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Drawing on an organizational learning perspective, this paper examines the effect of levels of foreign market involvement (intensity and geographic spread) on internationalization outcomes recognizing that the moderating influence of entry-mode learning potential is not well documented in the literature on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The sample includes 180 SMEs evenly selected from three industries: biotechnology, software and clothing (60 firms in each industry). The sampled firms employ less than 250 employees and are equally distributed between three developed economies and three emerging economies. All were engaged in foreign business.

The authors find that there is a direct relationship between levels of foreign market involvement and internationalization outcomes. Entry-mode learning potential moderates the relationship between intensity of foreign market involvement and internationalization outcomes but not the relationship between geographic spread and internationalization outcomes.

This study reveals several new insights that help explain the pathway through which foreign market involvement activities are translated into internationalization outcomes.

The authors conclude that the positive relationship between intensity of foreign market involvement and internationalization outcomes is strengthened when SMEs also use an entry mode with a higher learning potential than exporting only.

The article explores how servitization influences firms' foreign market entry mode decisions. This relationship is researched under the contingent effect of macroenvironmental factors in the host country, namely, market attractiveness, institutional environment and national culture differences between the home and host country.

The study employs a conceptual framework typology that interrelates, contextualizes and conceptualizes extant knowledge to develop explicit propositions.

Based on the extant literature, using a 2 × 2 matrix, the authors delineate the influence of two dimensions of servitization on entry mode decisions: customer relationship focus and digitalization focus. They conceptualize that relationship management and digitalization-based servitization have an antagonistic effect on the need for entry mode resource commitments, and macroenvironmental factors' favorability moderates this tension.

The study extends and incorporates the servitization literature into the context of international marketing by exploring the combined effect of the two most significant dimensions of servitization, i.e. investment in customer relations versus investment in digitalization on entry mode, thus delivering valuable new insights and perspectives, as well as explicit propositions toward empirical testing.

The authors’ framework increases foreign market managers' awareness of how servitization drives entry mode decisions of firms in international markets. Also, the framework explicates how the host country's market attractiveness, institutional environment and difference with the home country's national culture tangibly influence the relationship.

The study provides novel insights into the implications of servitization on international marketing, particularly regarding foreign market entry mode. The study also elucidates the combined effect of two servitization dimensions, i.e. customer relations and digitalization – a critical research area in which the literature is scant.

This study aimed to identify a specific taxonomy of entry modes for international construction contractors and to develop a decision-making mechanism based on case-based reasoning (CBR) to facilitate the selection of the most suitable entry modes.

According to the experience orientation of the construction industry, a CBR entry mode decision model was established, and based on successful historical cases, a two-step refinement process was carried out to identify similar situations. Then the validity of the model is proved by case analysis.

This study identified an entry mode taxonomy for international construction contractors (ICCs) and explored their decision-making mechanisms. First, a two-dimension model of entry mode for ICCs was constructed from ownership and value chain dimensions; seven common ICC entry modes were identified and ranked according to market commitment. Secondly, this study reveals the impact mechanism of the ICC entry mode from two aspects: the external environment and enterprise characteristics. Accordingly, an entry mode decision model is established.

Firstly, sorting out the categories of entry mode in the construction field, which provide an entry mode list for ICCs to select. Secondly, revealing the impact mechanism of ICC entry mode, which proposes a systematic decision-making system for the selection of ICC entry mode. Thirdly, constructing a CBR entry mode decision-making model from an empirical perspective, which offers tool support and reduces transaction costs in the decision-making process.

The study on entry modes for ICCs is still in the preliminary exploratory stage. The authors investigate the entry mode categories and decision-making mechanisms for ICCs based on Uppsala internationalization process theory. It widens the applied scope of Uppsala and promotes cross-disciplinary integration. In addition, the authors creatively propose a two-stage retrieval mechanism in the CBR model, which considers the order of decision variables. It refines the influence path of the decision variables on ICCs' entry mode.

This paper aims to study whether the adoption of an entry mode that fits the social trust level contributes to the improvement of foreign subsidiary performance.

The authors used the Probit model, linear regression, strategic fit approach and instrumental variable regression. The sample was made up of 11,095 observations of Chinese multinational enterprises' foreign subsidiaries in 54 countries from 2005 to 2020.

The results suggest that a host country with a high level of social trust results in fewer difficulties for enterprises in gaining legitimacy, thus foreign subsidiaries are more likely to select the wholly owned entry mode. The results also show that the effect is contingent on the formal institutions of host countries. The results of the mechanism test suggest that social trust influences subsidiaries' entry mode choice by reducing information asymmetry, costs and uncertainty risks. This study further finds that selecting a fit entry mode based on social trust level substantially increases foreign subsidiary performance and this effect is more significant when multinational enterprises (MNEs) are state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The main limitation of this paper is its only focus on foreign subsidiaries of Chinese MNEs, which may limit the generalizability of research findings.

This paper responds to the call for conducting more research on informal institutions. Findings highlight the critical role of informal institutions in helping foreign subsidiaries in gaining legitimacy in host countries and the essentialness of selecting a fit entry mode based on the informal institutions of host countries for the development of foreign subsidiaries.

Applying resource dependence theory (RDT), this research paper aims to examine the effect of imbalanced trade dependence (ITD) on entry mode choices and how state ownership and marketization each can moderate this effect.

Using data on 1,404 foreign projects made by 493 Chinese listed firms during the 2009–2015 period of time, this study applies logit regression to do the statistical analysis.

It finds that ITD positively affects the choice of wholly-owned subsidiaries. State ownership and marketization each can moderate this influence.

It develops the concept of ITD, applies it to examine entry mode choices and lets us better understand the substitutive or complementary relationship between governments and foreign firms as two sources of resources. It helps us better understand some competitive advantages of emerging market firms (EMFs) and the impacts of the state on EMFs’ outward FDI. It contributes to entry mode research by applying RDT to explain how ITD influences entry mode choices and how state ownership and marketization each can moderate this relationship.

Wage employees enter self-employment either directly or in a staged manner and may subsequently undertake multiple stints at self-employment. Extant research on the relationship between entry modes and the persistence and outcomes of self-employment is inconclusive. This study investigates the relationship between wage employees’ initial mode of entry into self-employment and the duration of the subsequent first two stints of self-employment.

This study used a matched longitudinal sample of 9,550 employees who became majority owners of incorporated firms from 2005 to 2016.

The findings demonstrate that the initial mode of entry into self-employment matters for the first two stints at self-employment. Staged entry into self-employment was associated with a shorter first stint and became insignificant for the second stint. Staged entry into self-employment was positively related to the odds of becoming self-employed for the second time in the same firm.

Using a comprehensive and reliable dataset, the paper shifts focus from the aggregated onward journey of novice entrepreneurs (survival as the outcome) to the duration of their self-employment stints. By doing so, the paper offers insights into the process of becoming self-employed and the patterns associated with success/failure in entrepreneurship associated with self-employment duration.

The purpose is to examine the relationship between entrepreneurs’ exit strategies and modes of entry. The topic of exit strategies in the context of approaching retirement warrants further attention.

We apply logistic regression to analyse 1,192 responses to an online survey of firms with entrepreneurs aged over 55.

Family successors are more likely to choose family succession and buyers to choose to sell, but the association between founding and exit mode cannot be confirmed. Firm size is also significant. Our findings suggest that entry and exit via a business transfer are linked. Entrepreneurs might be influenced by their form of entry when choosing their exit strategy.

The data were collected from a single European country, limiting generalisation. Future research should incorporate intervening variables not controlled for here, such as, entrepreneurial experience. Future studies should also seek to test the existence of imprinting directly, as it is implied rather than verified here.

If the entry mode has a lasting effect on the entrepreneur as our results suggest, thus influencing the exit strategy selected, entrepreneurs could benefit from greater awareness of the imprinting mechanism. Increasing awareness of imprinted biases could unlock the benefits of exit strategies previously overlooked.

The study is the first to consider sale, family succession and liquidation as exit strategies in relation to the original entry mode of ageing owners. It contributes to the understanding of exit strategies of ageing entrepreneurs and proposes using entrepreneurial learning and imprinting as lenses to clarify the phenomenon.

This paper aims to explore how the establishment modes used by emerging economy multinational corporations (EE-MNCs) influence their subsequent experiences of liability of origin (LOO) in developed economies based on the causal-model theory of categorization.

Taking Chinese listed firms' direct investments in developed economies as the sample, this paper utilizes Heckman (1979)'s self-selection model to examine the effect of establishment modes. Besides, when checking the robustness, subsample analyses and 2SLS regressions are used to rule out the alternative explanation associated with LOO mitigation.

EE-MNCs that enter a developed economy by greenfield investment experience heightened LOO while entries using M&A are associated with the mitigated liability. When EEMNCs enter a more institutionally distant developed country, the establishment modes will be more determinant of their subsequent experiences of this liability. Moreover, the effect of establishment modes can recede when EE-MNCs have established their presence in a developed country for a longer time.

This paper utilizes the causal-model theory of categorization to articulate the underlying mechanisms through which the country-of-origin cue is weakened by the cue transmitted by M&A. It further considers the context-saliency of the cue of M&A and clarifies boundary conditions for the effectiveness of this establishment mode to mitigate LOO.

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) strive to expand into new markets either by exploiting their resource base or by gaining access to partner companies that own the required resources. Thus, companies face the compete–cooperate–coopete decision. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of MNEs’ networks of interorganisational alliances, and their interaction with resource ownership, and market attractiveness, on the choice of international expansion modes, whether they are sole venture (competitive) or collaboration agreements (cooperative) or both (coopetitive).

A biprobit model is used to analyse more than 50,000 new international operations by 164 MNEs in a five-year window. A moderation analysis is carried out to reveal the interaction between network centrality, resource ownership and market size.

The results show the extent to which the competitive–collaborative contradictory forces attenuate each other in different market scenarios. This study’s contribution advances the resolution of the resource allocation dilemma by recognising the conditions for the selection of each expansion mode: sole venture, cooperation and coopetition.

Mainstream international business theory claims that firm’s own resources and transaction outcomes are generally sufficient to explain their international expansion decisions, whereas network and social capital theories focus on the role of relationships and network embeddedness. Both perspectives seem to neglect the fact that firms frequently develop both factors simultaneously. This study bridges these perspectives and reveals the interplay between resource ownership, alliance network centrality and market size for MNEs’ expansion mode choice.

This paper aims to determine new-normal uncertainty considerations stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic to consider within transaction-cost analysis for pharmaceuticals. It also aims to propose new-normal market entry strategies to address the uncertainty as a result of COVID-19's implications and provide for lack of knowledge and information in an uncertain business environment by way of Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem for pharmaceutical market entry.

In this paper, we focus on the uncertainty facet within transaction-cost analysis consideration and utilise a descriptive three-case study approach taking in Johnson and Johnson (J&J), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novartis to present an ADO (Antecedent-Decisions-Outcomes) understanding of their usual market entry approach, the approach undertaken during the pandemic and the outcomes thereafter facilitating new-normal uncertainty considerations to factor in. Further with this insight, we develop a conceptual framework addressing the transaction-cost analysis implications of uncertainties toward lack of knowledge and information for a new-normal market entry approach and operating strategy for pharmaceuticals applicable due to IoT (Internet of Things).

Uncertainty (external and internal) is different now in the new-normal business environment for pharmaceuticals and boils down to acute shortage of knowledge and information impact to make an appropriately informed decision. Therefore, considering the changed factors to consider, pharmaceuticals need to be able to undertake market entry with vaccines and medicines by way of IoT thereby enabling, the filling of the gap via real-time data access and sharing, including enhancing predictive analysis for sustenance.

The paper's findings have many theoretical implications highlighted in the manuscript.

The paper's findings have many practical implications highlighted in the manuscript.

This is the first study to our knowledge that throws light on transaction-cost analysis theory's uncertainty facet for pharmaceuticals. It is also the first study that provides a new-normal market entry strategy for pharmaceutical companies built on interoperability of real-time IoT.