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The objective is to determine if there are groups of subsidiaries that are different in regard to the implementation of strategies, structures, and processes and the transfer of marketing knowledge in emerging markets.

A survey with 101 largest foreign subsidiaries located in Brazil was conducted. The data collection process was conducted online and by telephone.

Three subsidiary groups based on the configuration of their international marketing activities were characterized: Cluster 1, called “Subsidiary with Knowledge Marketing Activities”; Cluster 2, called “Subsidiaries with Global Marketing Activities”; and Cluster 3, called “Subsidiaries with Local Marketing Activities.” Compared to the two other groups, Cluster 1 is the group with the minor number of companies, but it has a better strategic performance than other clusters.

This study was developed in only one emerging country, Brazil, and with 101 subsidiaries from MNCs. This could be extended to other countries, such as China, Russia, India, and Turkey and with more subsidiaries. Related to the construct measurements, one limitation is the qualitative measure of performance.

Subsidiaries that work with global marketing should pool their efforts to create and transfer marketing knowledge to improve their performance. Subsidiaries with local marketing activities may even perform more satisfactorily in the short term, but they should concern to contribute to the overall competitive edge of the corporation.

The discussion about marketing in emerging markets and the way in which the transfer of marketing knowledge can be reflected in the performance.

The received Austrian theory of entrepreneurship is considered in light of the generation of knowledge. It is suggested that learning involving more than the discovery of profit opportunities provides a way to endogenize knowledge and to expand the scope of entrepreneurial activity. The theoretical and applied aspects for entrepreneurial studies of this approach are discussed.

Adopting a knowledge-based view of the firm, this chapter explores how different contents of firm-level entrepreneurship may influence performance of SMEs in moderately dynamic industries, which represent the bulk of economic activity in several countries. More specifically, this study aims, first, at identifying what types of entrepreneurial behavior – new-market entry, new-product development, diversification – are more suitable in order to survive and prosper in industries characterized by moderate growth and dynamism. Second, the analysis aims at assessing whether knowledge sharing is to be promoted in order to successfully compete in these industries. Third, the study aims at identifying which type of knowledge – market knowledge or technology knowledge – is most needed to develop entrepreneurial behavior and performance in low-growth industrial contexts. Following a knowledge-driven approach, we propose a view on corporate renewal that may complement current streams of research focused on large firms in high-velocity settings. Emerging results contribute to advancing the literature on entrepreneurial renewal by providing both an investigation of such behaviors within an industrial setting different from the high-growth, high-technology industries in which investigations have been conducted so far, and by suggesting that rich insights may be gained by investigating entrepreneurial recombinations within smaller firms that operate in less-dynamic contexts.

Firms with market foresight – knowledge of market changes ahead of competitors – can convert that knowledge into creative and timely new product offerings. Based on a discovery-oriented process, working closely with managers throughout the research process, we develop and test a framework delineating market information determinants and new product outcomes of market foresight.

Using data collected primarily from senior executives of industrial manufacturers, the hypotheses were tested using partial least squares.

The results indicate that external (active scanning, lead user collaboration, and market experiments) and internal sources (boundary spanner input and interdepartmental connectedness) of market information positively affect market foresight. Further, the effects of active scanning, market experiments, and interdepartmental connectedness on market foresight are positively moderated by the organization’s open-mindedness. These findings also provide evidence that firms with superior market foresight develop more creative products, introduce them to the market faster, and introduce them at a more opportune time.

Our findings demonstrate that managers’ knowledge of market changes ahead of competitors is enhanced through acquiring both external and internal sources of market information. Furthermore, market foresight is significantly enhanced by managers being open-minded to the information gained from these sources as it may challenge long-held assumptions.

This chapter introduces a new construct, market foresight capability, to the literature that will aid managers in developing greater insight into emerging shifts in the market. For researchers, this new line of inquiry expands our understanding as to the critical sources and new product outcomes of obtaining future-focused market information.

Business networks are of critical importance to firms and essential to the internationalisation of born-global and international new venture firms. Networking literature focuses on what are, generally, co-operative relationships and their effects between actors, activities and resources and illustrate the importance of quality and change in the networking process. Utilising Fletcher and Harris’ (2012) framework for understanding knowledge acquisition processes in internationalisation, this study investigates the importance of direct and indirect roles played by third parties in the networking for internationalisation processes of three different firm types within the knowledge-based natural health products (NHPs) (pharmaceutical) sector in Canada. The research presented here examines nine case studies of Canadian NHP firms and reveals that they utilised all network-related internationalisation processes simultaneously to internationalise including Johanson and Mattsson’s (1988, 1994) network theory, Johanson and Vahlne’s (2003) updated the Uppsala Model and the resource-based perspective on network theory (Ruzzier et al., 2006). They networked with and extensively utilised third parties, including government bodies, trade associations, government advisors, consultants and other domestic networks with international ties, in Canada and internationally to gain technical, market and internationalisation knowledge, and direct and indirect experiential knowledge which contributed to the internationalisation process confirming the study by Fletcher and Harris (2012). In a departure from the literature, this study found that weak ties (Granovetter, 1973) developed with third parties who were new to the networks allowed the NHP firms to develop competitive advantages necessary for them to overcome the liability of outsidership in entering new international markets. The type of technical, market and internationalisation knowledge gained, its content and the direct and indirect sources of knowledge from third parties were all shown to contribute to the internationalisation process.

Is a born-global strategy reflective of high performance or are there merits in a regional strategy? In studying a sample of 32 internationalizing small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we find that many of the early internationalizing firms that formally meet the accepted “born-global criteria” are actually regional. With this concept as a starting point, this study aims to contribute to the literature on early internationalizing firms by comparing how born globals (BGs) and born regionals (BRs) differ in terms of the liability of foreignness, networking activities and performance. Our results indicate that both liability of foreignness and knowledge development in networks is more challenging for BGs than for BRs, and for this reason, BRs are likely to perform better than BGs. Hence, we identify a “born global disadvantage” stemming from a lack in the capacity of acquiring relevant foreign-market knowledge and tackling foreign-market institutions. The implications of the study highlight the need for researchers and practitioners to be more careful when using the concept of BG and to acknowledge that differences do exist between regional and global business strategies.

The rising opportunities in emerging countries have attracted numerous multinational corporations to invest in the new regimes. Knowledge management between headquarters and their foreign subsidiaries, thus, becomes particularly crucial in navigating host country environmental uncertainties. Despite its criticality, how foreign subsidiaries can benefit from effectively managing knowledge remains unclear. This study examines the extent to which market and technological turbulences influence two specific knowledge management platforms, knowledge transfer and knowledge codification, and subsequently, market responsiveness of foreign subsidiaries. Results from a survey of 140 foreign subsidiaries in China show that knowledge transfer and knowledge codification serve as two important platforms to mitigate the effects of environmental turbulence on local market responsiveness.

The study this chapter reports focuses on how network theory contributes to the understanding of the internationalization process of SMEs and measures the effect of network capability on performance in international trade and has three research objectives.

The first objective of the study relates to providing new insights into the international market development activities through the application of a network perspective. The chapter reviews the international business literature to ascertain the development of thought, the research gaps, and the shortcomings. This review shows that the network perspective is a useful and popular theoretical domain that researchers can use to understand international activities, particularly of small, high technology, resource-constrained firms.

The second research objective is to gain a deeper understanding of network capability. This chapter presents a model for the impact of network capability on international performance by building on the emerging literature on the dynamic capabilities view of the firm. The model conceptualizes network capability in terms of network characteristics, network operation, and network resources. Network characteristics comprise strong and weak ties (operationalized as foreign-market entry modes), relational capability, and the level of trust between partners. Network operation focuses on network initiation, network coordination, and network learning capabilities. Network resources comprise network human-capital resources, synergy-sensitive resources (resource combinations within the network), and information sharing within the network.

The third research objective is to determine the impact of networking capability on the international performance of SMEs. The study analyzes 11 hypotheses through structural equations modeling using LISREL. The hypotheses relate to strong and weak ties, the relative strength of strong ties over weak ties, and each of the eight remaining constructs of networking capability in the study. The research conducts a cross-sectional study by using a sample of SMEs drawn from the telecommunications industry in Ireland.

The study supports the hypothesis that strong ties are more influential on international performance than weak ties. Similarly, network coordination and human-capital resources have a positive and significant association with international performance. Strong ties, weak ties, trust, network initiation, synergy-sensitive resources, relational capability, network learning, and information sharing do not have a significant association with international performance. The results of this study are strong (R2=0.63 for performance as the outcome) and provide a number of interesting insights into the relations between collaboration or networking capability and performance.

This study provides managers and policy makers with an improved understanding of the contingent effects of networks to highlight situations where networks might have limited, zero, or even negative effects on business outcomes. The study cautions against the tendency to interpret networks as universally beneficial to business development and performance outcomes.

The platform economy reflects the business model of some of the largest and fastest-growing firms in the economy. Platform business models emerge and thrive because of the potential profit in taking advantage of transactions cost reductions to connect people for mutual benefit, and this value creation is best understood by thinking about the epistemology of decentralized market processes. Three essential aspects of knowledge are relevant to platform business models: (1) knowledge can be private and diffuse; (2) knowledge can be contextual; and (3) knowledge may not exist outside of the economic process. After defining and analyzing the technology, economic, and institutional aspects of platforms the author defines and applies market epistemology to explore how platforms harness technological and organizational features to create value-enhancing market platforms by exploiting the epistemic benefits of technology-enabled decentralized market processes. The author concludes by using this epistemic framework to propose an electricity distribution platform business model – the retail electricity industry is undergoing a process of technological dynamism, and as a regulated infrastructure industry, evolving into a decentralized market industry is presenting challenges to which this epistemic framework can bring increased understanding.