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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how resource-constrained, knowledge-intensive firms capitalise on the knowledge from collaboration with big-science centres. It pays particular attention to what kind of knowledge a firm obtains and how it can be efficiently used in exploring and exploiting opportunities in international markets.

The empirical basis for the study is a longitudinal case study of knowledge-intensive Estonian companies that collaborate with the European Space Agency (ESA). A rich data set was collected over three years.

By studying the inward and outward activities of the two case companies collaborating with the ESA, the authors found that the internationalisation process of these firms had unique characteristics. Their international expansion was not driven by increasing market knowledge and reducing risk or uncertainty, but by resource seeking for research and development efforts. It was a cyclical, non-linear process, which was advanced by co-creation, learning and exploitation of the emergent knowledge, leading to an improved network position and identification of further opportunities.

The focus was on knowledge-intensive, resource-constrained firms and their collaboration with big-science centres. The transfer of the proposed framework to another context may not be straightforward. The authors relied on informants from the firms, thus ignoring the view of their partner, the big-science centre. It may be that because of this perspective, the authors did not capture some aspects of the collaboration. A broader range of cases would have provided more powerful support to the findings. Although the cases were sufficient for theory refinement and building a tentative framework, they also call for further cases that would clarify whether these conclusions would be valid for other companies.

Collaboration with big-science centres provides companies with access to diverse types of knowledge. However, its impact on the future success in internationalisation also depends on other factors, such as the firm’s absorptive capacity and technological competence.

Governments invest substantially on the development of big-science centres with the expectation that they would have significant knowledge spillovers on the technology development. A more qualitative approach to impact assessment opens new ideas how to develop their activities and in particular their collaboration with SMEs.

The study reassesses the theory on the internationalisation process of the firm and gives voice to companies which have been marginalised in earlier research.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how dialogue can be used to promote post-acquisition socio-cultural integration. Specifically, it addresses questions regarding when and how companies can utilise dialogue to generate positivity regarding socio-cultural integration.

A single case study approach was adopted owing to its suitability for creating in-depth understanding in the context of socio-cultural integration. Primary data were collected via interviews, an employee satisfaction survey, and participant observation. Secondary data were obtained from the case company’s internal materials, such as strategies, integration workflows, and employee magazines. Analysis methods included descriptive statistics and thematic qualitative analysis.

The findings suggest that dialogue can be used to create positivity regarding socio-cultural integration throughout the stages of unfreezing, moving, and refreezing by actively engaging employees in voicing, listening, respecting, and suspending. It is proposed that cultural conflict during post-acquisition socio-cultural integration can be overcome through the generation of positivity; dialogue enables the collective management of emotions during post-acquisition integration by offering a platform for creating positivity and social cohesion; and due to its collaborative and engaging nature, dialogue provides an especially effective means of communication for overcoming cross-cultural conflict.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to showcase dialogue as a specific means of communication for creating positivity during cross-border socio-cultural integration. This study reached beyond comparative cultural research to offer views on positivity, emotion during socio-cultural integration, and dialogue as means for overcoming cross-cultural conflict.

The purpose of this research is to describe and analyse the change process related to internationalisation among three internationalising Irish SMEs.

The authors employ a retrospective case study. The data were collected with face‐to‐face interviews with the founding CEOs.

The study indicates that the changes in SME internationalisation would be more multidimensional than assumed. The level of change due to internationalisation varies considerably and the different types of change are closely intertwined. However, the cases verified that the framework created is a well‐functioning tool for analysing such changes.

The study is an exploratory one, and the findings are based on three cases. Therefore the results can only be considered tentative. Additionally, the retrospective nature of the research design is challenging, as it puts weight on the respondents' memory and ability to identify change.

Based on the findings SMEs might be able to anticipate future changes in the environment and adapt to them. This could also be reflected in their strategic planning. Additionally, the information can be utilised in organising public support for internationalising SMEs.

In contrast to the mainstream research which focuses on the change process, the study examines the content of change, i.e. what actually changed in the company during internationalisation.

In order to respond to the call for a broader perspective on the internationalization of entrepreneurial firms, this study aims to bring the business model concept to the context of international entrepreneurship, with special emphasis on the notion of value formation and value exchange at company interfaces.

This is a cross‐case study based on qualitative data from business model workshops with key company informants in each case firm.

The findings of the study indicate that, although the business models of firms with comparable positions may appear similar, there are fine‐grained differences both in their activities and in their value formation. In addition, the data collection workshops revealed that firms tend to neglect the inspection of their incentives to their partners, as they concentrate on value formation to end‐customers.

From the managerial point of view, the study shows how the managers of international entrepreneurial firms may describe and analyze their business model, including the whole value chain, systematically from the perspective of value exchange. Firms may gain insights from examining the business models of similar organizations.

Even though the role of the business model has also been discussed in previous studies, it has not been so explicitly pronounced in the domain of international entrepreneurship. The paper contributes to previous business model conceptualizations by adding the notion of value exchange at the company interfaces.

This paper aims to analyse the role of market orientation in the internationalisation of small software firms.

The study combines qualitative case studies with quantitative data from the firms in question.

Market orientation in the internationalisation of knowledge‐intensive small firms consists of three elements: customer orientation, competitor orientation and value‐network coordination. Achieving a successful balance between these elements will considerably smoothen the internationalisation process.

The results of this study suggest that small companies should consider their market‐oriented behaviour in line with their value network. The role of market orientation may also vary according to market‐pull or technology‐push conditions.

This study is among the first empirical contributions to combine the internationalisation and market‐orientation approaches in studying SMEs. It also contributes to achieving a better understanding of the market‐orientation concept from the perspective of small high‐technology firms.

Competition in expert services has forced the service providers to consider a more customer‐oriented strategy. Unfortunately, for many of them customers are a faceless “mass”. In order to facilitate a restructuring of the business, SME managers were asked about their needs for such services. The empirical analysis is based on the responses of 400 Finnish SMEs from various industries. The results indicate that the relationship between a firm's life cycle and the need for expert services should not be overlooked.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the conceptual frameworks and concepts with which the research on internationalization patterns of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) should be conducted.

A comprehensive overview of concepts and a conceptual framework to study internationalization patterns of SMEs is offered.

The complexities of existing definitions and methodologies for researching internationalization patterns are highlighted, and a synthesis of the issues is provided. An integrative model of internationalization pathways, and their antecedents and outcomes is presented.

It is recommended that future research focuses especially on the time dimension of internationalization patterns. Future research can contribute to the literature by adopting a longitudinal approach with larger samples and more detailed cases to capture the dynamics of internationalization.

Practitioners might map their positions, and look for challenges and opportunities with regard to their chosen internationalization pattern. They can also benchmark other firms’ pathways and fine‐tune their own approach to internationalization.

The paper integrates a large body of research in an important research area in international marketing. It also provides guidance on how to conduct future research in the area, and introduces the content of this special issue of the International Marketing Review.

Money laundering continues to emerge as a transnational phenomenon that has harmful consequences for the global economy and society. Despite the theoretical and practical magnitude of money laundering, international business (IB) research on the topic is scarce and scattered across multiple disciplines. Accordingly, this study aims to advance an integrated understanding of money laundering from the IB perspective.

The authors conduct a systematic review of relevant literature and qualitatively analyze the content of 57 studies published on the topic during the past two decades.

The authors identify five streams (5Cs) of research on money laundering in the IB context: the concept, characteristics, causes, consequences and controls. The analysis further indicates six theoretical approaches used in the past research. Notably, normative standards and business and economics theories are dominant in the extant research.

The authors review the literature on an under-researched but practically significant phenomenon and found potential for advancing its theoretical foundations. Hence, the authors propose a 5Cs framework and a future agenda for research and practice by introducing 21 future research questions and two plausible theories to help study the phenomenon more effectively in the future.

In practical terms, the study extends the understanding of the money laundering phenomenon and subsequently helps mitigating the problem of money laundering in the IB environment, along with its harmful economic and societal impacts.

The authors offer an integrative view on money laundering in the IB context. Additionally, the authors emphasize wider discussions on money laundering as a form of mega-corruption.