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The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationships between the drivers of economic growth in emerging markets to include entrepreneurial orientation (EO), human capital (HC), relational capital (RC), and international performance (IP).

Data were collected from 199 small- to medium-sized Indian professional service entrepreneurs that employ less than 500 employees and engage in international business. Given the multidimensional nature of IP, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the measurement and substantive models.

SEM and mediation tests confirmed significant relationships among the constructs in the model and indicated that HC can be leveraged for international growth using RC to deliver new professional services across borders. EO, the strongest predictor, along with HC and RC, directly influenced IP. The effect of HC is mediated by an EO and RC.

By design, only successful professional service firms in India were studied, which limited generalizability.

Entrepreneurs can enhance the likelihood of international expansion success by utilizing highly skilled HC and developing strong network relationships. Entrepreneurial managers should leverage their professional service resources through judicious investments in personnel and relationship-building skills to develop RC.

This study examined entrepreneurial professional HC and RC as related to international entrepreneurship emerging market research. Data collection in India contributes to empirical research on internationalization from emerging markets.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of a firm’s entrepreneurial proclivity on market performance for large, publicly traded US firms. This study draws upon the five-dimensional view of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and develops hypotheses aimed at understanding the effects of direct effect of CE cues of proactiveness, autonomy, innovativeness, competitive aggressiveness and risk-taking on stock performance during earnings conference calls.

The entrepreneurial orientation of 339 firm post-earnings announcement conference calls is analyzed through a content analysis of transcripts, and the impact of CE cues on stock price is measured using event-study methodology.

The results suggest that the cueing the CE dimensions of innovativeness, risk-taking and especially autonomy have a positive effect on market performance during conference calls, while competitive aggressiveness has a negative effect. No effect was found for proactiveness.

The effect of entrepreneurial proclivity on firm value is not uniform. Not all dimensions of CE have a positive effect on market performance at a corporate level, and measuring each dimension of CE separately may be a valuable approach for future research.

Firms may create more value when they cue specific entrepreneurial attributes, and cueing competitive aggressiveness may not be desirable.

This study fills a gap in the literature by measuring the direct effect of CE cues on market performance through an innovative research design which relies on computer-aided text analysis.

Internationalization of services is emerging as an important area of research as more and more service firms are going abroad in greater numbers than ever before. This special issue is an attempt to encourage and guide research in the area of internationalization of services, and this article aims to introduce the issue.

A framework is presented as a guiding template for future research in marketing of services internationally.

This article illustrates that the special issue offers intellectual contributions and calls for more theory building and testing the theory suitable to internationalization of services.

The article presents a framework and discusses the papers within this framework.

Offshore outsourcing offers competitive advantages when goods and services are produced economically and with acceptable or superior quality by suppliers located outside a firm's home country. The purpose of this paper is to focus on India as a destination for offshore outsourcing of services and the challenges it faces in maintaining its leadership in this area. The paper discusses the growth of services outsourcing and the economic and environmental forces that have contributed to the outsourcing of high‐end services, also known as knowledge process outsourcing (KPO).

This article surveys the literature of offshore outsourcing and identifies strategic drivers and options that can help India to grow and consolidate its position as an exporter of services and build long‐term competitive advantages in its relationships with global partners. To understand why nations gain competitive advantage in certain industries, Porter's “diamond” model is utilized as a broad framework for examining policies and national strategies that can sustain India's competitive advantage in outsourcing of knowledge‐based services. The paper discusses India's current and prospective assets and liabilities that correspond to the model's four components.

The article discusses India's competitive edge as a leading supplier of knowledge‐based services and proposes a model for sustaining this edge. The model proposes key policy steps to move from the current position (e.g. supplier of business process outsourcing services) to a role of knowledge leader by providing advanced value added services to global clients. This model suggests ways in which a supplier nation can gain leverage in the value chain.

The article is conceptual, not empirical. Public and corporate policy implications are presented to strengthen India's competitive advantages in outsourced services.

The article presents a strategic roadmap with policy implications that can help move India up the value chain from being primarily a destination for low‐end business process outsourcing (BPO) to that of a co‐equal, high value‐adding partner or principal who offers knowledge leadership in the design and delivery of services for global markets.

The article discusses a nation's technical strengths, as well as cultural and infrastructure weaknesses, that can contribute to volatility as a global outsourcing leader. The article also presents strategies that can reduce a nation's vulnerabilities to competitive actions.

The dramatic growth and international scope of knowledge‐intensive business services (KIBS) are evident in emerging markets such as China and India. Nations, like firms, seek to capitalize on their available resources and capabilities (e.g. people, technology, skills) in order to build and maintain core competencies in certain industry sectors. This paper has the following objectives: to discuss the classification of KIBS, to marshal conceptual and statistical evidence on KIBS in major emerging markets, to compare and contrast selected major emerging markets in regard to their KIBS activities, and to discuss policy implications.

In this conceptual paper, extant literature is reviewed and discussed pertaining to the KIBS sectors. Several existing data sources are used to assess the comparative performance of major emerging markets in the KIBS sectors.

The emphasis is on finding comparative longitudinal statistics that are useful for comparison and contrast among major emerging markets. The analysis indicates that while the major emerging markets are building competitive advantage by focusing on knowledge‐intensive business services, their progress differs sharply. For example, China shows the lead, followed by India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Turkey, and Indonesia. Smaller nations lag behind these in most indicators. It is evident that leading major emerging nations have not reached parity with highly industrialized countries.

The results show ranking and contribution of various major nations in the global knowledge economy, but additional time series and analysis are needed to assess comparative rankings. However, the classification and the indicators illustrated here offer a panoramic, comparative picture over the past decade. Using international business theories, research can develop statistical models to explain foreign market entry strategies of knowledge‐intensive service firms.

The paper is of value to managers considering entry and/or expansion into major emerging markets in various sub‐sectors of knowledge‐intensive sectors. The specific industry and function pursued by a firm need to be identified and matched up with host nation characteristics (e.g. more software design and pharmaceutical research in India v. more manufacturing design and R&D facility in China). The paper also provides guidelines to policy makers to sustain their country's competitive advantage in the KIBS sectors.

The paper looks at knowledge‐intensive business services in major emerging markets. It offers both conceptual contributions and statistical evidence that key nations differ in their activities in regard to such high‐level and complex service offerings.

The internationalization of service firms is expanding dramatically, fueled by recent technological innovations and reductions of trade barriers. Drawing upon Dunning’s eclectic theory, firm‐ and location‐specific factors which have been found to be antecedents of internationalization of manufacturing firms are extended to determine their applicability to the internationalization of service firms. The hypotheses are empirically examined through a survey of 228 business‐to‐business service firms. Findings indicate that the firm‐specific factor of firm size and the location‐specific factor of market characteristics influence management attitudes toward operating internationally, which in turn influence the degree of internationalization of service firms. Practical implications, drawn from the results, are offered for managers of service firms who are facing the task of internationalizing.

Knowledge‐based services range from accounting, engineering, and management consulting to educational services. This paper seeks to explore the nature of management education services and to discuss how business schools can employ cross‐cultural product‐market strategies to enter and serve foreign markets with programs that match the needs of the targeted markets.

A framework is presented for delivering management education services across borders. Hofstede's cultural dimensions are integrated in recognizing the cultural characteristics of a target country and differing learning styles of students in making market entry decisions and the pedagogical styles that might apply to specific target markets.

In seeking new globally diverse markets, providers of knowledge‐intensive services such as management education must craft marketing strategies that recognize consumer demand and consumption characteristics as well as service design and delivery options that fit market needs.

Global expansion of management education services and the strategic and tactical considerations that are introduced in the framework can provide a fertile field for empirical research.

The paper develops cross‐cultural “product‐market” strategies that business schools can consider in serving international markets, with product defined as the curriculum, instructional style, and all of the ancillary services that constitute the educational service experience. Generalizability of the findings to other knowledge‐based services is also discussed.

The conceptual framework recognizes a dominant theme in international business, suggesting that internationalization potential depends on service industry characteristics and on specific host country internationalization drivers.

As service organizations continue to expand internationally, the need to be able to understand consumers in faraway places is increasing. Marketing research is a key mechanism through which service companies understand their current as well as potential customers. As service organizations contemplate the global marketplace, there is increasing demand for managers to understand customer behavior in multiple countries. This article aims to discuss the importance of market research information in developing a market orientation and its impact on international service organizations.

Extant literature is reviewed and discussed pertaining to the interrelationships between market research, market orientation and customer relationship management (CRM)‐related issues. Conceptual models are presented to illustrate the interrelationships between these streams of research.

Several anecdotal and case examples are used to illustrate the essential linkages between market research, market orientation, and CRM. These include the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company, Federal Express, Hallmark Cards, Harrah's Entertainment and, most notably, VeriFone.

The key implications revolve around the notion that in today's hyper‐competitive markets service firms must be market‐oriented in order to be competitive, and that market research plays a critical role in generating the needed data on which a market orientation can be developed and implemented, which, in turn, can enhance the practice of CRM.

The article promises to help service providers address the challenge of generating and using market research data to develop a market orientation and a corresponding CRM program.

At the core of an international marketing strategy is the internet firm's goal of building and sustaining a competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to present an integrative framework to explain the role that customer behavior and customer relationship management (CRM) play in developing a profitable, sustainable competitive advantage for internet companies.

The integrative framework utilizes existing theoretical concepts from the areas of strategy and internet marketing and develops a framework to provide firms with insights into how they can gain the competitive advantage.

This paper links global customer behavior to the firms' business value chain and provides guidelines for strategic implications. In this conceptual paper, it is discussed that understanding consumer decision‐making behavior on the web and managing these relationships are critically important to achieve a superior performance.

This is not empirical research. A theoretical model is presented for future testing by researchers using statistical techniques such as structural equation modeling.

The framework provides managerial insights into building and sustaining a competitive advantage using a consumer‐centric approach, coupled with CRM technology on a global scale. Managerial value is derived by providing an understanding of the link between a sustainable competitive advantage, customer‐focused strategies, consumers' needs and wants, the firm's performance, and shareholder value.

It is important for global marketers to understand how consumer decision‐making on the web affects strategic and financial performance. This paper extends the current literature by integrating consumer decision behavior on the web, CRM, and the firms' performance. This framework explains the creation of a sustainable competitive advantage using customer‐focused strategies to develop customer loyalty for superior firm performance.

This paper aims to focus on the determinants influencing the internationalization of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in India. The objective is to investigate and evaluate the business environment and, then, examine the importance of developing and promoting entrepreneurship to allow SMEs in India to develop a competitive position in the international marketplace. It is proposed that the primary method for fostering or promoting the growth of entrepreneurship is through the utilization of technology.

An overview is provided of the current economic situation facing SMEs in India. Then factors necessary for the expansion of the business are discussed, along with the challenges of overcoming the resource gaps identified. The importance of fostering entrepreneurship is presented. The current state of technology is then evaluated. The paper concludes with an assessment of challenges and implications for future expansion.

Information is provided concerning the current situation for SMEs in India and the challenges encountered as they face a business environment that is becoming more competitive. Several factors are identified that must be addressed before the SME can achieve international growth, specifically the utilization of technology. Special attention is given to the gaps in infrastructure that could enable a more efficient use of resources and the impact of entrepreneurship on the economic growth of the SME.

Advancements in information technology and improvements in communication infrastructure have resulted in opportunities for SMEs to participate in global markets in both developing and developed countries. Since, governmental reform in 1991, SMEs in India have been faced with new competitive intensity. Improvements in resource utilization make it possible to sell a variety of products and services from anywhere in the world, around the clock. This paper calls attention to ways in which Indian SMEs can become competitive.

This paper integrates entrepreneurship, resource‐based view, and internationalization of SMEs in India, specifically focusing on the use of technology.