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This paper aims to provide insights into the internationalization strategic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic by higher education institutions (HEIs) in Latin America.

This study is based on information from eight leading Latin American private universities. The data were obtained from official sources such as institutional communications and university administrators.

The authors identify two main issues that HEIs should consider while responding to the pandemic. First, greater attention and resource allocation to the universities' main local stakeholders can affect traditional internationalization activities. Second, a focus on revitalizing foreign partnerships and strengthening “virtual internationalization” can help maintain and eventually increase international presence.

While this study analyses how these Latin American HEIs responded during the initial stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, it is important to conduct follow-up studies to shed light on how HEIs are adapting to the COVID-19 crisis as it continues to unfold.

This study is based on unique information gathered from leading private, not-for-profit HEIs in Latin America, which, contrary to state-owned HEIs or other private institutions in developed economies, have exhibited different means and conditions to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. Finally, the authors contribute to the literature on the internationalization of HEIs by discussing the role of a significant disruptive event on the internationalization of higher education and, particularly, business schools.

Este artículo discute las respuestas estratégicas de internacionalización frente a la pandemia del COVID-19 implementadas por Instituciones de Educación Superior (IES) en América Latina.

Este estudio se basa en información de ocho universidades privadas líderes en América Latina. La información fue obtenida de fuentes oficiales tales como comunicados institucionales y autoridades.

Identificamos dos temas principales que las IES deben considerar mientras responden al COVID-19. Primero, una mayor atención y reubicación de recursos hacia los principales grupos de interés local puede afectar las actividades tradicionales de internacionalización. Segundo, revitalizar las alianzas extranjeras y fortalecer la “internacionalización virtual” puede ayudar a mantener y eventualmente incrementar la presencia internacional.

Si bien este estudio analiza cómo un grupo de IES Latinoamericanas respondieron durante las etapas iniciales del COVID-19, es importante continuar analizando cómo las IES se siguen adaptando a medida que la crisis COVID-19 avanza.

Este estudio se basa en datos únicos obtenidos de IES privadas, sin fines de lucro, y líderes en América Latina que, al contrario de las universidades públicas u otras IES en economías desarrolladas, exhiben medios y condiciones diferentes para responder a la expansión del coronavirus. Finalmente, este trabajo contribuye a la literatura sobre internacionalización de IES mediante la discusión del rol de un evento disruptivo de escala mundial en la internacionalización de universidades y, particularmente, escuelas de negocios.

This study aims to advance a sub-national perspective within the OLI Paradigm by analyzing how and to what extent the Eclectic Paradigm can serve as a general model to capture region-specific aspects of the location determinants of FDI, encompassing institutional effects that extend beyond the quality of institutions.

The authors conducted a systematic literature review of 41 selected papers published between 1990 and 2019. Using inductive content analysis, they investigated the theoretical choices used to support analyses of the effects of institutional factors on MNEs' location decisions at the sub-national level.

It was found that, when changing from the national to the sub-national level of analysis, there is no need to change the main assumptions used in the literature, although a different perspective must be adopted. The Eclectic Paradigm permeates most of the studies revised and can serve as a general model to capture the sub-national perspective. It offers a foundation for new perspectives on the dynamics of institutional and political factors and their effects on location strategies and determinants at the sub-national level. Adopting the OLI Paradigm with a sub-national approach could widen the IB literature's prevailing focus on traditional economic factors and institutional quality.

The authors contribute to extant International Business literature Their paper enhances the literature on FDI location determinants by providing a more specific approach to development of a sub-national perspective within the OLI Paradigm, extending the institutional effects to capture more region-specific factors influencing the location of FDI. Study limitations are related to our analytical focus on the location dimension, excluding motives for FDI or firm-level location strategies. Rather than limiting analysis to quantitative studies, future research that includes qualitative studies and also covers the other dimensions of the OLI Paradigm could open additional new research avenues for advancing the sub-national perspective within the field of IB.

The authors’ main findings suggest that MNEs' location strategies should include a sub-national perspective, which means that firms need to assess different levels of the location and understand their interaction with nationwide constraints and limitations, as it may affect firms' ability to effectively conduct their value-adding activities. They also contribute elements that can support sub-national governments' actions and policies aiming to enhance locational advantages to attract and retain FDI.

This review specifically analyzes the location determinants of FDI at the sub-national level, in studies published in a broad set of journals, from a variety of fields, prioritizing articles that investigate sub-national institutional determinants. The authors derive implications for the International Business literature and propose that the sub-national dimension should be incorporated into the Eclectic paradigm in order to better understand the influence of institutional sub-national determinants.

This study aims to build on embedded approaches to stakeholder management and examines how organizational decision-makers consider social responsibility toward proximal stakeholders in crises that encompass an entire system of stakeholder relationships.

Within a criterion-based sample of eight Latin American private universities, this paper develops in-depth exploratory case studies to examine the prioritization of stakeholders in higher education institutions’ decision-making during the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis.

Contrary to the notion that during crises organizations prioritize stakeholders that provide resources that are critical to survival, this study finds that in contextual crises stakeholder management is informed by social responsibility. In addition, the findings suggest that crises may be tipping points for changes toward mission-driven approaches to governance.

Acknowledging the roles of social responsibility and proximity in stakeholder management during contextual crises allows for more informed governance of organizations that face disruptions in their system of stakeholder relations.

This study contributes unique insights into the decision-maker’s prioritization of stakeholders during the COVID-19 crisis. The uncertainty associated with the emerging “new normal” allowed for an extreme test of socially embedded versus resource-oriented approaches to stakeholder management.

This study investigates how the degree of internationalization (DOI) affects the financial performance of emerging market companies by making the distinction between export intensity and multinationality (i.e. foreign direct investment). The authors argue that the different DOI-performance patterns in the literature relate to different internationalization approaches, which are moderated in distinct ways by formal institutions in the home country.

Based on data of Brazilian firms in several industries and with different internationalization patterns including 100 exporting firms and 30 multinational companies with varying degrees of multinationality over a period of five consecutive years, the authors test their hypotheses using an unbalanced panel data with 346 firm-year observations. In order to test how the quality of formal institutions moderate the DOI-performance relationships, the authors estimate the changes in the slope of the regression line by adding and subtracting one standard deviation to the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) variables.

A positive and linear association between export intensity-performance (EI-P) highlights the location specific comparative advantages of exporting Brazilian firms, while the multinationality-performance (M-P) relationship points to a horizontal S-shape pattern which conforms to the theoretical assumptions of the three-stage internationalization process. Formal institutions moderate positively the EI-P relationship, but moderate negatively each of the three stages of the M-P relationship.

The findings from this study provide critical insights that contribute to the ongoing debate on how formal institutions in the home country affect the DOI-performance relationship of emerging market companies (EMCs). However, the authors consider that it has limitations as they focused exclusively on formal institutions captured by governance institutions in the Brazilian context.

This study provides relevant insights to managers and policy makers. Findings reveal that strong formal institutions in the home country make it easier (cheaper) for EMCs to invest abroad, and, at the same time, increase the efficiency of exporting firms and positively influence financial performance. Moreover, results show that during downturns in their domestic markets, multinational EMCs outperform domestic firms. In that sense, while policy makers can promote the internationalization and competitiveness of EMCs by implementing more supportive formal institutions, managers should consider a proactive approach and invest abroad when conditions in the home country are favorable.

By making the distinction between export intensity and multinationality this study contributes to the literature on the DOI-performance of EMCs providing a more nuanced view on how formal institutions in the home country moderate the EI-P and M-P relationships in different ways.

Due to the changes in organizational, social, cultural and technological factors, companies from different contexts are shifting towards open forms of strategy-making with more widened inclusion of internal and external actors and greater transparency regarding their strategic issues, including their internationalization processes. The purpose of this paper is to understand how Open Strategizing occurs in the accelerated process of internationalization considering different contexts.

The authors conducted a qualitative comparative case study in Brazilian and English technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which rapidly internationalized. Furthermore, data was collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and documental analysis.

The authors suggest that openness contributes to the accelerated process of internationalization. Additionally, the authors show that the home-country and the national cultural contexts affect openness. The authors also disclose openness as crucial and inherent to the accelerated process of internationalization, while context is relevant but not determinant in the Open Strategizing.

The authors contribute to Open Strategy (OS) literature by presenting how Open Strategizing unfolds daily during the internationalization process and by evidencing the role of home-country and national cultural contexts in the configuration and dynamics of Open Strategizing. The authors also contribute to the international entrepreneurship (IE) literature by advancing the understanding of the strategies and drivers adopted by technology-based SMEs internationalizing in an accelerated way.

This paper aims to analyse how the temporal dimension is conceptualised in studies of the internationalisation process of firms and its implications. Theoretical models such as U-Model and INV explain the process of internationalisation as dynamic; nonetheless, time is approached as an underlying aspect of the process. In this essay, time is brought to the spotlight since, despite its strategic relevance, it has been treated implicitly in studies of the internationalisation processes, except in those that address the speed of internationalisation.

Based on a critical reassessment of the academic literature, the authors present theoretical arguments and highlight elements to be considered in the analysis of the temporal dimension throughout the internationalisation process of firms.

This essay focuses on expanding the comprehension of temporality in the internationalisation process, that underlies periods of changes, implied also in periods of stability. The paper discusses time dimension implications during the internationalisation process and reveals that there is an interaction between temporal verticality (context/events), subjective dimension of time (perception and interpretation of time) and objective dimension of time (stability and changes). Therefore, it sustains that these interactions compress past, present and future actions in the internationalisation process.

Because of the chosen research approach, this essay did not empirically apply the theoretical model and propositions. Therefore, future studies may empirically apply the propositions and use the temporal lens to look deeper at the temporality of internationalisation process and shed further light on the mechanisms that interlink the pre-and post-entry phases.

The argument helps entrepreneurs understand that actions throughout the internationalisation process are also influenced by the experience of time and not only governed by rational matters. Changes in the context can alter the perception of present time as being restricted, and in turn, may alter the flux of future internationalisation actions. However, if actions are conducted in a precipitated manner it can bring forth negative results for the firm. It is essential to recognise the importance of temporal verticality and subjective dimension of time as influencers of future actions of the objective dimension of time in the process of internationalisation.

While most research is restricted to understanding time as speed, this essay brings a theoretical model extending the knowledge of time in the literature of international business and international entrepreneurship, by including factors that imply temporality. By explaining the relationship between temporal aspects, it is argued that temporal verticality (events and context) influences temporal subjectivity (perception of the present and interpretation of the past) to direct future actions of the temporality of internationalisation (stability and changes).