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1 – 10 of 29Linghua Qin, Naveed Akhtar, Qamar Farooq and Syed Hussain Mustafa Gillani
Previous research features the international experience of managers in the decisions regarding internationalisation speed. However, the vitality of the role a chairperson plays in…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research features the international experience of managers in the decisions regarding internationalisation speed. However, the vitality of the role a chairperson plays in shaping the internationalisation decisions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from emerging economies is intriguing. Moreover, the decision-making process and leadership context of SME internationalisation are not fully understood. Drawing upon the upper echelons decision-making theory and the cognitive perspectives of decision, this paper examines the impact of a chairperson's previous experience on the post-entry speed of internationalisation, highlighting the conditioning effects of leadership contingencies – the functional variety and power of the chairperson.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a panel data set of Chinese SMEs active from 2010 to 2019 to test the research hypotheses. A feasible generalised least-squares estimator was applied to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results show that the international experience of a chairperson speeds up the depth and breadth of the post-entry speed of internationalisation. However, the strength of these relationships depends on the leadership context. The chairperson's functional variety alleviates the influence of international experience, whilst the power of the chairperson reinforces its impact.
Originality/value
The results show that the international experience of a chairperson speeds up the depth and breadth of the post-entry speed of internationalisation. However, the strength of these relationships depends on the leadership context. The chairperson's functional variety alleviates the influence of international experience, whilst the power of the chairperson reinforces its impact.
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Huifeng Bai, Jin Shi, Peng Song, Julie McColl, Christopher Moore and Ian Fillis
This empirical study aims to examine luxury fashion retailers' localised multiple channel distribution strategies in China.
Abstract
Purpose
This empirical study aims to examine luxury fashion retailers' localised multiple channel distribution strategies in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Through case studies of 15 participating retailers, qualitative data were collected from 33 semi-structured interviews.
Findings
Strong impacts of internationalisation strategies, distribution strategies and channel length towards multiple channel retailing are revealed. Multi-channel retailing is widely employed by firms who have entered China and further developed their businesses through local partnerships and adopted a selective distribution strategy via relatively longer channels. Omni-channel retailing is only suitable for the few retailers using an exclusive distribution strategy through direct marketing and wholly owned customer relationship management. As a dynamic transformation from multi- to omni-channel retailing, cross-channel retailing is adopted by those who are withdrawing from local partnerships and shifting to wholly owned expansions and operations in host markets.
Research limitations/implications
The results are potentially challenged by relatively small sample size.
Practical implications
Practitioners are suggested to adapt multiple channel retailing to their international expansion strategies, distribution strategies and channel length in the host markets.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature in both multiple channel retailing and international retailing by offering insights into the motives, development patterns and suitability of multiple channel retailing in the international retail marketing context.
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This perspective article aims to provide an overview of the interplay between international entrepreneurship and the dynamics of family businesses, with a particular focus on…
Abstract
Purpose
This perspective article aims to provide an overview of the interplay between international entrepreneurship and the dynamics of family businesses, with a particular focus on post-entry decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a short literature review.
Findings
The convergence of international entrepreneurship and family businesses presents a compelling area of study, where post-entry decisions serve as a critical yet underexplored facet. Post-entry decisions in international entrepreneurship for family-owned businesses encompass responses to international crises and shocks and strategies for de-internationalization, restructuring or market exit.
Originality/value
This article synthesizes existing research, highlighting the importance of studying post-entry decisions in the realm of international family businesses. It encourages scholars and practitioners to delve into the unique challenges faced by these firms, ultimately enriching the understanding of international entrepreneurship within the family business context and providing valuable insights for both theory and practice.
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Yang Li, Xianbao Huang and Kai Zhang
Although past studies have suggested that business-to-business (B2B) interfirm relationship management contributes to a firm’s omnichannel integration, little research has been…
Abstract
Purpose
Although past studies have suggested that business-to-business (B2B) interfirm relationship management contributes to a firm’s omnichannel integration, little research has been undertaken to reveal how that happens. This study aims to draw upon the relational view to propose a research model that associates interfirm information technology (IT) capability and interfirm trust with omnichannel integration through interfirm integration (i.e. authority integration and cooperative integration). Furthermore, this work considers a firm’s channel usage variety as the boundary condition of the interfirm integration’s influence.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model was examined using a seemingly unrelated regression of archival data and matched a survey of 324 Chinese omnichannel firms.
Findings
Interfirm IT capability positively relates to authority integration, and interfirm trust positively relates to cooperative integration. Authority integration and cooperative integration are both positively associated with omnichannel integration. A high level of channel usage variety strengthens the relationship between cooperative integration and omnichannel integration.
Originality/value
Prior literature has called for research on the factors influencing omnichannel integration within a B2B setting. This study answers this research call by examining interfirm IT capability, interfirm trust and interfirm integration as factors associated with omnichannel integration. This work also examines how channel usage variety regulates the relationship between interfirm integration and omnichannel integration.
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Telma Mendes, Vitor Braga and Carina Silva
This article aims to explore how cluster affiliation moderates the relationship between family involvement and speed of internationalization in family firms. The speed of…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to explore how cluster affiliation moderates the relationship between family involvement and speed of internationalization in family firms. The speed of internationalization is examined in terms of earliness and post-internationalization speed.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a sample of 639 Portuguese family businesses (FBs) created and internationalized between 2010 and 2018 that was retrieved from the Iberian Balance Analysis System – SABI database. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to assess the measurement and construct the model.
Findings
The results suggest that higher levels of family involvement in ownership and management make family firms enter on international markets in later stages of their development but, after the first international market entry, the firms are able to exhibit a higher post-internationalization speed. When considering the effect of cluster affiliation, the authors found that clustered FBs are more likely to engage in early internationalization and to accelerate the post-internationalization process than non-clustered FBs.
Originality/value
The study's findings are explained by the existence of socially proximate relationships with other cluster members, based on similarity, trust, knowledge exchange and sense of belonging, which push family firms to internationalize and increase their level of international commitment over time. The empirical evidence, therefore, highlights the primary role of industrial clusters in moderating the relationship between family involvement, earliness of internationalization and post-internationalization speed.
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Mehrzad Saeedikiya, Aidin Salamzadeh, Yashar Salamzadeh and Zeynab Aeeni
The current research aimed to investigate the external enablement role of Digital Infrastructures (DI) in the interplay of entrepreneurial cognitions and innovation.
Abstract
Purpose
The current research aimed to investigate the external enablement role of Digital Infrastructures (DI) in the interplay of entrepreneurial cognitions and innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) were used for analyses. This yielded a sample of 8,601 Generation Z entrepreneurs operating in 25 European countries.
Findings
Applying hierarchical moderated regressions showed that socio-cognitive components of an entrepreneurial mindset (self-efficacy, risk propensity, opportunity identification) affect innovation among Generation Z entrepreneurs. More importantly, DI plays an external enablement role in the interplay of cognitions and innovation among Generation Z entrepreneurs.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the socio-cognitive theory of entrepreneurship by integrating an external enablement perspective into the study of cognitions and entrepreneurial outcomes (here, innovation). It contributes to the digital technology perspective of entrepreneurship by connecting the conversation about the socio-cognitive perspective of entrepreneurship regarding the role of cognitions in innovation to the conversation in information systems (IS) regarding technology affordances and constraints. This study extends the application of the external enabler framework to the post-entry stage of entrepreneurial activity and integrates a generational perspective into it.
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Said Elbanna, Linda Hsieh, John Child, Rose Narooz, Svetla Marinova, Pushyarag Puthusserry, Joanna Karmowska, Terence Tsai and Yunlu Zhang
Drawing on an organizational learning perspective, this paper examines the effect of levels of foreign market involvement (intensity and geographic spread) on internationalization…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on an organizational learning perspective, this paper examines the effect of levels of foreign market involvement (intensity and geographic spread) on internationalization outcomes recognizing that the moderating influence of entry-mode learning potential is not well documented in the literature on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The sample includes 180 SMEs evenly selected from three industries: biotechnology, software and clothing (60 firms in each industry). The sampled firms employ less than 250 employees and are equally distributed between three developed economies and three emerging economies. All were engaged in foreign business.
Findings
The authors find that there is a direct relationship between levels of foreign market involvement and internationalization outcomes. Entry-mode learning potential moderates the relationship between intensity of foreign market involvement and internationalization outcomes but not the relationship between geographic spread and internationalization outcomes.
Practical implications
This study reveals several new insights that help explain the pathway through which foreign market involvement activities are translated into internationalization outcomes.
Originality/value
The authors conclude that the positive relationship between intensity of foreign market involvement and internationalization outcomes is strengthened when SMEs also use an entry mode with a higher learning potential than exporting only.
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Morten Balle Hansen, Anja Overggaard Thomassen and Dag Olaf Torjesen
Jie Yu, Changjun Yi and Huiyun Shen
This paper aims to study whether the adoption of an entry mode that fits the social trust level contributes to the improvement of foreign subsidiary performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study whether the adoption of an entry mode that fits the social trust level contributes to the improvement of foreign subsidiary performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used the Probit model, linear regression, strategic fit approach and instrumental variable regression. The sample was made up of 11,095 observations of Chinese multinational enterprises' foreign subsidiaries in 54 countries from 2005 to 2020.
Findings
The results suggest that a host country with a high level of social trust results in fewer difficulties for enterprises in gaining legitimacy, thus foreign subsidiaries are more likely to select the wholly owned entry mode. The results also show that the effect is contingent on the formal institutions of host countries. The results of the mechanism test suggest that social trust influences subsidiaries' entry mode choice by reducing information asymmetry, costs and uncertainty risks. This study further finds that selecting a fit entry mode based on social trust level substantially increases foreign subsidiary performance and this effect is more significant when multinational enterprises (MNEs) are state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this paper is its only focus on foreign subsidiaries of Chinese MNEs, which may limit the generalizability of research findings.
Originality/value
This paper responds to the call for conducting more research on informal institutions. Findings highlight the critical role of informal institutions in helping foreign subsidiaries in gaining legitimacy in host countries and the essentialness of selecting a fit entry mode based on the informal institutions of host countries for the development of foreign subsidiaries.
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This paper aims to provide a brief review of the work on startup survival and a conceptual framework of factors influencing a startup firm’s survival. In addition, it lists…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a brief review of the work on startup survival and a conceptual framework of factors influencing a startup firm’s survival. In addition, it lists significant gaps and recommends avenues for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducted a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles indexed in Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCO databases using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A total of 140 articles published in 72 journals between 1993 and 2021 were considered for the review.
Findings
The comprehensive review revealed that most of the studies have applied a single theoretical lens and have taken place in advanced economies, with a narrow focus on emerging economies. Empirical research has prominently applied regression-based models to analyse the relationship between the antecedents and the outcomes. Internal resources such as human capital, financial capital and physical capital and non-financial performance measures such as survival, growth and employment are the studies’ prominently used antecedents and outcome variables. However, a limited number of studies have used mechanisms of mediation and moderation.
Originality/value
Despite the substantial scientific and practical discussion on startup survival, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no comprehensive review has been undertaken to date, which provides a systematic and comprehensive compilation of the knowledge on the topic. This study aims to develop a unique landscape of scientific advancement by methodically reviewing, categorising and synthesising the current body of knowledge on the topic.
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