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In an industrial marketing context of manufacturer–distributor collaboration, this law and economics paper aims to contrast two approaches to contracting: conventional and strategic.

Based on relational rent theory, this paper provides an analytical framework for juxtaposing conventional and strategic contracting. A contingency approach is applied to formulate propositions as to when conventional versus strategic contracting is preferable.

The distinction between conventional and strategic contracting has implications as to whether relational governance substitutes or complements formal contracts (the substitution versus complements perspectives). Strategic contracting results in complementarity (rather than substitutability) between formal contracts and relational governance.

This paper argues that a more nuanced view on contract types, such as strategic versus conventional, may reconcile the enduring research controversy between the substitution and complements perspectives.

Today, formal contracts with foreign distributors tend to resemble “prenuptial agreements”. The opportunity for relational rent (e.g. manifested in higher export revenues) grows if conventional contracts are superseded by contracts following strategic contracting principles.

This study is interdisciplinary, not only by its combination of marketing, management and contractual economics but also through its law and economics amalgamation.

A service production system has a structure composed of task execution, agents performing tasks and a resulting service output. The purpose of this paper is to understand how such a service production system changes as a consequence of offshoring.

Drawing on practice theory, the paper investigates how offshoring leads to reconfiguration of the service production system. Through a multiple case methodology, the authors demonstrate how agents and structures interact during reconfiguration.

The paper analyses the reconfiguration of components of a service production system in response to change ignited by offshoring. The authors find recurring effects between structures that enable and constrain agents and agents who shape the structure of the production system.

The paper offers a novel contribution to the service operations management literature by applying practice theory. Moreover, the authors propose a detailed, activity-driven view of service production systems and service offshoring. The authors contribute to practice theory by extending its domain to operations management.

Service production systems have the ability to self-correct any changes inflicted through offshoring of the systems, which helps firms that offshore.

The paper is aimed at service professionals and offshoring managers and proposes a novel presentation of the service production system with a description of how it responds to offshoring. The authors contribute to theory by applying practice theory to the fields of service operations management and offshoring.

The hallmark of today’s global value chains (GVCs), still dominated by multinationals from advanced economies, is a sophisticated international division of labor based on scale economies and prevailing factor endowment differences between countries. However, GVCs led by multinationals from large emerging economies may be configured on the basis of considerations that supplement factor cost efficiencies, namely, those of societal objectives as formulated by political actors in the home country. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of political and socio-economic factors on GVC configuration of multinational firms.

This paper provides an in-depth case study of a leading Chinese car manufacturer, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH) and its value-chain configuration, with a special focus on the acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation.

The authors show how ZGH’s configuration of its GVC, including that of acquired Volvo Car Corporation, takes place in symbiosis with political actors. The advantages and disadvantages of this symbiosis are highlighted.

The study focuses on GVC configuration of one company, ZGH, in one industry, the automotive industry, in one emerging economy. The external validity of the study may therefore be limited. Furthermore, the focus is on the geographical/locational configuration of GVCs and ignores the ownership aspects.

The paper provides novel empirical evidence to better understand GVC configuration of multinational firms from emerging economies.

While mainstream theories in international business and management are foundedeither explicitly or implicitly on studies of manufacturing firms, prior attempts to develop theoryon the internationalization of service firms are sparse and have yet to establish solid andcomprehensive frameworks. The thrust of this study is that value creation logics, a constructoriginally developed by Stabell and Fjeldstad (1998) can assist us in better understanding why and how service firms internationalize. The authors extend this construct and propose that the internationalization of service firms must be based on a thorough understanding of the fundamental nature of these firms.

Theoretical study.

The authors put forward propositions concerning the pace of internationalization and the default foreign operation modes in service firms.

The use of value creation logics can be a useful complement to the conventional approaches to the study of service firms’ internationalization. However, the fact that most firms encompass more than one value creation logic complicates the use of firm databases and industry statistics.

The authors suggest that managers in service firms should consider primarily the nature of the value creation logic(s) in their firms when deciding and designing an internationalization strategy.

The study presents a novel theoretical approach and a set of propositions on service firm internationalization founded on the specific characteristics of the service activities.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a robot vision system which put rings on hooks that are moving freely on a conveyor belt. The hook can show a significant swinging which can be well approximated by a pendulum movement. The problem is of large relevance for many industrial applications and the challenge is to compute a 3D pose that is sufficiently precise to allow for successful placements of the rings.

This requires a fast and precise tracking and a compensation for latencies connected to the processing of visual information as well as the actual robot action.

The authors achieve this through a precise pose estimation in a high‐resolution stereo setup, as well as a modeling of the hook movement as a combination of a translational and a pendulum movement.

The paper shows that under normal conditions close to 100 percent success can be achieved such that this technology now can be transferred into industrial systems.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an optimal model of an integrated quality and safety management system (QSMS).

Keywords related with these systems were identified from international standards and subsequently mined from a selection of peer reviewed articles that discuss and propose varying forms of integrated models for both systems. Cluster analysis was used to establish the degree to which integrated models, as described in the articles were quality dominant vs safety dominant. Word counts were utilized for establishing content and attributes for each category. An optimal integrated model was developed from the final cluster analysis and substantiated by a one-way analysis of variance. Experts from industry were consulted to validate and fine-tune the model.

It was determined that characteristics of an optimal integrated model include the keywords “risk,” “safety,” “incident,” “injury,” “hazards,” as well as “preventive action,” “corrective action,” “rework,” “repair,” and “scrap.” It also combines elements of quality function deployment as well as hazard and operability analysis meshed into a plan-do-check-act type work-flow.

Given the vast array of clustering algorithms available, the clusters that resulted were dependent upon the algorithm deployed and may differ from clusters resulting for divergent algorithms.

The optimized model is a hybrid that consists of a quality management system as the superordinate strategic element with safety management system deployed as the supporting tactical element. The model was implemented as a case study, and resulted in 13 percent labor-hour saving.