The online–offline balance: internationalization for Swedish online service providers

Online service providers (OSPs) are becoming increasingly important in the global economy and are undertaking internationalization at a remarkable speed. Since they depend on digital delivery over the internet, OSPs are portrayed as footloose in their geographical expansion and are often described as “born global.” However, on the basis of three case studies, the paper reveals the importance of the home market as a springboard, and of regional expansion in the early phase of internationalization. The paper emphasizes the balance in the internationalization process between an online and an offline presence in the new international market. The time gap between online and offline presence, the online-to-offline interval, seems to be a critical factor in the internationalization process. The speed of the internet industry and the technically complex nature of online services could explain why the case firms chose controlled modes of entry. The case firms thus skip sequential steps, following a pattern that is in contrast to the Uppsala model. Overall, the paper suggests that finding the right balance between the online and the offline presence is a challenge in the internationalization of these particular Swedish OSP firms.     

The internationalization of small firms: The relationship between the global mindset and firms’ internationalization behavior

Some firms in internationally oriented industries are internationalized while other comparable firms in the same sector or industry do not. Observing this difference in strategic behavior among small firms led us to consider how differences in CEOs’ attitudes, international orientation, and mindset might explain it. Therefore, this study adopts a cognitive perspective on management to explore the formation of the global mindset and the relationship between the global mindset of small-firm decision makers and their firms’ internationalization behavior. A theory-based conceptual model and measurement instrument are developed and—using structural equation modeling—the model is estimated based on empirical data from cross-sectional samples of small Norwegian and Portuguese firms. The study finds: (1) a strong causal relationship between the global mindset and firms’ internationalization behavior; (2) the combination of the findings and substantive theory indicates that the main driver of firms’ internationalization operates through the global mindset. This study also covers the factors that strongly influence the formation of a global mindset, especially the decision makers’ work experience and personal characteristics in terms of propensity to interdisciplinary collaboration, cognitive flexibility, and networking capability. Based on these findings, suggestions are made for policies that can foster the internationalization of small firms.     

An empirical study on the timing of big retailers’ initial internationalization: Influence of the target market and entry-mode choice

This paper examines the timing of big retailers’ initial internationalization and proposes a theoretical framework. Then, the framework is tested with the proportional hazard model and data of European and U.S. big retailers. Empirical results show that retailers’ entry timing is jointly influenced by the economic conditions of both the home market and target foreign markets, cultural and geographical distance, and the entry mode. Based on these findings, this article offers suggestions to China’s big retailers whose initial internationalization has just started.     

Antecedents and outcomes of digital platform risk for international new ventures’ internationalization

With the growing trend of using digital platforms for internationalization, the management of digital platform risks in international markets has become a critical issue. However, academic research in this area is sparse. This study develops and tests a theoretical framework of the drivers and outcomes of digital platform risk for international new ventures (INVs). Specifically, drawing on transaction cost theory, we identify sets of antecedents of digital platform risk including product specificity, foreign market uncertainty, foreign market competition, and home market institutional voids. We examine the effect of digital platform risk on the internationalization scope of INVs. Based on a unique sample of Chinese INVs, our empirical findings indicate that digital platform risk tends to reduce INVs’ internationalization scope. However, the negative effect is mitigated by INVs’ entrepreneurial orientation. Our proposed drivers of digital platform risk are supported. The paper ultimately discusses the theoretical and managerial implications.     

The myth of big data: Chinese advertising practitioners’ perspective

A qualitative study was conducted to explore Chinese advertising practitioners’ perceptions and interpretations of big data in the Chinese market. Twenty-two in-depth interviews were conducted to collect the data. Four overarching themes emerged regarding the interviewees’ perception of the Chinese advertising market, the definition of big data, the application of big data and the future development of big data. Based on the themes, a theoretical framework was developed to demonstrate big data's application and development in the Chinese market. Theoretical and practical implications were offered.     

CEOs’ regulatory focus and firm internationalization: The moderating effects of CEO overconfidence,narcissism and career horizon

While the international business literature has mainly focused on the firm- or industry-level antecedents of internationalization strategies, scholars have recently advocated a greater focus on the microfoundations of firms’ strategic decisions. Building on the regulatory focus theory, this study focuses on how CEO promotion and prevention foci impact firm internationalization. Looking into dispositional and situational attributions, this study also theorizes how these factors moderate the relationship between a CEO’s psychological motivations and firm internationalization. Using data from publicly traded US firms listed in the Fortune 500, the findings of this study show that a CEO’s promotion focus is positively associated with the extent of a firm’s internationalization, whereas a CEO’s strong prevention focus limits the extent of a firm’s internationalization. The findings also reveal that the relationship between a CEO’s regulatory focus and the extent of a firm’s internationalization is moderated by a CEO’s overconfidence, narcissism, and career horizon. These findings have important research and managerial implications for firms engaged in international business.     

The internationalization process model: A proposed view of firms’ regular incremental and irregular non-incremental behaviour

Commitment in the internationalization process model (IP-model) is challenged by the search for knowledge through experience and interactions. Critics opposing this logic even forced the founder of the model to call for the need for integration of other elements in order to understand irregular behaviour like rapid internationalization, loss of commitment and market exit. Aligned with this call, the paper raises the question of how the IP-model can be applied to analyse both regular/incremental and irregular/non-incremental behaviour of the firms. To reach an answer, the paper proposes a theoretical view by adding expectation and unknown uncertainty to the IP-model and examines this in a case study. The contribution is a further development of the IP-model by merging these two concepts that provide tools for understanding irregular behaviour. The paper analyses a Swedish firm's internationalization in different foreign markets for the period of 1995–2009. Conclusions support the understanding of how the model can describe regular incremental and irregular non-incremental commitment behaviour.     

The ‘big data’ myth and the pitfalls of ‘thick data’ opportunism: on the need for a different ontology of markets and consumption

ABSTRACT

The twin pillars of big data and data analytics are rapidly transforming the institutional conditions that situate marketing research. In response, many proponents of culturalist paradigms have adopted the vernacular of ‘thick data’ to defend their vulnerable position in the marketing research field. However, thick data proselytising fails to challenge several outmoded ontological assumptions that are manifest in the big data myth and it situates socio-cultural modes of marketing thought in a counterproductive technocratic discourse. In building this argument, I first discuss the relevant historical continuities and discontinuities that have shaped the big data myth and the thick data opportunism. Next, I argue that culturally oriented marketing researchers should promote a different ontological frame— the analytics of marketplace assemblages—to address how big data, or more accurately its socio-technical infrastructure, produces new kinds of emergent and hybrid market structures, modes of social aggregation, consumption practices, and prosumptive capacities.     

Exploring the link between internationalization of top management and accounting quality: The CFO’s international experience matters

This study examines whether and how top management internationalization is associated with accounting quality. We combine upper echelons perspectives, agency theory, human capital theory and accounting research, and demonstrate that top management internationalization mitigates the level of managerial discretion in financial reporting. By decomposing the top management team, our analysis reveals that higher levels of accounting quality are associated with the internationalization of the CFO, not the internationalization of the CEO. In particular, we find that CFO’s international education and international work experience are important factors in higher accounting quality.     

Institutional background as a determinant of boards of directors’ internal and external roles: The case of Russia

This conceptual paper analyses why some companies in Russia give strong weight to the external roles and some to the internal roles of the boards of directors. The institutional background of Russian corporate governance is reviewed, concentrating on the contextual variables of time of founding, ownership type and governmental dependency, which are seen to explain the varying weight given to internal and external board roles. After arriving at several propositions, the paper finishes with suggestions for an empirical evaluation of the proposed relationships and addresses several managerial implications that stem from the discussion. This paper addresses the under-researched field of contingencies in board roles, focusing on Russia and emphasizing the importance of the prevailing institutional framework in transition economies.     

Small Italian wine producers’ internationalization: The role of network relationships in the emergence of late starters

This paper aims to examine how network relationships influenced the internationalization of small Italian wine producers characterized as late starters. It is based on four cases. It shows that foreign tourists helped these firms to expand internationally: they identified business opportunities, suggested firms to contact importers, contacted importers themselves to get access to the same wine in their home country or provided foreign market knowledge. Thus, small wine producers should pay more attention to attracting tourists and creating network relationship with them. Several other network relationships ? for instance, with friends and relatives, Italian expatriates and other business partners ? also advanced the case firms’ internationalization. Moreover, they were affected by lack of time and resources, language barriers and other factors. Thus, all these aspects also need managers’ attention. Furthermore, they should take a more strategic approach towards internationalization and understand that not all internationalization attempts succeed or result in continuous orders.     

Network interlocks: The connected emergence of chambers of commerce and provincial banks in the British Isles, 1767–1823

Interlocking between the earliest 20 chambers of commerce in the British Isles and the partners of local provincial banks relied on similar needs for networks and trust. Two-thirds of banks and 40% of bank partners were members of their local chambers. Bank partners formed 8% of chamber memberships, and 39% held offices, indicating strong interlocking directorates. The interlocks provided a number of potential mutual benefits, influencing chamber services and lobby activity, and offering mutual signalling of brand and status. Interlocks with chartered banks were often also strong through managerial staff and some bank branches. Despite the general pattern, there were important exceptions (chiefly Manchester, Newcastle and Cork) where banks were less connected with early chambers.     

Multiple interpretations of “national culture” and the implications for International business: The case of Taiwan

This paper considers the implications for international business of cases whereby a country may have two, or more, conflicting interpretations of its “national culture”. A case study of the different ways in which Taiwanese self-initiated expatriates of the benshengren and waishengren social categories use their status as “Taiwanese” to do business in London suggests that the varying interpretations which people of the same national origin and ethnic group have of their “national culture”, as a symbol of identity, affects the social resources they can use. The paper concludes by considering new directions for studying national culture in international business, and for re-evaluating earlier research.     

The ‘layering’ of management in post-war Britain: The case of the Office Management Association

The mid-twentieth century saw the creation of layers of managerial jobs in Britain. The increasing numbers of managers and a persistent degree of social closure at the top of organisational hierarchies led groups of managers to try to define specialist management functions as justification for holding organisational power. The Office Management Association was one such group. It promoted office managers’ expertise in the efficient running of the administrative side ofenterprises as a specialist managerial function worthy of a high place in managerial hierarchies. But specialisation was also fragmentation that would weaken the entire occupational group of all managers.     

European luxury big business and emerging Asian markets, 1960–2010

This article tackles the transformation of the European luxury business since the 1960s, through the examples of the French fashion industry and the Swiss watch business. It argues that emerging Asian markets, that is, Japan between the 1960s and the 1990s and subsequently China since 2000, have played a key role in this process as the major outlets. It examines the strategies adopted to access East Asia markets and how they were affected by the emergence of luxury multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the 1980s. While department stores were a gateway to Japanese market since the 1960s, they gradually lost their bargaining power when French and Swiss MNEs began to internalise distribution and to implement a global brand management strategy. This feature is also a major characteristic of the distribution of luxury goods in China, where MNEs are directly involved.     

Restructuring of the Danish pork industry: The role of mergers and takeovers, 1960–2010

This article examines the origins and effects of the evolution of the Danish pork industry characterised by three main merger waves resulting in 43 realised mergers and takeovers. The findings illuminate – in contrast to the traditional strategically motivated rationale – that the majority of the mergers were realised by cooperatives due to the inability to give the pig farmers competitive yearly refunds vis-à-vis local competitors, to financial difficulties or to the lack of investment capability of one of the merging parties. Despite a high-risky strategy, mergers and takeovers became the preferred consolidation mean due to capital constrains and the ‘close’ ownership structure of the cooperatives. Moreover, the study demonstrates that the outcomes of the M&A activities were generally positive.     

North–South trade liberalization and returns to skill in the south: The case of Mexico

This study examines the effect of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), an instance of North–South trade liberalization, on returns to skill in Mexico. Mexico is abundant in low-skill workers relative to the US and Canada, and so, by the Heckscher–Ohlin–Samuelson trade model, NAFTA ought to have raised the relative earnings of low-skill workers, that is, lowered returns to skill in Mexico. Analysis of Mexican labour micro-data yields the finding that while returns to skill in industries producing tradeables have risen, ceteris paribus, since Mexico embarked upon trade liberalization by joining the GATT in 1986, this rise was less pronounced by 1999 in industries liberalized relatively rapidly by NAFTA, launched in 1994, than in industries liberalized relatively slowly by this phased trade treaty. This is considered evidence of NAFTA holding back rise in returns to skill, since it is plausible such a dampening would have been more marked in industries more rapidly exposed to trade with Mexico's skill abundant northern neighbours. Hence, this study suggests trade with developed nations may lower returns to skill in developing nations.     

New opportunities in social media for ad-restricted alcohol products: The case of ‘Yeni Rakı’

The rapid diffusion and technological evolution experienced in the new format of the Internet, particularly social media, have forced many brands to keep pace with this ongoing process in order to engage with their customers. Social media utilize multiple Internet-based communication platforms, including, but not limited to, blogs and social networking sites. This paper aims to examine how social media can be used to interact with consumers in the case of ad-restricted alcohol products, providing a case study from Turkey. The explored case provides an example of a well-planned, creative campaign that successfully exploits the opportunities provided by interactivity. The analysis of an alcohol product is critical due to the fact that such products face many restrictions, thus calling for a more creative and efficient approach to the design and implementation of social media practices, and their integration into integrated marketing communication (IMC) campaigns. This case will contribute to the articulation of the best ways to shape both business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer dialogue and fruitful applications of this new IMC tool.     

Exclusion of women and organisational characteristics: Swedish mutual health insurance 1901–1910

Abstract

Mutual societies have been recognised for their ability to mitigate information asymmetry. Although successful in reducing sickness claims, the exclusion of women was common. Health insurance societies argued the exclusion was a means to reduce adverse selection and moral hazard since women were regarded as higher risk. In this paper, we explore differences in organisational characteristics between societies that excluded and societies that did not exclude women as members between 1901 to 1910. Based on panel data, the study shows that societies that excluded women were less successful in keeping down sickness claims, in relation to benefits, than gender-mixed societies.     

The role of social networks and institutions in the internationalization of Russian entrepreneurial firms: Do they matter?

Drawing upon network theory and institutional theory, this paper examines the influence of networks on the internationalization of Russian entrepreneurial firms. Our case analysis suggests that within the context of the Russian environment, networks play a much less important role in the internationalization process than it is usually assumed in the literature. For the Russian entrepreneurial firms examined in our study, the most important factor in their internationalization was their engagement in honest business practices that established trust and commitment in their relationships with international business partners. This study underscores the importance of the institutional context of an entrepreneurial firm’s country.