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Prior studies on product standardization–adaptation in multinational corporations (MNCs) have revealed environmental factors that can influence the choices of MNCs. However, these studies have not shown how these choices are made behind the scenes in new product development (NPD). In many industries, MNCs face the dual pressures for product standardization and adaptation from the environment. This study aims to explore how MNCs facing dual pressures can make choices of product standardization–adaptation in NPD.

A qualitative case study of four high-performing MNCs was conducted. The four MNCs were selected using the theoretical sampling approach. Data were collected, mainly through 74 semi-structured interviews. Coding was conducted and four aggregate dimensions were generated.

This study reveals that choices of product standardization–adaptation are made through a process in MNCs’ NPD, including four steps – organizing for NPD, organizational diversity, cross-unit integration and combination of design practices. In addition, MNCs adopt different process variants to address different environmental pressures.

This research focuses on high-performing MNCs in manufacturing industries. Future research can explore different types of firms.

Managers in MNCs should focus more on the process of choices for product standardization–adaptation, than on the level of product standardization–adaptation. They should also keep monitoring the environmental pressure and employ experienced engineers.

By focusing on NPD, the authors shift the attention from product standardization–adaptation to product feature standardization–adaptation in MNCs, which is a fresh and refined perspective. The authors show a process in NPD composed of activities and mechanisms that managers might use for handling product standardization–adaptation challenges in MNCs. The authors contribute to the area of cross-unit integration in MNCs’ NPD by revealing mental mechanisms for mitigating tensions in cross-unit interactions.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how two multinational companies (MNCs) faced the challenge of market uncertainty and political instability in a newly emerging market, and how it affected the impact of their product marketing strategy (PMS) and product (brand) performance.

A comparative longitudinal paired case study of a market entry by two global MNCs. Twelve global brands (products) were studied, which were locally manufactured and launched by the two MNCs during their first ten years of operation in Vietnam.

The authors approached the investigation from a conventional point of view: standardization versus adaptation. The results showed that in addition to these two traditional processes, a third one was also operating, which the authors labeled semi-adaptation, or the midway PMS. Semi-adaptation refers to a product that has been introduced to Vietnam from a neighboring country.

This research is based on two European MNCs active in the food and consumer-household goods industry in a newly emerging market: Vietnam.

This primary data indicate that the product standardization, semi-adaptation and adaptation process in practice is a technique applied to fit a product to a newly emerging market more by degree of change than by product category.

This paper supports a recent stream of research, which views Standardization or Adaptation as the two ends of the same continuum, where the degree of the firm’s PMS can range between them.

This paper aims to identify the archetypes of marketing mix standardization-adaptation in MNC subsidiaries and to examine the relationships between MNC subsidiary strategy, environment and performance through the theoretical lenses of fit and equifinality.

The authors use a mail survey to collect data from MNC subsidiary business units located in multiple countries. They apply a novel archetypal analysis method to identify the diverse archetypes of marketing mix standardization-adaptation in MNC subsidiaries. Finally, through cross-tabulation and regression analysis, they examine the relationships between MNC strategy, environment and performance.

They identify four archetypes of MNC subsidiary standardization-adaptation including a new archetype that is not recognized in the literature. This analysis finds partial support for both fit and equifinality, suggesting complementarity between the two theories.

The study could be extended with longitudinal data to examine the dynamics in MNC marketing mix strategy and performance in response to the changing business environment.

The findings suggest that MNC subsidiary managers could deploy a broader set of international marketing strategy configurations than those currently prescribed to enhance performance.

The authors use a novel configuration-based archetypal analysis method and extend the theoretical typology of international marketing strategies pursued by MNC subsidiaries. The partial support for both fit and equifinality expands the theoretical lens through which we can examine the relationships between MNC marketing strategy, environment and performance.

Challenging assumptions about the uni-nationality of markets, the paper aims to understand the role of intra-national cultural heterogeneity in product standardisation and adaptation strategies of multinational firms in a single-country, multicultural market.

The study is set against the dominant backdrop of deductive reasoning in the field and adopts a qualitative mode of inquiry that promotes empathy with the setting. Through a multiple case study approach among paradigmatic cases, it sheds light on the aforementioned objective.

The paper conceptualises the term “layers of adaptation” and reveals that firms use multi-dimensional standardisation/adaptation configurations. It explicates sub-contextual variations that move beyond assumptions of intra-national sameness and identifies their influence on unnoticed, more agile forms of adaptation.

Findings are limited to the analysis of practices in a specific setting. More studies across diverse contexts are necessary in order to expand the boundaries of relevant investigations and enrich the process of theorising.

The findings caution that lack of internal sameness in multicultural markets may necessitate a multi-layered standardisation/adaptation logic that considers varying “depths” and “breadths” of relevant marketing strategies.

The paper challenges assumptions that have characterised the standardisation and adaptation discourse, conceptualises the term “layers of adaptation” to denote the need for more considerate market responses and highlights the usefulness of qualitative investigations towards theoretical grounding of the field.

This 1993 update of previous 1973 and 1983 surveys of US marketing policies in the now renamed and reshaped Economic Union reveals that the obstacles to standardization remain high, and that it has broadly, if not uniformly, decreased since 1983 – opposite to the trend between 1973 and 1983. Moreover, more marketing decisions by US firms are now made at the European level. Theoretical and managerial implications are drawn from these findings.

One of the key decisions in becoming international is the standardization versus adaptation of the products for foreign markets. Previous research has mostly seen these alternatives as polarized opposites, even if it seems that the practitioners must nearly always adopt a certain level of adaptation that is nevertheless clearly less than full adaptation. The aim of the paper is to connect the amount and types of changes required to the cultural distance.

A survey was offered to 33 companies producing 107 Slovak food products being exported successfully; the amount of changes required for different markets were calculated and classified for each product. Supporting interviews to 15 companies were conducted.

The results suggest that markets culturally more distant require a greater number of changes than the culturally more similar target countries. The increase is clear especially in amount of packaging size and style changes for the foreign market. Conversely, the markets culturally closer to the home market required relatively more frequent changes in the brand name.

The method chosen restricts the possibilities of statistical analysis to basic distribution data. The results are at this stage not conclusive; suggestions for further research are discussed at the end of the paper.

The paper presents benchmarking possibilities for producers of similar products.

The model states that the changes in products are due to two separate types of distance; logistics/handling‐induced changes for geographical distance, information‐ status‐ and buying habit‐induced changes for cultural distance. The paper discusses the actions of companies from observed practice rather than from theory; includes an original sample of 107 products.

This study aims to explore the extent to which inter-organizational hybrid governance manages the micro design for optimum reverse knowledge transfer in the open innovation context. The authors use two essential facets of micro design in hybrid governance: product adaptation and integration mechanism.

Data for this study were collected from franchisees through structured questionnaires in Indonesia.

Results indicated that product adaptation has a positive relationship with reverse knowledge transfer. This study also found that the formalization strengthens the relationship between product adaptation and reverse knowledge transfer. However, the socialization does not have a moderation effect.

This research estimates the knowledge transfer from the agent’s side only. Therefore, further research is expected to estimate the reverse knowledge transfer in dyads (from agent and principal) to get a detailed understanding of reverse knowledge transfer.

This study offers guidelines to managers, especially in inter-organizational hybrid governance. The authors suggest reverse knowledge transfer as a form to manage the dispersed knowledge from their agents. Governing institutions should change their view that agents have diverse knowledgebase from experience adapting to local conditions and can improve their open innovation through reverse knowledge transfer. From the results, it is found that giving agents the flexibility to adapt products can boost reverse knowledge transfer to support open innovation.

This study provides an understanding of the utilization of external knowledge sourcing in the context of open innovation from agent to principal in hybrid governance through reverse knowledge transfer, which has thus far been empirically under-researched.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a new conceptualization of international marketing agility (IMA). Importantly, the empirical test includes agility’s drivers, outcomes and boundary conditions for its impact on international market performance.

The authors draw on the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theories to develop a model and test it quantitatively via structural equation modeling with survey data from 195 Israeli exporters. In addition, the authors seek insights into the findings through post hoc in-depth interviews.

The results indicate that IMA enhances international market performance directly as well as indirectly through exporter’s new products advantage. Interestingly, while promotion adaptation strengthens the positive effect of IMA on new products advantage, product adaptation does not.

Managers need to develop and improve marketing planning and flexibility maintenance capabilities. Furthermore, while maintaining an emphasis on marketing planning, they need to guard against inertia by embracing outside views, a wider range of solutions and a greater awareness of others’ decision-making styles to develop flexibility maintenance capability and achieve superior IMA.

A new conceptualization and operationalization of agility specific to an international marketing context is tested empirically. The complementary role of marketing planning capability and flexibility maintenance capability is demonstrated. Importantly, the vital role of new products advantage as a mediator between agility and performance is examined and the moderating role of international marketing strategy adaptation is investigated.

In almost every large business, there is a growing recognition of the importance of organisational agility in improving their marketing responsiveness and business survival. However, limited insights have been offered by scholars on multinational enterprises and their marketing agility in emerging markets context. The purpose of this paper is to examine the various manifestations of agility and the various strategies adopted to sustain agility by an emerging economy multinational enterprise (EMNE) which started in the late 1990s as a small firm operating within the fresh fruit and juice industry in Africa.

The authors utilised empirical qualitative data from an emerging African economy to develop a three-stage model of how agility manifests overtime.

The authors find that successful development and deployment of international marketing agility strategy adopted by an EMNE from emerging markets hinge on building relationships, being socially responsible and being innovative in standardisation and adaptation in response to, and in anticipation of, the rapidly changing business environment.

This research is based on data from one organisation. Future research can consider using multiple cases from different countries to further understand marketing agility in emerging markets and when such firms internalise into developed markets.

This paper extends research on standardisation/adaptation debate and research on agility, to address the gap on international marketing agility. Hitherto, there was no significant research on marketing agility in emerging markets which focused on highly perishable products such as fruits. This research provides unique insight into how marketing agility could be developed, deployed and sustained in emerging African markets.

This paper compares customer satisfaction outcomes associated with the consumption of products adapted to the local market and non‐adapted imports of washing machines in Turkey. It utilises literature on customer satisfaction to investigate customer outcomes associated with imports and adapted domestic products in developing countries and derives a number of hypotheses relating to overall and attribute satisfaction from this framework. The hypotheses are tested on data based on a customer satisfaction questionnaire administered to a randomly selected sample of households in Turkey. The findings indicate superior customer satisfaction outcomes for imported washing machines. It is clear that quality is the most important dimension of satisfaction for both groups of consumers. The findings also indicate, however, that locally‐focused strategies of domestic manufacturers do pose a potential challenge to multinational exporters. Product serviceability and the associated support services give domestic manufacturers an unambiguous advantage over importers.