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The authors critically examine the paper by Samiee (2019, this issue) “International marketing and the Internet: A research overview and the path forward” and offer an appraisal of its merits as well as thoughts for further development of research on advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) in international marketing.

This paper approaches its purpose via a reflexive review of Samiee's paper and continues by offering a content analysis of a broader body of literature which includes internationally oriented papers in international business (IB), international marketing (IM), general management, marketing and strategy (GMS) as well as information systems (IS). The underpinning question is whether and which particular ICT concepts have successfully been adopted in the IM literature and what the inclusion or exclusion of these phenomena may imply for future research.

The Internet and internationalization implications of the technology have been studied excessively in the domain; however, newer developments such as dimensions of Industry 4.0 or advanced manufacturing, have not yet been widely considered in IB and marketing work. The ramifications for future research are significant in that the understudied modern industrial organization of the contemporary firm in the digital world needs much concerted research focus to be adequately understood.

This paper and the literature review is limited to “international” studies. While this is an appropriate limitation for the purposes of this IM-oriented review, some work in the GMS domain as well as the IS domain will have significant ramification for international firms and IM thinking, despite these papers limited to noninternational firms.

The notion of advanced ICTs, builds on the underpinning Internet technology, and has transformative effects on the way in which (international) firms are organized, studied and performed. The pervasive shifts triggered by advanced ICTs and the reconfiguration of firms to platform providers and system integrators need to be well understood, in order to stay legitimate and as performant in contemporary markets.

Rather than looking at only IM papers, this paper reviews Internet/advanced ICT papers in multiple related fields. Significant novelty in this area comes from IS, by including this discipline in the review, the authors see real diffusion of novel thinking and potential research areas for IM scholars at the interface of ICT and IM.

The purpose of this paper is to assess e-readiness (preparedness) of the Copperbelt University (CBU) with a view to ascertain the likelihood of the university benefiting from various opportunities unlocked by the adoption and use of ICT in advancing its core mandate of teaching, learning and collaborative research.

The study used the network readiness model emanating from the socio-technical theory, which underpins the extended technological enactment framework. Further, it employed a positivist approach and adopted a case study method coupled with methodological triangulation at data collection stage. With a 95 per cent confidence level of a possible sample frame of 2,980, the study sampled 353 respondents with a response rate of 81 per cent.

The results show that anticipated ICTs users have not leveraged available ICT infrastructure or are unaware of its existence. Further, quantitative constructs: “accessibility to ICTs” and “requisite ICTs skills” has significant impacts on e-readiness indicators and in integration of ICTs in CBU core business activities. Also, the study argues that institutional ICT policy and working environments reshape users’ perception of ICTs for teaching, learning and research.

The proposed conceptual framework only accounted for 43 per cent variance of the factors determining e-readiness of CBU.

Investigating CBU’s e-readiness will enable policy-makers to prioritise interventions needed for transforming the university into an e-ready entity favourably placed to benefit from digital opportunities. Also the emanating conceptual framework is important to theory and practice in integrating ICTs universities business value chains especially in contextually similar environments.

Short food supply chains have the potential to facilitate the transition to more sustainable food systems. Related distribution processes, however, can be challenging for smallholder and family farmers. To extend the market reach of farmers without the need for extensive investments, crowd logistics (CL) can be used. The purpose of this paper is to explore the benefits and trade-offs of implementing CL platforms in short food supply chains (SFSCs).

A decision support system (DSS) based on agent-based and discrete event simulation (DES) modelling is developed, which closely approximates the behaviour of customers and distribution processes at outlets. Different scenarios are explored to evaluate the potential of CL in rural and urban settings using the example of regions from Bavaria, Germany.

Results show that CL can be used to increase the reach of farmers in SFSCs at the cost of minor food quality losses. Moreover, a difference between urban and rural settings is noted: An urban scenario requires less investment in the driver base, whereas the rural scenario shows a higher potential to increase market reach.

Platform-based food delivery services are still mostly unexplored in the context of SFSCs. This research shows that platform services such as CL can be used to support local agriculture and facilitate the distribution of perishable food items, introducing a simulation-based DSS and providing detailed results on various application settings; this research serves as a steppingstone to facilitate successful real-world implementations and encourage further research.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

There is currently no clear and extensive understanding of the necessary market entry strategy for platform businesses. This briefing looks at this using Reed’s law and epidemic models to understand the optimal way into market.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists, and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The purpose of this paper is to specifically investigate and prioritize the effects of 13 factors in determining ICT adoption in Nigerian universities.

The constructs of theoretical framework of technology‐organization‐environment (T‐O‐E) underpin the survey. The survey adopted in‐depth unstructured and semi‐structured interviews with 30 senior executives drawn purposefully from at least one university in each of the five state capitals in south‐eastern Nigeria.

Evidence from the study shows that, irrespective of the perceived competitive pressures and perceived benefits of ICT solutions, government‐owned universities are yet to exploit its full potentials in their operations. This behaviour is informed by incessant corrupt practices; irregular energy supply and internet connectivity/accessibility; lack of financial capacity, expert skills, managerial and technical flexibility/support; and poor regulatory policies and government supports.

The paper raised some challenges that will serve as points of departure to future researchers and provides university management, government, policy makers, and other stakeholders the bases for encouraging ICT adoption.

The purpose of this paper is to take a holistic view of the body of knowledge of the second wave of Chinese outbound tourists so as to develop a strategic framework towards positioning Greece in the China outbound tourism market.

The survey adopted a perspective from knowledge management, investigating a deeper understanding of the knowledge about, from and for the Chinese tourists, and Greece was taken as a case study. An online survey with quantitative aspects was conducted from October 2013 to January 2014.

The knowledge about the Chinese tourists depicts a young, well-educated segment with a predominance of female and western China residents. The knowledge from the Chinese tourists reveals that they prefer: visiting islands and heritage sites; safety while travelling; a faster visa process; a direct flight between China and Greece; and making a trip combined with other Schengen countries. The knowledge for the Chinese tourists indicates that purchasing tourism products/services online provides better price, is enjoyable, convenient and time-saving; and the top five digital platforms often used are Ctrip, Qunar, QQ, Weibo and WeChat, which could be effective tools for the promotion of Greek tourism in China.

This research offers a first step to investigate the knowledge of Chinese tourists for the destination of Greece. The findings help to propose a strategic knowledge framework for the Greek tourism authorities so that Greece can become a more active player in the Chinese outbound tourism market.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the emergence of innovation in smart service systems to conceptualize how actor’s relationships through technology-enabled interactions can give birth to novel technologies, processes, strategies and value. The objectives of the study are: to detect the different enablers that activate innovation in smart service systems; and to explore how these can lead dynamically to the emergence of different innovation patterns.

The empirical research adopts an approach based on constructivist grounded theory, performed through observation and semi-structured interviews to investigate the development of innovation in the Italian CTNA (Italian acronym of National Cluster for Aerospace Technology).

The identification and re-elaboration of the novelties that emerged from the analysis of the Cluster allow the elaboration of a diagram that classifies five different shades of innovation, introduced through some related theoretical propositions: technological; process; business model and data-driven; social and eco-sustainable; and practice-based.

The paper embraces a synthesis view that detects the enabling structural and systems dimensions for innovation (the “what”) and the way in which these can be combined to create new technologies, resources, values and social rules (the “how” dimension). The classification of five different kinds of innovation can contribute to enrich extant research on value co-creation and innovation and can shed light on how given technologies and relational strategies can produce varied innovation outcomes according to the diverse stakeholders engaged.

Supply chains evolve and change in size, shape and configuration, and in how they are coordinated, controlled and managed. Some supply chains are mature and relatively unchanging. Some are subject to significant change. New supply chains may emerge and evolve for a variety of reasons. The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of supply chain evolution and address the question “What makes a supply chain like it is?”

The paper analyses and develops key aspects, concepts and principal themes concerning the emergence and evolution of supply chains over their lifecycle.

The paper defines the supply chain lifecycle and identifies six factors that interact and may affect a supply chain over its lifecycle – technology and innovation, economics, markets and competition, policy and regulation, procurement and sourcing, supply chain strategies and re-engineering. A number of emergent themes and propositions on factors affecting a supply chain’s characteristics over its lifecycle are presented. The paper argues that a new science is needed to investigate and understand the supply chain lifecycle.

Supply chains are critical for the world economy and essential for modern life. Understanding the supply chain lifecycle and how supply chains evolve provides new perspectives for contemporary supply chain design and management.

The paper presents detailed analysis, critique and reflections from leading researchers on emerging, evolving and mature supply chains.

Customer engagement (customers’ behavioral manifestations going beyond customer-firm purchase transactions) has been regarded as strategic imperatives for generating enhanced corporate performance. The plethora of new media has provided customers with different options to interact with firms and other customers. However, the primacy of value-laden interactive customer relationships and value co-creation raises challenges for firms and customers, especially in the context of broader business ecosystems such as brand partnership for extending value co-creation. This study aims to explore how customer engagement with well-designed choreograph of various new media’s channels can increase the value co-creation extent in the context of broader business ecosystems, resulting in higher levels service offerings, experiences and innovation.

This exploratory study presents a new framework of customer engagement that holistically integrates the elements of multiple new media and broader business ecosystem, stimulating a virtuous circle of realizing customer engagement toward superior results or innovations. The framework considers new media’s different information service and technologies (e.g. search engine, social recommender, social media) that can be properly choreographed to achieve a virtuous customer engagement circle.

This paper uses an exemplar framework's instantiation – an information technology enabled engagement platform (called iEngagement) – that can demonstrate how to empower the central companies together with their eco-stakeholders to holistically perform customer engagement utilizing new media toward fruitful customer engagement.

This exploratory study is among the first that addresses the theory and practice of customer engagement within multiple new media and broader business ecosystem. This paper presents a customer engagement framework and an exemplified engagement platform that holistically integrate the elements of multiple new media and broader business ecosystem, for stimulating a virtuous circle of realizing customer engagement toward superior results or innovations.

This paper explores the relationships between Industry 4.0-driven technologies and the circular economy-driven business model (CEDBM) components of value creation, delivery and capture along manufacturing processes.

Based on the literature, a research model is developed in which the three CEBDM components are represented by five components: product service system (PSS), product design, industrial symbiosis (IS), consumer interaction and pay-per-use/rental. For each of these five components, enabling Industry 4.0 technologies are identified and vague interdependence relationships were assessed using a fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method.

This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the relationships of the CEDBM components of value creation, value delivery and value capture with Industry 4.0-driven technological enablers. In addition, causal relationships between Industry 4.0 technologies and their relevance for facilitating CE-enabled manufacturing processes are identified, and finally, Industry 4.0-driven technological enablers of CE are categorized as base and front-end technologies.

The findings suggest that value delivery-based differentiation provides new avenues for value creation and innovative forms of value capture in CEDBMs.

Practitioners can use the findings to develop a roadmap for Industry 4.0-driven technological solutions for CE.

CE-driven processes of manufacturing provide not only opportunities for value capture, creation and delivery but also avenues for customer-centric product and service development and effective resource utilization.

This paper is the first to identify value creation, delivery and capture processes along with Industry 4.0-enabled manufacturing processes.