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The purpose of this paper is to decompose the historical and conceptual basis of the Free-Standing Company (FSC) in international business history. This is used to critique the FSC concept. The paper then provides a new framework to explain the lifecycle of these firms in a theoretically sensitive way.

The paper is conceptual. The argument is developed through a critical reading of the existing literature.

The central argument presented is that the FSC concept is ahistorical and cannot fully explain the firms it considers over time. An alternative approach is proposed.

The paper does not present new (archival) historical evidence.

The central contribution/ambition of the paper is to advance the theoretical understanding of international firms of considerable historical importance. The ambition of the paper is to help renew research into this important historical organizational form that speaks directly to the ability of historical research to help advance international business theory.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect back over his career as a management and business historian so far as to consider opportunities for the future of management and business history as a disciplinary area.

The paper consists of two segments – the first half is an auto-ethnographic personal reflection looking at the author’s research journey and how the discipline as experienced by the author has evolved over that time. The second half is a prescriptive look forward to consider how we should leverage the strengths as historians to progress the discipline forward.

The paper demonstrates opportunities for management and business history to encompass new agendas including the expansion of the topic into teaching, the possibility for the advancement of empirical contributions and opportunities for findings in new research areas, including the global south and public and project management history.

The paper demonstrates that historians should be more confident in the disciplinary capabilities, particularly their understandings of historic context, continuity, change and chronologies when making empirical and theoretical contributions.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of major structural changes on the conceptualization of the transnational corporation (TNC) based on foreign direct investment (FDI) and on indicators of transnationality.

Analysis of three major structural changes which impact the current conception of transnationality. They are: the rise of digital companies; the increased role of finance in the economy; externalization of activities via non-equity modalities (NEMs) with an impact on FDI and on the labour market.

The paper finds that the current concept of transnationality needs widening to take account of companies with a low degree of fixed assets abroad such as the digital and the financial companies and those internationalizing via NEMs, as well as to take account of the evolving relationship between TNCs and labour.

Future research along the lines proposed should consider: working explicitly with the new, inclusive concept of transnationality and arrive at an empirical estimate of the proposed indices of transnationality which modify and amplify the current United Nations Conference on Trade and Development indices.

Useful for understanding the nature of transnationality in the twenty-first century and for developing policies.

The paper proposes a new concept of transnationality and of the TNC, one that allows for new ways of organizing direct business activities abroad. It also proposes broadening the list of indicators of transnationality.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of individual traits and attributes on the entrepreneurial and internationalization actions of Australian businesswomen, many of whom run small businesses.

This study is exploratory and quantitative, based on a questionnaire survey of 323 Australian businesswomen. Drawing upon the extant literature on internationalization, gender and entrepreneurship, the study explores two micro-foundational relationships of interest – personality and capability assessment differences between female business owners and their employed counterparts, and the impact of such traits and assessments on their internationalization. A further question is explored in terms of any differentials in perceptions of barriers in internationalization.

The findings show key personality dimensions do not differ dramatically between Australian businesswomen working in their own businesses (i.e. entrepreneurs) or as employees in organizations, while there are surprisingly few differences between women who are engaged internationally and those yet to do so. When comparing the female entrepreneurs and employees, in particular, the findings around tolerance for ambiguity and management efficacy are notably counterintuitive. This leads to the development of testable propositions to refine the causal claims in this domain.

The study calls into question the distinctiveness of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial endeavors, at least for female businesswomen.

By including entrepreneurs and employees, women who have engaged internationally and those that are yet to do so, the study avoids some of the potential self-selection and confirmation biases inherent in studies of only entrepreneurs or small business owners. The investigation of individual traits, attributes and experiences as micro-foundations for internationalization motivations challenges existing theories of small business expansion.

This paper aims to examine whether firms in polluting industries improve their environmental performance to effectively repair their financial reputation in the aftermath of an accounting restatement – a financial reputation-damaging event.

The authors test their hypotheses using multiple regression analysis of a sample of firms listed in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)-adopting countries. They use a comparative empirical design in which a sample of firms that underwent a restatement (henceforth, restating firms) are compared with control groups of pair- and multiple-matched firms that did not undergo restatements (non-restating firms).

The study finds that restating firms have higher environmental performance in the aftermath of restatement events. Additionally, the authors demonstrate that this environmentally based reputation repair positively influences the financial reputation of the firms, as measured by analyst coverage and recommendations and which previously decreased because of the restatement event.

Because environmental levers are a substantial contextual factor in polluting industries, shifting the stakeholder debate to firms’ environmental commitment can improve financial stakeholders’ opinions and favour the repair of the multifaceted reputation of the financially damaged firm.

With a worldwide growing attention to environment there is a critical need for understanding how polluting firms integrate sustainability and financial reputation. We demostrate that polluting firms recover from a financial failure pursuing their environmental performance.

Contributing to the behavioural theory of reputation repair and in line with the legitimacy perspective in environmental disclosure research, this paper shows that polluting firms recover from a loss to their financial reputation by diverting stakeholders’ attention towards the environmental field, thus restoring their financial reputation, as financial analysts value environmental performance improvement – a substantial contextual factor of polluting firms’ reputation repair process.

This paper aims to analyze the governance-related and financial determinants and consequences of corporate social responsibility assurance (CSRA).

Based on a legitimacy theoretical framework and on the business case argument, the author conducts a structured literature review and includes 66 quantitative peer-reviewed empirical (archival) studies on key CSRA proxies (CSRA adoption, choice of CSR assuror and CSRA quality).

In line with the business case for CSRA, the literature review indicates that internal corporate governance, country-related governance and specific financial determinants as reporting, firm size and industry (sensitivity) have a positive impact on CSRA adoption.

A detailed analysis of CSRA proxies is needed in future archival research to differentiate between symbolic and substantive use of CSRA. In view of the current regulatory initiatives on CSR reporting and their decision usefulness, future research should also analyze in greater depth CSRA proxies as moderator and mediator variables.

With regard to the increased stakeholder demand on CSRA after the financial crisis of 2008–2009, firms should be aware of the value-added of CSRA to increase the decision usefulness of their CSR reports and firm reputation.

The analysis makes useful contributions to prior literature by focussing on empirical quantitative (archival) research method, structuring research on the business case for CSRA with respect to its governance and financial determinants and consequences for firms and stressing moderator analysis in archival CSRA research.

THE Annual Meeting of the Library Association will have taken place before our nest issue is published, so, with three weeks still ahead, comment upon it here is necessary. As Mr. Berwick Sayers's reminiscent article on another page shows, it is the third conference to be held at Brighton and judging from the success the first two achieved the third should be as good. Brighton has a particularly tonic effect on its visitors which is often reflected in the debates. The subjects to be dealt with concern the aftermath in the main and are in good hands. A novelty is a paper on the first day. It is to be by Mr. T. E. Callender on the uses in libraries of punched cards; we mention this as mechanization will come in librarianship as in accountancy. All the details of the other papers have not reached us yet, which is a pity as members should always know early exactly why they confer and about what. There are, however, the difficulties of getting the papers from their writers, and the speed of publishing—need we say it?—is not what it was. There are also difficulties which exclude more excursions. Not all desire them, however, and Brighton affords as many means of diversion as members are likely to find time to enjoy.