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This paper analyses the role of face-to-face interactions between employees of different firms meeting during work-related visits in fostering skills and generating new productive knowledge. The analysis is based on primary data collected from 1,982 business visitors to/from Australia. The results suggest that face-to-face interacting can be an effective mechanism to enhance skill formation, as it improves the stock of useful knowledge and offers opportunities to learning to both visiting and visited parties.

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 investigate the antecedents of the internationalisation strategy i.e., effectuation, causation and bricolage on the international performance of the firm.

In total, the study uses 138 peer-reviewed articles on effectuation, causation, effectual/causal decision-making logics and related issues such as the impact of antecedent factors of international strategy (i.e. effectuation, causation and bricolage) on the international performance of the firm.

Even though the theory of effectuation was formulated in 2001, to a large extent it has still not moved away from the realm of small entrepreneurial firms. The development of effectuation logic has accelerated in recent years, but the bulk of the research still focusses on small entrepreneurial firms rather than on the application of the theory in larger, non-entrepreneurial firms. Furthermore, effectuation theory would benefit from being developed into the realm of psychology and sociology.

This study offers a conceptual model on how effectuation, causation and bricolage influence internationalisation strategy, which, in turn, impacts the international performance of the firm. Furthermore, the study discusses the effectual logic for larger firms. The exponential growth of studies on effectuation during recent years, i.e. 2017 to the first quarter of 2020, shows that researchers have responded to calls by leading authors stating that effectuation theory is a field with great potential for further theoretical developments. This study presents a literature review of the critical issue of the engagement of internationalisation strategies with effectuation, causation, bricolage and the international performance of the firm compared to the earlier literature review for the period 2001–2016 by Matalamäki (2017) and Karami et al. (2019) on effectuation and internationalisation.

This study aims to develop a new internationalisation model to describe the exporting and non-exporting behaviours of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and then applying it to a sample of UK SMEs. The conceptual model consists of four forces leading to a successful business.

The sample is a stratified one taken from KOMPASS directory and focussing on the Greater Manchester area. In total, 250 firms were chosen to be the population of this survey. In total, 110 surveys were received by email i.e. 24 non-exporters and 86 exporters that were fully completed.

The four forces of the model include the non-exporting activity, the activity before and after the first export order, differences and similarities between non-exporters and exporters and the regular exporting activity. This model’s findings demonstrate important empirical determinants related to four forces, which, in turn, shape the successful exporting activity.

The empirical evidence from the study suggests that the major differences between non-exporters and exporters, which include the differences in management perceptions towards exporting, and the differences and similarities of firm and management characteristics, explain only to some degree what constitutes successful exporting behaviour. The model is considered useful for smaller businesses located in the UK. The study highlights the importance of firms before and after the first export order, which provides insights for managers of firms about going through with the first export order rather than withdrawing from this effort. The study reveals the motivations for exporting, the timing, the modes through which firms export, firms’ management characteristics and attitudinal differences between exporters and non-exporters, which are essential for practitioners.

Although Asia's rise in the global economy is increasingly recognized, international business (IB) interactions between Japan and India remain under-commented. These interactions are especially salient due to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 17 (UN SDG 17), which focuses on partnerships. This study updates and analyzes the strategic orientation of Japanese multinational enterprises (MNEs) in India.

Following a subjectivist approach, this study employs a constructivist epistemology. Utilizing mixed methods, it obtains primary data from interviews and informal conversations with senior personnel from Japan and India and secondary data from archives. These data then undergo manual organic thematic analysis.

The study reveals instances of Japanese MNEs diverging from traditional ethnocentric orientations, such as senior management's growing commitment to India. The findings also indicate that the transformation to a polycentric orientation remains incomplete.

The study uncovers themes impeding a polycentric transformation, offering insights for strengthening international partnerships and emphasizing the necessity of prioritizing local demands and cultural expectations.

Clues to strengthening IB contribute to attain UN SDG 17, especially given the advanced-emerging characteristics of the Japan–India dyad.

This study’s research makes a novel contribution to the literature on international strategic orientations by providing insights into a rare dyad – namely, Japanese MNE expansion in India. It is also a valuable and timely addition consistent with current beyond-China business diversification trends.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how global managers from the generation born 1965 to 1980 (“Generation X”) manage demands of international business travel with desires for family involvement. A portrait evolves of how travel within a global career might be optimized for both business and family life.

A qualitative methodology was used as little research has focussed on alternative forms of global work or work-family issues in a global context. The author conducted in-depth interviews with 25 Gen X global managers in dual-career families (“Global Gen Xers”) pursuing global careers from the USA and Canada.

The author uncovered how Global Gen Xers experienced “work-life balance” through executing personal discretion over travel and substituting in technology. The construct of travel discretion reveals these approaches. Mutual flexibility on the part of global managers and organizations tamed the demanding nature of work spanning divergent locations and time zones.

The findings represent experiences from a self-select group of global Gen X managers interviewed at one point in their careers. The author did not obtain reflections from their families on work-family functioning.

The findings encourage companies to foster flexibility among their global managers around travel decisions. The author can consider how and when international travel can be replaced through technology in order to control costs and sustain global workforces.

This study provides one of the first examinations of work-life balance among younger global managers. It also highlights experiences of those not on expatriate assignments, but performing global work through international travel and technology.

The concept of bleisure is a tourism term that has emerged recently and has become popular. Participation of employees, especially managers and people in business who go on business trips, in leisure activities during their full-time business trips has revealed the bleisure trend. Although bleisure has emerged as a term in recent years, it has been seen that people combine vacations and business trips in previous years.

Considering the research on bleisure tourism, it is thought that bleisure tourism can be helpful to increase employee productivity. The fact that individuals who go on business trips very often are away from their family or friends can create a social deformation. However, people who go on business trips within the scope of bleisure tourism sometimes can take their close friends or family members with them. This provides extra motivation for bleisure tourists and increases work efficiency. However, it is beneficial to plan bleisure tourism. Excessive entertainment or shopping can lead to distraction, being late for work and being over budget on a business trip. For this reason, bleisure should be planned jointly with tourism agencies and companies.

Bleisure tourism will benefit business travellers, travel companies, hotels, restaurants, other tourism businesses and local people. For this reason, it is necessary to focus on studies related to bleisure tourism, a new tourism trend.

The goals of this review are to identify key theories, constructs and themes in the international business travel (IBT) literature and to propose a model based on findings, theories and constructs drawn from adjacent research literature.

The authors reviewed the business travel (BT) literature to identify conceptual and empirical articles on IBT published from 1990 to 2022. Only 53 publications were suitable for review. The authors reviewed them using an open coding system.

The IBT literature is dispersed across several disciplines that use different methods, focus on different aspects of travel and emphasize different positive and negative outcomes that IBT engenders. The publications employed a diverse range of methods, including review and conceptual (11), quantitative (28) and qualitative methods (14). The samples were diverse in country, age, marital status and tenure. Many publications were descriptive and exploratory. The few that based their research on theory focused on two stress theories: Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory and conservation of resources (COR) theory.

Experimental and longitudinal designs are needed to reduce the causal ambiguity of this body of mostly correlational and cross-sectional research. The authors discuss the impact of emerging advances in virtual global communication technology on the future of IBT.

More research is needed on positive aspects of IBT. Human resource (HR) people should be aware of these issues and are encouraged to decrease the deleterious aspects of the international trips and increase the positive ones.

Increasing well-being of international business travelers is important for the travelers, their families and the organization.

This is the first IBT review focused on the theoretical underpinnings of research in the field. The authors offer a model for IBT and introduce adjustment and performance as important constructs in IBT research. The authors encompass crossover theory to add the reciprocal impact of travelers and spouses and label IBT a “double-edge sword” because it arouses both positive and negative outcomes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced global organizations to adopt technology-driven virtual solutions involving faster, less costly and more effective ways to work worldwide even after the pandemic. One potential outcome may be through virtual global mobility (VGM), defined as the replacement of personal physical international interactions for work purposes with electronic personal online interactions. The purpose of this article is to establish VGM as a theoretical concept and explore to what extent it can replace or complement physical global work assignments.

This perspectives article first explores advantages and disadvantages of global virtual work and then discusses the implementation of VGM and analyses to what extent and how VGM can replace and complement physical global mobility.

Representing a change of trend, long-term corporate expatriates could become necessary core players in VGM activities while the increase of the number of global travelers may be halted or reversed. VGM activities will grow and further develop due to a continued rapid development of communication and coordination technologies. Consequently, VGM is here to stay!

The authors have witnessed a massive trend of increasing physical global mobility where individuals have crossed international borders to conduct work. The authors are now observing the emergence of a counter-trend: instead of moving people to their work the authors often see organizations moving work to people. This article has explored some of the advantages, disadvantages, facilitators and barriers of such global virtual work. Given the various purposes of global work the authors chart the suitability of VGM to fulfill these organizational objectives.

This chapter presents a case study of a community engagement project that was established in 2013, between the International Business School of Hanze University of Applied Sciences (UAS), Groningen, the Netherlands, and various communities within Mombasa County, Kenya. From an educational point of view, this engagement helped enrich the curriculum, in terms of learning how business is conducted in a different cultural setting, and how classroom knowledge can be applied within the field. From a community perspective, this engagement acted as a facilitator to knowledge and resource access. The authors highlight aspects that have explicitly added value to the projects, whilst simultaneously presenting engaging dissonance arising from the implementation of the project as well as discussing factors that could be addressed to improve this type of community engagement. The recommendations would be most applicable to projects within similar cultural settings and/or with a similar geographical distance.