in relation to animal production systems, in particular, systems keeping animals in close confinement. Welfare‐friendly production systems were viewed as adding value to a food, but this value was not necessarily realizable to producers if purchases occurred only when foods were on special offer. Statements made by individuals were often contradictory, revealing ambivalence, unresolved value conflicts and a general lack of involvement in the nature of meat production. A number of barriers to the establishment of stable attitudes and behaviours in relation to the ethical treatment of food animals were also identified. A key finding of the study is that individuals can hold two views on animal welfare. On the one hand, they may think as citizens influencing societal standards, and on the other, as consumers at the point of purchase. As citizens, they support the notion of animals being entitled to a good life; as meat consumers, they avoid the cognitive connection with the live animal. This paper explores both the citizen–consumer relationship and purchase strategies used by consumers to resolve value conflicts. Lessons for public and commercial policy are highlighted in the context of the Curry Report (2002) which advocates more effective market segmentation where markets are finely attuned to their customers, with the development of a number of assurance schemes discussed in the article.     

An integrative research framework for the online social network service

Drawn upon appreciative inquiry (AI) and actor-network theory (ANT), this study proposes a new qualitative research framework for the study of the online social network (OSN) service. Integrating and applying AI and ANT will inspire OSN participants’ imagination and creation to a greater extent and thus the maximum benefits of OSN can be explored, and as a consequence OSN itself can further be improved in the service business context. This study gives a detailed discussion on the proposed framework in terms of its advantages and disadvantages, the suggestions for overcoming the disadvantages and the future research agenda in the area of OSN.     

Consumer recycling goals and their effect on decisions to recycle: A means-end chain analysis

Means-end chain theory and the laddering methodology were used to derive the goals relevant to consumers for recycling, as well as the interrelations among goals. The importance of the goals and their hierarchical structure were also tested, and their effects on attitudes, subjective norms, and past behavior determined. Data were collected on 133 consumers in a moderate-size metropolitan community by use of a random digit dialing procedure. The overall framework emerging from the analyses is one where concrete goals lead to more abstract goals, and attitudes and past behavior intervene between goals and intentions in decision making. Nineteen total goals were uncovered, with 15 ultimately found to be salient. The topmost goals in the hierarchy were “promote health/avoid sickness,” “achieve life-sustaining ends,” and “provide for future generations.” The key lower-order goals—“avoid filling up landfills,” “reduce waste,” “reuse materials,” and “save the environment”—work through such intermediary goals as “reduce messy trash,” “curtail pollution,” “save resources,” and “save the planet.” Two important terminal goals that were also at intermediate levels in the hierarchy were “save/earn money” and “it's the right thing to do.” © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Moral standards in managerial decisions: In search of a comprehensive theoretical framework

Although ethical decision‐making theory has evolved over the years, within the field of management, research still revolves around James Rest’s (1986) four‐step framework, dominated by a positivist epistemology and a quantitative methodology. Given that currently there is a call for a theoretical, epistemological, and methodological renovation for the enlargement and enrichment of knowledge about how decisions are morally made in organizations, this paper has a double aim. First, by showing the models’ main flaws and limitations, it critically assesses the prominent theoretical models of Rest, Trevino, and Jones. Then, for decision making in organizations, the paper aims to posit a fresh moral theory that addresses the phenomenon from a comprehensive epistemological perspective. To do so, it steps back from those prominent models in order to review John Dewey’s “theory of moral life.” At the core of the proposed comprehensive theoretical framework are Dewey’s concepts of a “moral standard” and “valuation.” Finally, the paper shows how the Dewey‐based framework can both overcome the flaws and limitations that are identified in those prominent models and can enrich empirical research, therefore contributing to developing as a whole the ethical decision‐making field.     

Global talent management: Literature review,integrative framework,and suggestions for further research

The environment for most organizations today is global, complex, dynamic, highly competitive, and extremely volatile, and is likely to remain so for years to come. In addition to these external conditions, most organizations are also facing several global challenges including those related to: talent flow; the managing of two generations of employees, viz., older or mature workers and younger workers; and a shortage of needed competencies. One major result of these challenges for organizations is that they have to be global and that they have to be systematic in managing their human capital if they wish to have any hope of gaining and sustaining a competitive advantage in the years ahead. Many human resource practitioners and consultants (HR professionals) are now recognizing this, especially those that operate globally, the multinational enterprises. Academics are also showing a strong interest as evidenced by their work in the new area referred to as “global talent management”. In this article we review that academic work and attempt to organize that literature by creating an integrative framework for understanding and advancing further research in global talent management. To guide this research our framework highlights several selected challenges in global talent management, and several drivers of those challenges. It also highlights the potential role of IHRM activities in addressing those selected challenges. A discussion of possible criteria of global talent management effectiveness completes the framework. Hopefully this integrative framework may guide further academic research on global talent management and might also inform the work of HR professionals.     

A co-evolution perspective of EMNE internationalization and institutions: An integrative framework of 5Cs

While significant progress has been made on the contextual role of institutions, scholarly research on the dynamic process of emerging economy multinational enterprises’ (EMNEs) international activities interacting with home country and host country institutions still seems to be in its infancy. Therefore, in order to move the current academic debate forward, we examine the intersection between the internationalization of EMNEs and their institutional environments by undertaking a critical review of the existing literature, given that institutional forces not only shape organizational behavior but also affect EMNEs’ internationalization strategies and organizational outcomes. We propose an integrative framework of 5Cs (context, capability, change, concomitance and configuration) underlying the co-evolution of EMNEs’ internationalization and institutions, and position all the papers included in this Special Issue within this framework in order to point towards a number of directions for future scholarship.     

Consumer knowledge and its consequences: an international comparison

By far the theories of consumer knowledge are mainly estimated in the western countries. It is important and necessary to assess theory generalizability and model equivalence across different culture contexts. This paper intends to gain a preliminary understanding of the relationship between two consumer knowledge components and four product‐related task performances, with a focus on the influences of two psycho‐linguistic differences in cognition. Based on the results of our empirically multi‐group comparison of Chinese and French wine consumers, we find that consumer knowledge is a multidimensional construct in both cultural contexts. It appears that psycho‐linguistic differences largely affect the consumption task performance. Consequently different consumer knowledge components play different roles in consumption tasks and lead wine consumers to employ dissimilar information processing strategies in various cultural contexts.     

消费是一种态度——航空品牌消费者访谈

消费除了最基本的金钱支撑,剩下的便是消费者的态度了。有人喜欢自驾,有人留恋铁轨两边的风景,有人追求速度,但更多的时候喜欢与不喜欢,选择与不选择并不那么泾渭分明。有时是长久的习惯。有时是灵光一现,消费更多是一种态度。