Explore the vast range of titles available.

In this article, we make the case for theoretically/logically derived explanatory typologies and their constituent ideal types, arguing that they can provide us with the basis to further understand dynamic and complex contemporary phenomena. We contrast this approach with dominant analytical strategies in international-business research. We show that the greater use of explanatory typologies and their associated ideal types in international-business research facilitates comparisons of similar cases; illuminates key, but relatively under-researched aspects of phenomenon; promotes theory building; and readily supports configurational analyses. By doing this, explanatory typologies can underpin rigorous analyses, and enhance the relevance of research findings on causally complex contemporary phenomena at different analytical levels.

The globalization of state-owned multinational companies (SOMNCs) has become an important phenomenon in international business (IB), yet it has received scant attention in the literature. We explain how the analysis of SOMNCs can help advance the literature by extending our understanding of state-owned firms (SOEs) and multinational companies (MNCs) in at least two ways. First, we cross-fertilize the IB and SOEs literatures in their analysis of foreign investment behavior and introduce two arguments: the extraterritoriality argument, which helps explain how the MNC dimension of SOMNCs extends the SOE literature, and the non-business internationalization argument, which helps explain how the SOE dimension of SOMNCs extends the MNC literature. Second, we analyze how the study of SOMNCs can help develop new insights of theories of firm behavior. In this respect, we introduce five arguments: the triple agency conflict argument in agency theory; the owner risk argument in transaction costs economics; the advantage and disadvantage of ownership argument in the resource-based view (RBV); the power escape argument in resource dependence theory; and the illegitimate ownership argument in neo-institutional theory. After our analysis, we introduce the papers in the special issue that, collectively, reflect diverse and sophisticated research interest in the topic of SOMNCs.

This Counterpoint investigates the continued relevance of the 30-year-old Kogut and Singh (KS) index of cultural distance. KS was a seminal contribution, highlighting the relevance of cultural differences in IB. However, since then, simplistic replications of the original arguments and index have prevented us from progressing towards a better understanding of how cross-national differences matter. We discuss the mechanisms underlying the construct and how they relate to the algorithm, data, and its critiques. We call for more theoretically informed approaches, highlighting the underlying mechanisms, and specifying which data and algorithms best capture those mechanisms in each research context.

This paper develops a dynamic capabilities-based theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE). It first reviews scholarship on the MNE, with a focus on what has come to be known as \"internalization\" theory. One prong of this theory develops contractual/transaction cost-informed governance perspectives; and another develops technology transfer and capabilities perspectives. In this paper, it is suggested that the latter has been somewhat neglected. However, if fully integrated as part of a more complete approach, it can buttress transaction cost/governance issues and expand the range of phenomena that can be explained. In this more integrated framework, dynamic capabilities coupled with good strategy are seen as necessary to sustain superior enterprise performance, especially in fast-moving global environments.Entrepreneurial management and transformational leadership are incorporated into a capabilities theory of the MNE. The framework is then used to explain how strategy and dynamic capabilities together determine firm-level sustained competitive advantage in global environments. It is suggested that this framework complements contract-based perspectives on the MNE and can help integrate international management and international business perspectives.

Global procurement of services has been receiving an increasing amount of managerial attention in recent years. Service firms seem to have begun sourcing part of their service activities from abroad in much the same way as manufacturing firms have sourced components and finished goods in the past 30 years. However, little is known about the nature of service sourcing strategy. In this study, we employ a modified transaction-cost analysis to examine empirically the locational (domestic vs. global sourcing) and the ownership (internal vs. external sourcing) aspects of service sourcing strategy. In addition, performance implications on both the locational and ownership aspects of service sourcing are investigated. The results show that, similar to components and finished goods procurement, supplementary services are sourced globally, either internally or externally. Furthermore, the relationship between asset specificity and internal sourcing of supplementary services is moderated by the level of inseparability and transaction frequency. Finally, internal sourcing and foreign sourcing of supplementary services are negatively related to a service's market performance.

Brouthers, Chen, Sali and Shaheer argue that recent increases in economic integration coupled with technological advances, such as digitization, have led to the use of new foreign market entry modes which they say have not been sufficiently acknowledged nor satisfactorily explained by an extant literature dominated by transaction cost theory (TCT). To make sense of these new entry modes, they introduce a framework based on the exploitation–exploration distinction and on embeddedness. I first outline current thinking on the TCT theory of foreign entry modes and then review Brouthers et al.’s four novel entry modes, identifying what is genuinely new about them, and what is similar to what we already know. I conclude that these four modes constitute changes in kind rather than substance, and show that they have already been satisfactorily explained using TCT. In contrast, Brouthers et al.’s exploitation–exploration–embeddedness framework is unconvincing, because (a) exploration is not an appropriate term to describe the motivation of most resource and strategic asset acquisition foreign direct investment; (b) there is considerable variation in embeddedness within some of their four novel entry modes; and (c) the availability of intermediaries breaks the hypothesized one-to-one correspondence between need for embeddedness and entry mode.

Drawing on agency theory and transaction cost analysis, this study investigates the impact of refranchising and buybacks of downstream retail units by franchising firms on shareholder value (i.e., stock returns). It further evaluates the contingency role of firm and industry factors in shaping this impact. An event study analysis over the years 2001–2020 confirms that both refranchising and buybacks positively affect stock returns. However, notable impact differences emerge between the two types of strategic decisions. For refranchising, firms with lower royalty rates, smaller returns-on-assets (ROA), and higher trade credit provided generate higher stock returns. Whereas, for buybacks, firms with higher royalty rates derive more value in stock markets. Analysis further shows that investors judge refranchising (buybacks) less (more) favorably in munificent industries, but industry dynamism has no effect on the stock returns generated from these moves. Together, the study offers important implications for franchising theory and retail practice in marketing.

Rather than searching for a universal optimal level of multinationality for all firms, we argue that firm-specific attributes should result in firm-specific optimal levels of multinationality. Specifically, we draw upon transaction cost and internalization theory to argue that there will be different optimal levels of multinationality for individual firms, and if firms internalize foreign operations to an extent less than or greater than their individual optimal levels, transaction costs will increase and performance will decrease. To test this idea, we use transaction cost models in the context of large US law firms during the time period from 1986 through 2008 to estimate firm-specific optimal multinationality. Next, we test relationships between alignment with, or deviations from, firm-specific optimal levels of multinationality and performance (MA-P). Consistent with the MA-P hypothesis, insufficient and excessive levels of multinationality are both negatively related to financial performance. In addition, excessive multinationality is positively associated with downside performance risk. One key implication is that an MA-P approach may offer greater theoretical validity and clarity than traditional multinationality and performance (M-P) approaches.

Potential blockchain applications in logistics and transport (LSCM) have gained increasing attention within both academia and industry. However, as a field in its infancy, blockchain research often lacks theoretical foundations, and it is not clear which and to what extent organizational theories are used to investigate blockchain technology in the field of LSCM. In response, based upon a systematic literature review, this paper: (a) identifies the most relevant organizational theories used in blockchain literature in the context of LSCM; and (b) examines the content of the identified organizational theories to formulate relevant research questions for investigating blockchain technology in LSCM. Our results show that blockchain literature in LSCM is based around six organizational theories, namely: agency theory, information theory, institutional theory, network theory, the resource-based view and transaction cost analysis. We also present how these theories can be used to examine specific blockchain problems by identifying blockchain-specific research questions that are worthy of investigation.

This study proposes an integrated framework explaining loyalty responses in high-involvement, high-service luxury product markets. The model is rooted in the traditional (attribute satisfaction)-(overall satisfaction)-(loyalty) chain but explicitly incorporates facility versus interactive service quality, trust, specific asset investment (SAI), and product-market expertise. The authors focus on disentangling the direct versus indirect effects of model constructs on attitudinal versus behavioral loyalty responses. The results support the traditional chain but also show loyalty can be increased by building a trustworthy image and creating exchange-specific assets. The authors found that overall satisfaction is the precursor both to loyalty and to building SAI. Finally, consumers have different costs in reducing adverse selection problems with information, and thus the negative effect of product-market expertise on behavioral loyalty needs to be controlled if the direct versus indirect effects of model constructs on loyalty are to be disentangled. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]