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1 – 10 of over 4000Maria João Guedes, Nuno Fernandes Crespo and Pankaj C. Patel
Building on contingency theory, this paper aims to investigate the extent to which the “4Ps international adaptation strategy” and internationalization intensity shape the…
Abstract
Purpose
Building on contingency theory, this paper aims to investigate the extent to which the “4Ps international adaptation strategy” and internationalization intensity shape the servitization–profitability relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use primary (survey) and secondary (archival) data to perform multiple regression analysis.
Findings
The results indicate a positive relationship between servitization and profitability, and international intensity strengthens this association. The effects, however, are not consistent across the 4Ps – the price international adaptation strategy strengthens the positive relationship between servitization and profitability, while product and place international adaptation strategies weaken that relationship.
Practical implications
The findings have implications for the role of international intensity and the 4Ps in the marketing servitization context.
Originality/value
The study provides guidance for small firms in realizing higher performance by leveraging the 4Ps in the servitization context. Counter to expectations, placement and product lead to lower performance with increasing servitization, whereas price strengthens this relationship. The study adds to the international industrial management and marketing literature, providing evidence that contingency factors such as international marketing mix adaptation/standardization strategies moderate the servitization–profitability relationship.
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Mariola Ciszewska-Mlinarič, Dariusz Siemieniako and Piotr Wójcik
This paper contributes to studies on the relationship between dynamic capabilities (DCs) and performance by showing how domain-specific DCs – international dynamic marketing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper contributes to studies on the relationship between dynamic capabilities (DCs) and performance by showing how domain-specific DCs – international dynamic marketing capabilities (IDMCs) – affect the international performance of exporting firms in the context of extreme environmental dynamism – during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors focus on a sample of 277 exporting manufacturers from the post-transition economy of Poland. The authors use hierarchical multiple regression analysis to test this study's hypotheses.
Findings
This study's findings show that deployment of IDMCs by export manufacturers in the context of environmental jolts contributes to better performance, and this relationship is mediated by adaptation to foreign markets and product development capability. Additionally, this study's results reveal that the significant and positive indirect effect of IDMCs on international performance (through mediators) is, however, weakened under conditions of extreme environmental dynamism.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations pertain to the cross-sectional nature of this study and the research sample, characterised by the dominance of export manufacturers of final products, the dominance of manufacturers operating in the business-to-business sector, or in the business-to-business and business-to-customer sectors simultaneously.
Practical implications
The study provides suggestions to managers on how to build resilience in international markets during turbulent times. These activities involve investments in IDMCs that support activities centred around product development and adaptation to foreign markets.
Originality/value
The novel construct of IDMCs is introduced and operationalized. The study empirically tests the direct and indirect relationship between IDMCs and performance contingent upon extreme environmental dynamism. The results demonstrate the boundary conditions for the effectiveness of these domain-specific DCs in such a research setting.
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Muhammad Nouman, Karim Ullah, Shafiullah Jan and Farman Ullah Khan
Islamic banking has undergone significant adaption since its inception. This study aims to investigate why and how Islamic banks adapt their services, using participatory…
Abstract
Purpose
Islamic banking has undergone significant adaption since its inception. This study aims to investigate why and how Islamic banks adapt their services, using participatory financing as evidence.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study is designed, using working capital financing and commodity operations financing in Pakistan as analytical units. The data for each analytical unit is analyzed using a qualitative content analysis, while the findings are synthesized using a cross-case synthesis method.
Findings
Findings suggest that participatory financing has undergone extensive adaptation in the Islamic banking industry of Pakistan, in the wake of resolving constraints to participatory financing and increasing its viability. Consequently, participatory finance has emerged as an attractive and viable option in Pakistan. These findings suggest that unlike in the past, where Islamic banks used to buffer themselves from the environment and ignore the market demands, they have learned to respond effectively to the market demands and the challenges posed by the environment.
Research limitations/implications
Findings suggest that the adaptation strategy is more effective than the migration strategy, because it enables the financial service systems to reduce the underlying risks by avoiding emergent threats and eradicating the inherent weaknesses.
Originality/value
The extant literature provides a generalized view on the adaptation process that Islamic banks undergo to comply with their environment. However, it is limited in terms of conceptualizing the adaptations and innovations in their products and the underlying structural variations. The present study fills this gap.
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Fatma Demirağ and Aydın Kayabaşı
The Uppsala internationalization model is one of the widely accepted models for the development of exports. This model suggests that the explanation of relations between psychic…
Abstract
Purpose
The Uppsala internationalization model is one of the widely accepted models for the development of exports. This model suggests that the explanation of relations between psychic distance, its antecedents and marketing mix adaptation would lead to successful export practices. Consequently, this study aims to determine the determinants of export performance, antecedents of psychic distance and marketing mix adaptation.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a mixed-methods research design in which qualitative and quantitative research methods were used together. The face-to-face interview method was used to identify the psychic distance antecedents. The face-to-face interview was with eight Turkish exporting firms. Based on the data obtained from face-to-face interviews, a scale for measuring the antecedents of psychic distance has been developed and used in the quantitative study. The scales used for measuring marketing mix adaptation, export performance and psychic distance perception, which has both individual and country dimensions, were adapted from the literature. Data were collected from 221 Turkish exporting companies for quantitative research. Structural equation modeling was used to test relationships between the variables.
Findings
As a result of the data analysis of face-to-face interviews, six antecedents of psychic distance were determined. According to the subsequent quantitative research results, it has been determined that employee expertise, which is one of the antecedents of psychic distance, only affects the country dimension of psychic distance perception; the cooperation, institutionalization and international market experience affect both the country and individual dimensions of psychic distance perception. The country and individual dimensions of psychic distance were found to have an impact on the product, price, promotion and distribution dimensions of marketing mix adaptation. Only the product dimension of marketing mix adaption was found to affect export performance.
Practical implications
This study offers a comprehensive perspective for both theoretical and practical studies by discussing various aspects that would help improve the exporting activities of firms within the scope of antecedents of perceived psychic distance.
Originality/value
In this research, a scale was developed for measuring the antecedents of psychic distance, and the variables affecting export performance were analyzed holistically.
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Sara Dassouli, Virginia Bodolica, Harit Satt and Mohamed M'hamdi
This paper aims to examine the specific role that partnerships play in the relationship between adaptation strategy, international experience, and export performance of handicraft…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the specific role that partnerships play in the relationship between adaptation strategy, international experience, and export performance of handicraft firms in an emerging country setting. The authors' purpose is to identify the key factors that may contribute to the success of export activities of small handicraft companies in international markets.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on a non-probability sampling technique, the authors collected survey data from 410 handicraft companies located in Morocco. The authors' conceptual model, which draws on the network theory, was tested using covariance-based Structural Equation Modeling by means of AMOS 24 Software.
Findings
The results indicate that adaptation marketing strategy and partnerships impact positively the export performance of handicraft firms. Partnerships also play an intermediary role by partially (fully) mediating the relationship between adaptation strategy (international experience) and export performance.
Practical implications
This study may assist marketers and entrepreneurs in handicraft companies to better understand the causal relationship between adaptation strategy, marketing experience and export performance of entrepreneurs' firms. Managers in these companies should be aware of the importance that partnerships play in boosting the export performance through marketing practices and experience.
Originality/value
The authors' paper contributes to the scant literature on the adaptation marketing strategy and export performance and the intermediary role of partnerships in the specific context of handicraft businesses operating in North African emerging markets, namely Morocco.
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Sarah Franz, Axele Giroud and Inge Ivarsson
This study aims to analyse how multinational corporations (MNCs) organise value chain activities to penetrate new market segments. It contributes by expanding traditional…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse how multinational corporations (MNCs) organise value chain activities to penetrate new market segments. It contributes by expanding traditional decisions regarding the vertical fine-slicing of value chain activities (whether performed internally or externally) and the consideration of resource-sharing decisions (integration or separation) for each value chain function.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on primary data collected from two case study firms operating in the large emerging Chinese market: Volvo Construction Equipment AB and Epiroc AB. In-depth cases illustrate how foreign MNCs expand into new market segments and simultaneously target both the lower-priced mid-market and the premium segments in the Chinese mining and construction industry.
Findings
The results reveal that product diversification creates challenges for managers who must oversee new (vertical) value chains, often simultaneously. Beyond geography and modes of governance, managers must decide whether to integrate or separate value chain activities for the new product lines. The study identifies four main strategic choices for firms to address this complexity, focusing on the decision to internalise or externalise (i.e. within or across organisational boundaries) and integrate or separate value chain activities between different product lines.
Originality/value
This study builds upon the internalisation theory and recent international business contributions that focus on value chain configurations to explain MNCs’ product diversification as a growth strategy in a host emerging market. It also sheds light on the choice of conducting new activities in-house or externally and elucidates firms’ managerial decisions to operationally integrate or separate individual value chain activities. The study provides insights into the drivers explaining managerial decisions to configure value chain activities across product lines and contributes to the growing body of literature on MNC activities in emerging economies by highlighting that product diversification impacts entry mode diversity and resource sharing across units.
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Engaging in international business (IB) is a particular challenge to small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), representing a condition to ensure growth and longevity. Due to their…
Abstract
Purpose
Engaging in international business (IB) is a particular challenge to small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), representing a condition to ensure growth and longevity. Due to their limitations of tangible resources, these companies make use of their levels of knowledge and capabilities to reach new markets. This study seeks to ascertain the role, the typologies of the knowledge and capabilities required for access to IB, and how benefits may arise for SMEs from their international experience.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve these objectives, the authors ground the insights on a qualitative study that gathered data from ten semi-structured interviews with leading entrepreneurs engaged in IB. The data were analysed resorting to the QSR Nvivo software.
Findings
The results demonstrate how (1) knowledge and the development of dynamic capabilities all represent determinant facets to engaging in IB and that (2) the knowledge and learning capabilities acquired and developed in IB context also result in positive returns in domestic markets.
Originality/value
Despite the rising of IB studies, the interaction between knowledge and capabilities from the perspective of accessing international markets has not received attention enough from scholars. The authors argue that both constructs must act together to reach and maximize the IB of SMEs and provide evidence that engagement abroad brings several other advantages beyond economic returns.
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Aleksandra Selezneva, Anna Veselova and Amitabh Anand
The paper presents a systematic literature review on business model transformation (BMT). The aim of the study is to determine the main research streams in BMT literature, develop…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper presents a systematic literature review on business model transformation (BMT). The aim of the study is to determine the main research streams in BMT literature, develop a conceptual model on BMT research, and identify potential directions for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use systematic literature review approach and provide a detailed protocol to meet reliability requirements. The study is based on the multilayer in-depth analysis of 92 articles published in leading international journal in general management, international business, strategy, innovation, and organization studies.
Findings
The paper identifies a crucial importance of further research on BMT with regards to the context specificity of a company's country of origin, transformation of value delivery and value capture blocks of BMs, entrepreneurial techniques of BMT management, and international aspects of BMT.
Originality/value
By a means of systematic literature review, the paper envisages the current state of knowledge about BMT, traces the development of BMT research, classifies it, and identifies potential directions for future inquiries.
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Karim Marini Thomé, Vitoria Angie Leal Paiva and Tafarel Carvalho de Gois
This paper aims to analyse the wine market in relation to international competitiveness and international market structure.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the wine market in relation to international competitiveness and international market structure.
Design/methodology/approach
To describe the international market structure, this paper uses Herfindahl–Hirschman Index and Net Export Index to measure export competitiveness revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA). Finally, survival function analyses were developed using the Kaplan–Meier product-limit estimator to characterise the stability and duration of the competitiveness in the international wine market of each country and after they were grouped into Old and New World wine-exporting countries, and Wilcoxon and the Log-rank tests were used to compare the survivor functions.
Findings
The findings have revealed that the import market structure has remained unconcentrated, whereas the export market structure is moderately concentrated. Concerning trade characteristics, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, Portugal, Argentina, South Africa and Georgia are exporters. Austria is a trader (re-exporter), and the USA, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands are importers with strong domestic consumption. Regarding the RSCA, the New and Old World wine-exporting countries have high scores, specifically France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, Portugal, Argentina, South Africa and Georgia. However, the advantages have weakened for most of the countries analysed. Only a few Old World wine-exporting counties (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Georgia) have demonstrated stable comparative advantages over time. However, when grouped into Old World and New World, their survivor functions present little statistical differentiation during the period.
Originality/value
The originality of the paper is that it applies the industrial organisation and comparative advantage approaches to the wine international market, highlighting the top global players. The paper also makes valuable contributions to the wine literature by analysing the duration and stability of comparative advantage in the worldwide wine trade at a country level and comparing them grouped into Old and New World wine-exporting countries.
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Antonios Georgopoulos, Eleftherios Aggelopoulos, Elen Paraskevi Paraschi and Maria Kalogera
This paper aims to examine the effect of R&D laboratories on the perceived performance of MNE subsidiaries during recession.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the effect of R&D laboratories on the perceived performance of MNE subsidiaries during recession.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing resource-based view and knowledge-based theory, the authors investigate a unique sample of 171 technologically heterogenous foreign MNE subsidiaries located in Greece over the period of recession 2009–2016. The sample subsidiaries operate different types of R&D laboratories.
Findings
The authors find that MNE subsidiaries with advanced R&D laboratories such as locally integrated laboratories (LILs) and internationally interdependent laboratories (IILs) perform better in recession than subsidiaries with support laboratories (SLs) or subsidiaries without R&D laboratories. Overall, the authors find an asymmetric performance contribution of R&D laboratories at subsidiary level.
Originality/value
The study provides useful insights into the environmentally derived “knowledge-based - performance” context, so filling an important research gap, since little is known about the performance impact of the input-side of technological activity at MNE subsidiary level, especially as regards R&D facilities/infrastructure. Based on the findings the authors identify important managerial implications.
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