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A paucity of studies has used a microfoundation lens to examine servitization processes in internationalized knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) companies. The research aims to bridge this gap by considering knowledge sharing as a form of both codified knowledge and informal feedback knowledge; it also assesses whether the adoption of knowledge transfer and translation practices in a servitization process positively moderates the effect of knowledge transformation on knowledge sharing for internationalized KIBS companies.

By adopting a microfoundation lens, the research offers an empirical analysis to identify the relations between codified and tacit knowledge in servitization processes within internationalized KIBS companies. The study is based on 326 respondents from 30 KIBS companies. A multiple regression analysis was used for hypotheses testing.

The authors found significant relations among the use of electronic documents in the servitization process (formal codified knowledge), personal advice in servitization (informal feedback knowledge) and knowledge sharing in internationalized KIBS companies. Findings also support the indirect effect assumed in the hypothesis between knowledge transformation and knowledge sharing in internationalized KIBS companies, which is positively moderated by the adoption of cross-cultural knowledge practices in the servitization process.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research provides the first conceptual model of the use of a microfoundation lens to examine knowledge sharing in internationalized KIBS companies. The micro level features individual knowledge sharing in the servitization process, while the meso level focuses on knowledge transformation in KIBS companies and the adoption of knowledge transfer and translation practices in the servitization process.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication of the Fortune top-100 companies during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Specifically, the authors examine the messages of international companies' CSR communication to customers during the pandemic, focusing particularly on the companies' posts on Twitter. In addition to identifying what international companies communicate, the authors determine the motives of companies' COVID-19-related CSR communication as well as how companies strategically approach CSR communication.

Using Nvivo, the authors carried out content analysis of the COVID-19-related tweets of the Fortune top-100 companies using Twitter's ‘advanced search’ tool. The analysis included tweets posted between 1 February 2020 and September 2021, a period that represents the peak of the pandemic.

Study findings indicate that COVID-19-related CSR responses of international companies are driven by commitment to organizational values, attainment of recognition for timely response to COVID-19, altruistic motives to combat COVID-19 and congruence with social movements that create expectations from customers to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most companies adopt a response strategy to CSR communication, by informing customers of their COVID-19 responses in relation to several issues such as alterations in companies' processes and the impacts of the pandemic on health.

The study suggests that the CSR practices of companies should be strategically embedded in organizations' international marketing plans and not remain just on-off responses to crises should marketing-related benefits be obtained. Several recommendations are made to strengthen companies' adoption of a proactive, engagement-oriented approach to CSR communication.

The CSR communication of international companies during external crises has not been sufficiently studied in relation to international marketing, as most studies considered internal corporate crises. Focusing on an external crisis (COVID-19 pandemic) with global impacts, this study advances existing knowledge on international companies' CSR communication to their customers. Additionally, this study offers new insights on the role of integrated, coordinated and consistent CSR messages and strategies, which are targeted to the needs and expectations of domestic and international customers in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

One important strategy Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) employ to compete in the global market is to engage in foreign investment, but firms must know how they can perform better in the host country market. International subsidiaries’ performances play a chief role for MNEs’ globalization strategy. The purpose of this paper is to construct multi-level research with parent-level data at the higher level and subsidiary-level data at the lower level.

This study helps capture the rapid growing trend in emerging markets and uses a sample of Taiwanese enterprises and their subsidiaries in China. The data come from the Taiwan Economic Journal database. Precisely, the authors obtain 711 Taiwanese MNEs and 4,458 of their subsidiaries in China.

This study finds among the parent company’s attributes that firm size, firm total performance, depth of internationalization and foreign shareholding have significant impacts on subsidiary performance, while within the subsidiary’s attributes, subsidiary size, subsidiary-owned capital and total investment fund significantly affect subsidiary performance.

In order to capture subsidiary performance, this study uses a multi-level analysis approach with the Hierarchical Linear Model statistic method to separate parent company attributes and subsidiary-owned attributes as two distinct levels. This method fills the gap in the literature by analyzing subsidiary performance and clarifying that foreign direct investment is a multi-level phenomenon that cannot be analyzed using a one-level analysis method.

International businesses play a significant role in the growth, innovation and survival of technology-based firms (TBFs). Creating new opportunities in international markets, using communication networks and confronting constraints on available resources have distinguished the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and intensified the importance of knowledge acquisition and continuous learning. This study aimed to (1) configure (the types and sources of) and (2) measure the internationalization knowledge of TBFs, by focusing on a knowledge-intensive part of the health industry in an emerging country: Iranian advanced medical equipment companies.

For this purpose, a qualitative approach was adopted to interview the leaders of eight TBFs exporting medical equipment. Obtained data were investigated using content analysis.

According to the content analysis results for configuration, technological knowledge and market knowledge were mainly obtained through direct experience and vicarious learning; however, internationalization knowledge is not so established as the third major knowledge area to integrate technological with market knowledge in line with corporate strategies of an internationalizing firm. For measurement of knowledge assets of internationalizing firms as a prerequisite for continuous improvement, several intellectual capital indices were extracted, including human, structural and relational capital.

This research complements existing literature in internationalization knowledge configuration via deploying an "Intellectual capital" perspective. It could enhance efforts for improving the learning of internationalizing SMEs, especially in the developing countries.

This paper relates the different motives for transferring employees internationally to the conduct of each major international strategy (multidomestic, global, and transnational), proposes seven hypotheses on these relationships, presents and discusses the results of a survey of heads of human resources or international operations in United States based companies, and concludes with theoretical and practitioner implications of the study and suggestions for future research. We found significant support for three hypotheses and directional support for two others.

The purpose of this paper is to challenge earlier recommendations and explanations regarding companies’ behaviour after an economic shock and analyses worldwide retail companies’ internationalization processes before and after the 2008 crisis.

Drawing on information published between 2003 and 2012, the authors focus on the 2008 crisis and analyse 1,500 different internationalization moves by 109 companies from 26 countries.

The analyses confirm that the pace of retail internationalization increased after the 2008 crisis, that these companies had mainly moved into countries with newly developing economies, and that the entry modes ranged from high-cost entry modes and low-cost strategies.

This paper provides an initial indication of retailers’ actual internationalization behaviour in the period considered. Such material has not been available previously as international retailing research has primarily focused on theoretical assumptions. By focusing on the current financial crisis, the authors highlight the problem that researchers investigating various company behaviours face when comparing these to the theoretical expectations. By using a worldwide, multisectorial, and longitudinal retailing sample to illustrate the internationalization process, the authors not only generalize companies’ internationalization behaviour, but also challenge earlier recommendations and explanations regarding their behaviour after an economic shock.

While corporate social responsibility (CSR) research and practice has expanded and evolved rapidly in recent years, little is known about how MNC subsidiaries develop their CSR strategies and how they reconcile global and local demands and pressures from both institutions and stakeholders. The paper aims to understand how institutions and stakeholder pressures interact at both national and international levels and how these interactions shape MNC subsidiaries' CSR in Bangladesh.

Multiple case studies were used to investigate the CSR practices of 10 MNC subsidiaries operating in Bangladesh. To collect data, twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted. For supplementing primary data, secondary data from annual reports and websites were collected.

The article demonstrates that the practice of CSR in Bangladesh is a result of pressures exerted by parent companies, international institutions and international stakeholders. The article reveals how lack of pressure from local stakeholders and institutions enables subsidiaries to gain traction and use their agency to apply globalised CSR conceptualisations not necessarily applicable to the localised context.

The study has synthesised existing approaches to develop a multilevel framework for understanding how the intricate interactions between institutions and stakeholders from different levels (i.e. national and international levels) determine the trajectory of CSR adopted by subsidiaries in developing countries. This interaction undoubtedly plays a key role in determining the types of CSR strategy being enacted, the potential agency of different actors to shape change and the extent to which such pressures are likely to lead to CSR strategies that actually reflect and respond to the needs of local stakeholders.

Russia is one of the fastest growing emerging economies and large Russian companies, mainly resource exporters, have entered the global markets in recent years. The internationalization process of Russian enterprises and its implications on foreign direct investment paradigms have attracted global interest. This paper studies the effect of internationalization on the performance of large Russian companies (state‐owned, privatized and de‐novo). The results show that international operations have a significant effect on company performance indicators. Companies with international operations have significantly higher profitability and labor productivity. However, profitability or labor productivity is not significantly higher in the early years of trade liberalization. The positive effects grow gradually with the integration of Russian companies to world markets. Specifically, the expansion of the de‐novo private sector has been strong.

The purpose of this paper is to design a system for measuring the level of internationalisation of companies in the field of developing countries, through latent variables based on multiple indicators, external and internal orientation.

From a sample of 112 international companies in Colombia, the methodology of latent variable analysis (LPA) is applied to a series of complementary tools, such as a model of structural equations, regression models and cluster analysis of companies.

The paper allows to verify the identification of six latent variables and their relationships, as well as to identify four levels of internationalisation from the structure of latent variables identified.

This is the first application of this recent and sophisticated statistical technique to the field of measuring the level of business internationalisation, especially indicated in the Latin American area, where an increasing number of companies are advancing in their process of international expansion.

Diseñar un sistema de medición del nivel de internacionalización de las empresas en el ámbito de los países en vías de desarrollo, mediante variables latentes basadas en múltiples indicadores, de orientación externa e interna.

A partir de una muestra de 112 empresas internacionales de Colombia, se aplica la metodología de Análisis de Variables Latentes (LPA) unod a una serie de herramientas complementarias, como un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales, modelos de regresión and análisis cluster de empresas.

Que permite verificar la identificación de seis variables latentes and sus relaciones, así como identificar cuatro niveles de internacionalización a partir de la estructura de variables latentes identificadas.

Se trata de la primera aplicación de esta reciente and sofisticada técnica estadística al ámbito de la medición del nivel de internacionalización empresarial, especialmente indicada en el ámbito latinoamericano, donde un creciente número de empresas están avanzando en su proceso de expansión internacional.

A longitudinal study of the international behaviour of Swedish suppliers is presented. Three different types of supplier are identified: simple suppliers, advanced suppliers, and own product suppliers. Factors influencing the internationalisation of these suppliers are discussed. It is concluded that the firms’ offer and the customers’ buying strategies influence the firms’ international behaviour. However, these factors do not determine the international strategies completely. Various entrepreneurs will choose various strategies. Three different types of entrepreneurs are identified: the marketing, technical, and structural entrepreneurs. The type of entrepreneur influences the firms’ international strategies in different directions.