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The purpose of this paper is to examine deinternationalisation through the lens of coevolutionary theory. The intention is to offer a fuller understanding of the processes and strategic challenges involved in this process and establish a path for future research in this area of internationalisation theory.

The paper draws links between emerging themes in organizational theory and internationalisation to aid the conceptual development and understanding of the process of deinternationalisation.

The exploration of links between organizational theory and internationalisation allows for the process of deinternationalisation to be more fully distinguished. The paper identifies processes of managed selection and retardation that will inform this process of organizational change.

Whilst there are concerns over the applicability of concepts from natural sciences within the social sciences, the paper does offer a number of research propositions to guide future academic investigation within the field of deinternationalisation.

By linking research on coevolution to the study of internationalisation, the paper contributes to the understanding of the emergence of differing paths and trajectories involved in the process of international contraction and expansion. Furthermore, coevolutionary theory allows the process of deinternationalisation to be conceptualized as a means of generating and guiding future study on this under‐explored area of internationalization research.

The aim of this paper is to identify the major coercive forces driving the enforced reconfiguration of the multinational company. This is explored through the conceptual development of coercive deinternationalisation via the literature on legitimacy. Through a multi‐case study approach, the concept is developed within the context of counteracting non‐market strategies. This material is used to develop a conceptual framework through which the drivers and reactions to these coercive pressures can be more fully explored.

The paper presents a conceptual, multi‐case study.

The paper uses the link between case material and the literature on legitimacy to generate testable hypotheses to guide future research. These are based on the causes, conditions and effectiveness of counteracting coercive deinternationalisation.

The paper offers a strategic framework to guide further research and highlights an under‐explored area within the increasingly complex internationalised system.

Although research on family firms (FF) internationalization has seen a boom over the past 30 years, the understanding of how FFs internationalize with equity modes is still fragmented. Indeed, the majority of extant literature on this topic identifies internationalization with export, overlooking the alternative equity-based entry modes FFs have when entering a foreign country. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap with a framework-based systematic literature review on the topic to improve the understanding of this phenomenon and propose a way forward.

This study conducted a framework-based systematic literature review of 93 papers published between 1993 and 2021.

This study adds to the current debate on FFs internationalization by integrating previous review efforts with a deeper investigation of FFs’ equity-based entry modes. This study contributes to this body of knowledge in the family business research by synthetizing and systematizing extant literature with a framework-based approach from the international business (IB) field. In so doing, this study builds a stronger link between these two areas of research. Finally, research gaps and promising research avenues for future studies are also presented.

This study responds to the call to create a dialogue between the FFs and IB fields by systematizing the extant body of knowledge and integrating the FF literature with one of the most widely used frameworks (Pan and Tse, 2000) on entry modes in the IB domain.

The purpose of this study is to propose a methodological approach for modeling catastrophic consequences caused by black swan events, based on complexity science, and framed on Feyerabend’s anarchistic theory of knowledge. An empirical application is presented to illustrate the proposed approach.

Thom’s nonlinear differential equations of morphogenesis are used to develop a theoretical model of the impact of catastrophes on international business (IB). The model is then estimated using real-world data on the performance of multinational airlines during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The catastrophe model exhibits a remarkable capability to simultaneously capture complex linear and nonlinear relationships. Through empirical estimations and simulations, this approach enables the analysis of IB phenomena under normal conditions, as well as during black swan events.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first attempt to estimate the impact of black swan events in IB using a catastrophe model grounded in complexity theory. The proposed model successfully integrates the abrupt and profound effects of catastrophes on multinational corporations, offering a critical perspective on the theoretical and practical use of complexity science in IB.

This study aims to understand the dynamics underpinning the exit and re-entry strategies adopted by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in an emerging market, Pakistan.

This study undertook an in-depth historical case study of Yamaha Motorcycles, which had initially entered Pakistan as a joint venture but had then exited and re-entered as a wholly owned subsidiary.

This study found that, despite its status as a market leader and one of the older players in the Pakistani market, changing market dynamics in the 2000s – especially the increased competition brought by more affordable (inexpensive) Chinese motorcycles and the weak enforcement of industrial policies – had pushed Yamaha Motorcycles to exit. Another factor that had contributed to its exit were differences in risk perception and strategies with its local joint venture partner (a Pakistani business group). Hence, both firm-level and institutional factors had played significant roles in Yamaha’s market exit. This study further found that re-entering in a wholly owned subsidiary operation mode had been beneficial for the firm, as it gained a significant market share due to its focus on innovation and on capturing a market niche, which had earlier not been its main focus. The findings also suggest that opportunity logics and multiple forms of learning can be important for a firm’s re-entry into a host market – such as experiential (i.e. learning from experience) and vicarious learning (i.e. learning from other organizations, including suppliers and competitors) in an emerging market context, in which institutions evolve amid political and policy uncertainty. Finally, this study found that exit and re-entry timing is an important factor for the development of competitive advantage in a host market.

This study is among the few to have investigated the exit and re-entry strategies of MNEs in emerging markets. The relatively short time during which Yamaha Motorcycles had been out of the market had benefited it on its re-entry, as the firm had been able to capitalize on its prior learning and ties to suppliers’ networks.

We aim to identify the factors that led to a Belarusian firm’s initial fast internationalization and the reasons for slowing the process down thereafter.

The chapter is based on a single case study. We collected the data via 9.5 hours of interviews and also used the firm’s annual reports.

The case firm’s internationalization was “pushed” by the Belarusian economic environment – especially, the fear of governmental takeover. The founders felt that internationalizing would be less risky than fully focusing on their domestic market. It was also “pulled” by growth opportunities on foreign markets and also a founder’s personal contacts. The slowdown of the firm’s internationalization was caused by the lack of foreign market knowledge and other resources.

Despite of slowing the internationalization down and experiencing several fluctuations in foreign activities, the founders are satisfied with the firm’s internationalization. Thus, managers should not automatically regard such internationalization a failure: adjustments in the firm’s internationalization pace can be justified as it has to react to the changing economic and business environment.

The chapter shows that a born global’s internationalization can slow down, it can use its subsidiaries as bases for further gradual internationalization, and it can also experience fluctuations in internationalization.

Global businesses base their sourcing operations and manufacturing decisions primarily on financial principles and metrics. What is often disregarded is the strategic value of domestic locations and contextual tacit knowledge. However, recent empirical work on knowledge flows shows that proximity is crucial. The risk of losing knowledge and important competencies developed through generations within companies and value chains needs to be considered when developing a global sourcing strategy. This chapter sheds light on how global shift-backs, through backshoring are seen to affect organizations that are located in a high-cost country. Based on interviews with managers and key personnel within a specific industry, we explore how companies preserve innovative capabilities when considering closing down (captive) offshore centers or when embarking on a backshoring strategy. The implications derived from the case offers valuable insights into how organizational capabilities could be restored when companies bring manufacturing back.

In the academic field of business management, several potential theories were established during the last decades to explain companies' decisions, organizational behavior, consumer patterns, and internationalization, among others. As a result, businesses and scholars were able to analyze and decide based on theoretical approaches to explain the current conditions of the market. Secondary research was conducted to collect more than 36 management theories. This chapter aims to develop the most famous theories related to business applied in the international field. The novelty of this chapter relies on the compilation of recognized previous research studies from the academic literature and evidence in international business.

The internationalisation of large multinational retailers is well documented and much research attention has been given to their motives and strategies for expansion. Yet, no research in this field has specifically addressed the internationalisation of small‐ to medium‐sized companies (SMEs) operating in the retail industry. The theoretical insights from the literature revealed important gaps in extant research, which relate to the barriers, stimulants, drivers, facilitators, process, and market entry strategy of retail SME internationalisation.

This paper aims to fill these gaps. Since the intention of this study was not to describe, but rather to build theory from an unexplored area of research, an in‐depth case approach was deemed most appropriate. Therefore, the paper presents the findings from a number of case studies of SME retail internationalisation operating from the UK.

Key findings from this study not only confirm that smaller British retailers have both the potential and capability to enter international markets successfully, but provides initial insights into how they overcome the constraints of size and establish an international market strategy. The findings from this study also offer insights into the SME sector of the retail industry in the UK in terms of their experience and adoption of government exporting programmes, and details the main implications for managers of small international firms.

Although knowledge on SME retailer internationalisation, as it stands, is at a very early stage of development, this analysis of actual company activity in the UK retail industry provides important insights into a neglected area of international retail study and should help to develop the body of knowledge on SME internationalisation in general.

The world is on the verge of entering the deglobalization age, and industrialized economies have ushered it in. However, there is still a scarcity of comprehensive and rigorous studies in this field. This research has tried to analyze the evolution and characteristics of deglobalization research.

The authors have employed bibliometric analysis for examining the existing evidence on accelerating deglobalization thinking based on a thorough analysis of articles published during a roughly 25-year span between 1996 and 2022. This study has used the TISM-P technique to study the relationship among the factors accelerating deglobalization thinking. This research reviews the articles on several dimensions of deglobalization using the “what”, “why”, “how”, “who”, “when” and “where” approaches.

The authors specify the critical factors, policy reforms, approaches and observed characteristics explored in this developing research area.

The authors have analyzed the factors accountable for rising deglobalization thinking and also suggested strategic recommendations based on the findings to minimize the adverse impact of globalization.

Although there is a wealth of literature on globalization, very little study has been done in the field of deglobalization. This is the first substantive review being done in the deglobalization domain. The contemporary research has used the bibliometric approach and the “5W and 1 H” framework to gain a comprehensive understanding of the changing paradigm.