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Article
Publication date: 6 June 2019

Christoph Dörrenbächer and Jens Gammelgaard

This paper aims to address the relationship between critical and mainstream international business (IB) research and discuss the ways forward for the former.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to address the relationship between critical and mainstream international business (IB) research and discuss the ways forward for the former.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper empirically maps critical IB scholarship by analysing more than 250 academic articles published in critical perspectives on international business (cpoib) from 2005 to 2017. The paper also includes a citation analysis that uncovers how critical IB research is recognized and discussed in mainstream IB studies.

Findings

The extant critical IB research can be broken into five main topical clusters: positioning critical IB research, postcolonial IB studies, effects of international business activities, financialization and the global financial crisis and “Black IBand corporate social responsibility. The citation analysis demonstrates that critical IB research is rarely recognized in mainstream IB academic outlets.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to empirically map critical IB research and to measure its impact on mainstream IB research. Based on these insights, as well as discussions of the more critical voices within mainstream IB studies and the debate over critical performativity in critical management studies, ways of developing critical IB research are examined.

Details

critical perspectives on international business, vol. 15 no. 2/3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 February 2017

Christoph Dörrenbächer and Mike Geppert

This article takes stock of interdisciplinary research on Multinational Corporations (MNCs) by elucidating paradigmatic shifts in the world of MNCs in the new millennium and

Abstract

This article takes stock of interdisciplinary research on Multinational Corporations (MNCs) by elucidating paradigmatic shifts in the world of MNCs in the new millennium and analysing more recent developments in the disciplines of International Business (IB) and Organization Theory (OT). The article also introduces the altogether 14 individual contributions of this 49th volume of the Research in the Sociology of Organizations series. It closes by looking into the questions of where interdisciplinary OT/IB research on MNCs is now and where it is likely to go in the future.

Details

Multinational Corporations and Organization Theory: Post Millennium Perspectives
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-386-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 February 2014

Joanne Roberts and Christoph Dörrenbächer

This article reflects on the development and impact of critical perspectives on international business (CPoIB) during its first decade of existence. The influence that the journal…

1059

Abstract

Purpose

This article reflects on the development and impact of critical perspectives on international business (CPoIB) during its first decade of existence. The influence that the journal has had through its efforts to challenge orthodox understandings of international business (IB) is considered. The evolution of CPoIB is set against the changing global environment. The contributions to this 10th anniversary issue are outlined.

Design/methodology/approach

The journal's contents are reviewed and their impact assessed through an analysis of download and citation data. The position of the journal in various journal quality rankings is also examined. The contents of mainstream IB journals are compared to those of CPoIB.

Findings

During its short life, CPoIB has had an important impact on the field of IB both directly through the consideration of issues from a critical perspective in the pages of the journal and through its influence on the field of IB and critical management studies.

Research limitations/implications

The conclusions of the research are based on nine years of citation and download data as well as journal quality lists.

Practical implications

The findings of this paper provide valuable information for authors seeking a quality and impactful outlet for their research in the field of critical perspectives on IB and related disciplines. Academic and political activists in the field of IB will find theoretical backgrounds supporting their political campaigns.

Originality/value

This is the only paper to undertake an assessment of the first decade of CPoIB's development, content, and impact.

Details

critical perspectives on international business, vol. 10 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 July 2012

Fiona Moore

Purpose – To consider why, although it does maintain a distinct presence, ethnography still remains very much on the fringes of international business (IB) studies

Abstract

Purpose – To consider why, although it does maintain a distinct presence, ethnography still remains very much on the fringes of international business (IB) studies.

Methodology/Approach – This chapter involves a literature review comparing ethnography in IB studies with its position in the related disciplines of industrial relations and Japanese studies, in both of which the ethnography of business is much more prominent, and both of which have close relationships with mainstream anthropology.

Findings – The author argues that a crucial factor in achieving greater prominence for ethnography in IB studies is in fact to encourage more studies of international organisations in mainstream anthropology.

Research limitations/Implications – The review of literature is necessarily brief and should be expanded to include more disciplines to test its conclusions; however, developments in the anthropology of China and India may add further data.

Practical implications – There are a number of ways in which the three disciplines can learn from, and contribute to, each other through the medium of ethnography, which are discussed.

Originality/Value – The value of the chapter is in considering ways in which IB studies and industrial relations can learn from each other and can make more effective use of ethnography, and how mainstream anthropology can benefit from incorporating perspectives from business-focused disciplines.

Details

West Meets East: Building Theoretical Bridges
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-028-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 December 2020

Aušrinė Šilenskytė and Adam Smale

This paper aims to illustrate why an understanding of how levels of analysis interact is an essential part of multilevel research in the field of international business (IB)…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to illustrate why an understanding of how levels of analysis interact is an essential part of multilevel research in the field of international business (IB). Using research on strategy implementation (SI) in multinational corporations (MNCs) as an example, this paper develops a taxonomy and research agenda that demonstrates the key role critical scholars can play in advancing multilevel theorization.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the assumptions of methodological collectivism and individualism, the paper presents a four-step framework: defining the theoretical boundaries of the selected subject; juxtaposing theoretical arguments with empirical work; identifying single- and multi-level theories; and developing a research agenda.

Findings

Research on SI in MNCs has been dominated by one type of theorizing that focuses on the designs of organizational systems or the power of institutions. Multilevel theorization grounded in methodological individualism would offer new knowledge by including the views of under-represented stakeholders, questioning the justice of established systems and overall implications of MNC operations.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed four-step framework encourages scholars to adopt a systematic approach to multilevel theorizing and draw upon the untapped potential of IB theories.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the IB field by introducing an approach to assessing IB research from a multilevel theorizing perspective. The actionable research agenda on SI and the taxonomy of SI research can assist scholars in making aligned choices on study design and envisioning research questions that yield meaningful contributions to theory and practice.

Details

critical perspectives on international business, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2010

Ana Guedes and Alex Faria

This paper aims to draw on international relations (IR) literature to analyze, from a critical standpoint, recent developments in international business (IB) and international…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to draw on international relations (IR) literature to analyze, from a critical standpoint, recent developments in international business (IB) and international management (IM) in the USA, and the emerging debate between mainstream and critical researchers in Anglo‐American literature. It also aims to show that these important undertakings overshadow the political role of international disciplines and constrain the development of a critical perspective in IB from Latin America.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on an interdisciplinary approach, this paper addresses the main debates on IR regarding the “international” and the control of international fields of knowledge by the great powers to foster a critical perspective in IB from Latin America.

Findings

Critique from a universal perspective which does not differentiate IB and IM in the Anglo‐American literature is important, but constrains the appraisal of specific national and regional issues that are of vital importance to the development of a critical perspective in IB from Latin America.

Practical implications

This critical perspective moves beyond disciplinary boundaries and raises implications for research and teaching of IB and IM in Latin America.

Originality/value

This paper problematizes, from a perspective focused on the political economy of knowledge, the overlooking of debates about the “international” and of specific conditions that both enable and constrain the development of fields of knowledge from a less asymmetrical standpoint.

Details

Critical perspectives on international business, vol. 6 no. 2/3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 June 2019

George M. Cairns

The purpose of this paper is to present a personal reflection on the nature of international business (IB) as a field of both academic study and business practice and

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a personal reflection on the nature of international business (IB) as a field of both academic study and business practice and, specifically, a domain of political action and societal impact.

Design/methodology/approach

The author summarizes what he consider to be his personal contributions to the field of IB over the 15 years of Critical Perspectives on International Business’s existence, to underpin a set of critically reflective questions on the nature of IB, and to inform a brief ‘manifesto’ for how the author envisages a meaningful future for IB research.

Findings

The argumentation of this paper is directed at supporting IB research and activity that is underpinned by an Aristotelian phronetic perspective – thinking to inform action for the good of society at large.

Originality/value

This paper presents an original perspective from the author, one that appreciates the multitude of perspectives, values and beliefs of the full range of stakeholders who might impact or be impacted by IB activity.

Details

critical perspectives on international business, vol. 15 no. 2/3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 January 2012

Joanne Roberts and Christoph Dörrenbächer

The purpose of this extended editorial is to elaborate on the possible future trajectories of critical perspectives on international business. In addition, the content of the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this extended editorial is to elaborate on the possible future trajectories of critical perspectives on international business. In addition, the content of the current issue is introduced.

Design/methodology/approach

This editorial reviews recent reflections on the field of international business to identify the concerns of mainstream scholars and to contrast these with those of central concern to critical scholars of international business. In the light of this, consideration is given to how critical perspectives on international business seeks to facilitate the development of academic debates that continue to question orthodox approaches to international business whilst also offering relevance for all stakeholders in international business activities from managers, shareholders and policy makers to workers, consumers and citizens, including future generations.

Findings

Taking stock of recent reflections on the future of the field of international business is useful in determining possible topics for future contributions to critical perspectives on international business.

Originality/value

This is the first attempt to review reflections on the future of international business since the Global Financial crisis of 2008. As such it offers an assessment of the current thinking in the field and offers directions for the development of critical perspectives on international business.

Details

Critical perspectives on international business, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2003

Saiful Azhar Rosly and Mohd Afandi Abu Bakar

The study found that Islamic banking scheme (IBS) banks have recorded higher return on assets (ROA) as they are able to utilize existing overheads carried by mainstream banks. As…

24037

Abstract

The study found that Islamic banking scheme (IBS) banks have recorded higher return on assets (ROA) as they are able to utilize existing overheads carried by mainstream banks. As this lowers their overhead expenses, it is found that the higher ROA ratio for IBS banks does not imply efficiency. It is also inconsistent with their relatively low asset utilization and investment margin ratios. This finding confirmed our contention that Islamic banking that thrives on interest‐like products (credit finance) is less likely to outshine mainstream banks on efficiency terms. Although Islamic credit finance products may have complied with Shariah rules, their lack of ethical content is not expected to motivate IBS banks to strive for efficiency through scale and scope economies.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 30 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2021

Asmund Rygh, Eleni Chiarapini and María Vallejo Segovia

Realising the sustainable development goals (SDGs) will require substantial efforts from both governments, businesses, civil society and academic researchers. This paper aims to…

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Abstract

Purpose

Realising the sustainable development goals (SDGs) will require substantial efforts from both governments, businesses, civil society and academic researchers. This paper aims to discuss the contributions that the international business (IB) discipline can make to promoting the SDGs.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is conceptual.

Findings

The authors argue that IB can contribute to promoting the SDGs, given IB’s expertise on the multinational enterprise (MNE) and knowledge that is relevant to the international dimensions that most SDGs have. However, paradigmatic features of IB such as a focus on firm-level financial performance and on the MNE as an organisation, and dominance of quantitative methods, may presently restrict the discipline’s contributions to the SDGs.

Originality/value

The authors present a set of recommendations for IB research on the SDGs, many of which imply an extension of the boundaries of the current IB paradigm.

Details

critical perspectives on international business, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

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