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The application of real options theory to international strategy has surged in recent years. However, it is still a relatively new and loosely defined field, and there are several constraints on practical applications of this powerful theory. To move forward this field, the paper first provides a systematic analysis of theoretical and empirical contributions of real options theory to three critical issues in international strategy: (1) valuing multinational networks, (2) assessing market entry modes, and (3) evaluating market entry timing. The paper further suggests that future studies can focus on a refined treatment of uncertainty and the development of a dynamic theory in international strategy. Five testable propositions are developed in these directions.

In this chapter, the authors make the case that preserving and curating knowledge for the future involves more than changing methods and tactics or extending our current applications and technology to support knowledge capital. It means changing the way we think about the future. It means envisioning multiple futures where various elements may be known or unknown – a four-future quadrant. First, the authors explain what it means to think strategically in multiple known and unknown futures. Next, the chapter presents ideas for strategic thinking about future knowledge preservation and curation. Finally, the authors consider using the four futures to develop a flexible and relevant knowledge preservation and curation strategy.

As a company that has continuously achieved business innovation, Apple in the United States has successfully applied strategic knowledge creation to produce a series of products that integrate various digital devices as well as diverse contents and applications, such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, based on a corporate vision of a digital hub concept. At the same time, the redefining of corporate boundaries that expanded Apple’s business in a horizontal direction from the Macintosh PC business to the delivery of music, smartphones, and tablets is also an indication of the evolution of a corporate vision involving Apple’s strategic transformation. This chapter presents the strategic and creative processes that enabled practitioners, including the late Steve Jobs, to demonstrate “strategic innovation capability” by “holistic leadership” at every level of management at Apple and successfully achieve a business ecosystem strategy through “creative collaboration” across diverse boundaries within and outside the company.

The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the theoretical work conducted in the fields of management of small businesses in the UK and control measures taken by them to cope with challenges that emerged due to complexities of the present uncertain environment. Brexit is one such event which brought in drastic changes in the undertaking of business and the management of small enterprises. The study upon which this chapter is based identifies knowledge in terms of economics, political events and human resource management (HRM), considering the impact and consequences of Brexit on small businesses. Much of the content developed will help establish a strong link as to what happened after the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.

A structured work was applied to synthesise the theoretical understanding. A search of the existing literature was done to select the databases and keywords of the primary search. Then, a backward search was implemented to examine the references of the selected papers, and finally, a forward search examined the citations of the selected papers. The selected papers were then classified according to their content. A thorough search of the existing literature was done in Scopus, and Google Scholar using a combination of keywords such as Brexit, UK and EU, consequences and drawbacks of Brexit, and small businesses in the UK.

The findings of this study show that small businesses started opting for newer and innovative technologies to facilitate the generation of more revenues. Aspects of E-commerce, however, turned out to be the foundation of developing industrial organisations, bringing more adequate capabilities to effectively facilitate activities such as strategic planning. Whilst governments frequently fund non-profit organisations, increased concerted support for more able and growth-capable small businesses which make significant economic and social contribution would seem appropriate in the current Brexit change climate.

The small businesses sector will need to undertake a cohesive input to government decision-making since a key pre-requisite will be the maintaining of balance between survival, maintenance of existing business, as well as the availability of semi-skilled and unskilled workers and other vital underpinning resources. Moreover, this underlying study has limitations in terms of practice orientation since it is theoretical and sectional in approach, providing a static picture of the Brexit event and its impacts on small businesses in the UK.

Thus, this chapter offers researchers a broader and more comprehensive view of the impact and consequences of Brexit on UK small businesses. Educators, researchers and practitioners will benefit. Scholars in years to come will retrospectively address whether independence from the EU has nudged or nurtured small business development of appropriate entrepreneurial skills and new technology to enable adaptation to and co-creation of the change which Brexit has triggered.

The purpose of this study was to explore the innovative and proactive practices adopted by subsistence businesses under the COVID-19 health contingency. Evidence of the current situation and the contingency practices that businesses have implemented in dealing with the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was collected through a literature review of secondary information sources: bibliographic and hemerographic, as well as in-depth interviews with five owners of artisanal and agricultural subsistence businesses.

Faced with uncertainty, artisanal and agricultural subsistence businesses have adopted innovative and proactive survival practices. The closure of markets, the absence of tourism, the suspension of non-essential activities, the lack of mobility and transportation, and the closure of access in rural communities are some of the realities these businesses are experiencing. Subsistence businesses in marginalised areas are a long way from accessing information technologies for online sales and home deliveries, which are implemented by most businesses in urban areas. In contrast, they revert to ancestral marketing practices such as bartering and low prices to earn an income for family food. Despite the loss of over 50% of subsistence businesses in urban and semi-urban areas, online sales through social media and websites, socially responsible initiatives, along with government support programmes, have helped others stay in business.

Our study investigates the relationships between risk management systems (RMS), strategy and organizational performance. The existing research has extensively studied the effect of strategy on organizational performance. There is also a growing body of literature suggesting that RMS positively influence the achievement of organizational objectives. However, there are only a few conceptual papers (and no empirical evidence) on the relationship between strategy and RMS. We investigate whether different strategy types (defender, analyzer, prospector, and reactor) induce different levels of RMS development and, hence, affect performance indirectly, as well as directly. We use regression analysis and survey data to test the proposed relationships. Our results confirm the direct effects of strategy type and RMS development on performance. We confirm that prospectors perform better than defenders, analyzers, and reactors across five measures of performance (profitability, sales growth, market share, new product development, and customer satisfaction). We also find that companies with more developed RMS perform better in terms of non-financial performance (measured by new product development). Contrary to the prevailing evidence, we do not find significant results for financial performance. Moreover, our findings show that there is no mediating effect of RMS development in the relationship between strategy type and performance. This implies that RMS and strategy act as independent variables, each individually affecting organizational performance.

This study aimed to know the effect of cross-sectional risk, which comprises business-specific risk and stock market volatility, as a variable for estimating macroeconomic risk in Indonesia. This study observes public companies in Indonesia and Indonesian macroeconomic data from 2004 to 2020. In this study, the author uses term spread as the dependent variable that reflects macroeconomic risk. The cross-sectional risk comprises financial friction (FF), cash flow (CF), debt–service ratio, and stock market volatility as independent variables. By using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model method, this study shows that business-specific and stock market risk can estimate macroeconomic risk, so that it becomes an early signal of economic shock, such as recession or high inflation, in the future. The model in this study also examines the cross-sectional risk relationship with other macroeconomic indicators, such as the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), money supply (M0), and Indonesia’s trade balance (TB).

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are expected to be more creative and innovative to survive in the business competition and to make their businesses environmentally friendly, to develop global supply chain strategies, and to make innovations in products and business processes to become indispensable. This study discusses the effect of green supply chain integration (GSCI) and environmental uncertainty on performance through the moderation of green innovation. Structural equation modeling and maximum likelihood estimation were used to analyze a sample of 130 SMEs in East Java, Indonesia. The result shows that GSCI and environmental uncertainty significantly affect performance, and green innovation significantly moderates the effect. This research found that SME’s performance is influenced by GSCI concept and green innovation application as well as SME’s understanding about recent and future environmental uncertainties; this fits the market demand.

Brexit has caused a visible disruption to the established and accepted web of rules governing European markets. Our study, based on a survey of Polish firms operating in the UK market, aims to identify Polish firms’ perceptions of Brexit and select characteristics of groups of firms exhibiting similar perceptions of uncertainty. The perception of uncertainty itself was measured along two separate dimensions – uncertainty about future arrangements between the EU and the UK and uncertainty about institutional agility in the UK. The results are analyzed using the cluster method. The findings identify three types of firms that we have named as alarmist, the concerned, and the oasis of peace, within which the largest group are companies that view Brexit as a non-significant threat (the oasis of peace), unlike the other two groups (alarmist and the concerned). Those perceived differently are mostly firms having larger size, greater involvement into the British market and longer-term experience in that market.

As part of the mobility of global talent, returnee entrepreneurs from emerging markets with advance technology are particularly challenged by the increasing geopolitical tension. Returnee entrepreneurs have a stronger reliance on the political relationship when establishing successful business at the home countries. Yet this connection with home-country political actors can negatively affect their technology competence obtained from the host countries during geopolitical uncertainty and turbulence. We empirically investigate the challenges that technology-advanced returnee entrepreneurs encountered in the home market from the changes occurred while they were away, as well as the needs to obtain critical resource and gain market entry for adapting the advance technology possessed from aboard. Our aim, nevertheless, is to expand the discussion of the returnee entrepreneurs in the context of current world where unpredictable geopolitical tensions can jeopardize the success of their business. Our study contributes a nuanced understanding of the key factor that driving business success may turn to a trap that constrains returnee entrepreneurship, and accordingly proposes a future research agenda for returnee entrepreneurship and international human mobility in general.