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This paper aims to explore the links between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and human rights abuses and review the development of international business (IB) and human rights initiatives. Arguing that the focus of the business and human rights debate has shifted from responsibility to rights, and subsequently to governance, it proposes a framework for analysing IB and human rights governance issues in the context of social value creation.

The paper develops a framework for analysing business and human rights governance with respect to the business and human rights field and four business and human rights subfields (labour, consumption, community and environment).

The analytical framework is organised around the relationships between human rights duty-bearers (companies) and human rights-holders (e.g., employees, consumers). It emphasises the role of actors and their interests, the relationships between actors, the objectives of these relationships and the role of governance mechanisms and structures, which, for a particular human rights subfield, define the IB and human rights governance system.

The analytical framework can be used by IB researchers, practitioners and public policymakers to describe, analyse, discuss and address business and human rights issues and challenges. It can be used for comparing and evaluating characteristics and properties of alternative institutional arrangements in the field of business and human rights. Furthermore, it can be used to support the design corporate non-market strategies as well as public policies.

This viewpoint adds context and variety to the “decolonizing international business” debate by engaging in a discussion of the decolonial thinking approach and proposing a broader framework for analysing the link between international business (IB) activities on the one hand and colonisation and decolonisation on the other. The purpose of this paper is to inspire a more intensive engagement of IB scholarship with issues related to colonisation and decolonisation.

This paper involves taking a reflexive review on recent calls to decolonise IB, contextualising and extending the decolonisation debate in the academic field of IB.

This paper argues that the current discussion of decolonisation should be extended beyond the decolonial thinking approach and its focus on knowledge and the cultural dimension towards a broader framework that covers both colonisation and decolonisation as well as the respective economic, political, social and cultural dimensions. It introduces the varieties of colonisation and decolonisation approach, which considers the complexities of the phenomenon and covers the economic, social, political and cultural dimensions.

Through its focus on foreign market expansion, international trade, global value chains and formal and informal institutions in the business environment, the academic field of IB provides several starting points for research on the link between IB activities and colonisation and decolonisation. The decolonisation debate can be used to inspire future research in IB, for example, with respect to the role of multinational corporations in colonisation and neo-colonisation processes and the implications of the emerging multipolar world order for IB.

IB scholars will be better informed when engaging in discussions on decolonisation and the decolonise IB project. This paper suggests considering both colonisation and decolonisation processes as well as the respective economic, political, social and cultural dimensions in research and teaching. The varieties of colonisation and decolonisation approach provides a comprehensive and flexible alternative framework to analyse issues related to colonisation and decolonisation.

A balanced view of the implications of colonisation and decolonisation with respect to economic, political, social and cultural dimensions may suitably be incorporated in the field of IB and contribute to tackling grand societal challenges. This applies likewise to past, current and future processes of colonisation and decolonisation.

This paper contextualises and adds a new perspective and variety to the current debate on decolonising IB. This is valuable for engaging in discussions on decolonisation and future conceptual and empirical research on the topic.

The dialectics of liabilities of foreignness (LOF) and assets of foreignness (AOF) have led to further explorations of what it means for an organisation to be foreign. This paper reviews, synthesises and contextualises recent research on both the challenges and benefits of foreignness, to develop a balanced and integrated view of this international business concept.

This review aims at mapping the key concepts, theories, methods and contexts in the literature and organising the key findings in an antecedent-outcomes-strategy framework, explicitly comparing LOF and AOF to explore their interrelationships. Drawing on a sample of 126 journal articles, NVivo was used to code and identify key thematic areas.

The review confirms a shift in the literature towards acknowledging the notion of AOF. Using different theoretical lenses, it identifies, reviews and discusses antecedents, consequences and strategy implications of LOF and AOF. It argues that foreignness will continue to be a fundamental concept in international business research and suggests that AOF and LOF deserve an equally central place in an integrated analytical framework of foreignness in international business strategy.

The paper is the first systematic attempt to integrate the literature on LOF and AOF. The systematic comparison across drivers, outcomes and strategies allows for a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of foreignness and the underlying phenomenon of foreignness. The authors also explore the paradox perspective on foreignness.

International business research is showing an increasing interest in the link between international business and human rights. Despite extensive coverage of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, the analysis and discussion of why multinational corporations include human rights in corporate reporting is still in its early stages. This chapter develops an analytical framework on corporate human rights reporting, with special emphasis on international business. The conceptual part of the framework draws on legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory and signalling theory. The analytical part distinguishes between factors inside the corporation and the external environment of business organisations operating internationally.

This paper aims to present an analysis of the nature and drivers of company‐level concession bargaining during the financial crisis 2008‐10 in Germany.

The paper is based on five company case studies. Data collection methods include document analysis and semi‐structured interviews.

Using the five cases, it was possible to identify different ways in which companies were affected by the financial crisis itself, by various company‐level adjustment strategies, and by various implications of the crisis and the collective agreements resulting from it. The author found that company‐level social partners, supported by public policies, were able to avoid redundancies and keep employees in work, while helping the company to survive.

The findings show that social partners at company level are able to agree on cooperative solutions to reduce labour costs in order to ensure the company's viability.

The findings are important for understanding key aspects of the German “job miracle” both during and after the global financial crisis.

The research question which this paper aims to address is: To what extent does (labour) flexibility contribute to crisis resistance at establishment level? More specifically, the authors seek to analyse the determinants of variation in the extent to which establishments showed resistance to the global financial crisis (GFC), i.e. the extent to which they were affected by the crisis, focusing on an available secondary dataset related to organizational, industry‐level, and (numerical) labour flexibility.

Based on a unique cross‐sectional dataset of 8,000 establishments in Germany, the authors use binary logistic regression to assess the link between organizational characteristics, industry‐specific factors and workforce characteristics, and the fact that some establishments were affected by the GFC while others were not affected.

Establishment size, being located in western Germany and business problems before the crisis were positively associated with being affected by the crisis. The sector of economic activity also played a significant role. Contrary to predictions relating to the strategies employed by flexible firms, the extent to which they made use of temporary agency workers or of fixed‐term employees showed no significant association with crisis resistance.

The dependent variable measures the management respondent's (subjective) perception of being affected by the crisis, although it does not specify the ways in which a company has been affected, for example by a drop in demand or by difficulty in extending credit. The set of independent variables permits several tentative conclusions regarding numerical and functional flexibility, but it does not take alternative forms of flexibility into account.

Using a unique and representative dataset, the findings suggest a less important role for numerical flexibility in establishment performance and crisis resistance when compared to other variables, at least within the authors’ research framework and its exceptional external economic circumstances.

The purpose of this paper is to examine operational-level implementation issues regarding mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in general, and resource combination and integration at the functional marketing level in particular.

The paper introduces four factors (i.e. collaboration, interaction, marketing synergy, and the realignment of marketing resources) that support successful M&A marketing integration and enhance overall M&A performance.

The results indicate that marketing synergy and the realignment of marketing resources contribute significantly to the extent of integration. At the same time, the authors find a significant but negative relationship between the interaction dimension and the speed of integration.

The cultural integration of firms that feature different management styles and organizational cultures has been recognized as a particularly challenging aspect of cross-border M&As. This study explains factors that contribute to effective marketing integration in M&As.

This paper aims to explore the management of working time flexibility and firm performance, measured by operating hours, in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe.

The paper analyses the European Capital Operating time, Work and Employment Survey (EUCOWE), designed to collect workplace information on operating hours. With data on more than 17,000 establishments in six European countries – France, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK – the paper analyses working time patterns and operating hours.

The authors show the positive relationship between company size and operating times and how SMEs make more limited use of more advanced forms of working‐time organisation that may allow them to extend their operating hours. The use of less complex working time measures such as overtime does not have the same positive association with operating hours. However, the results also highlight that smaller establishments can still benefit from the adoption of certain working time practices. The results suggest that the influence of the regulatory environment on the use of working practices or the duration of operating hours is not straightforward, and as such the impact of national regulatory frameworks cannot be discounted in the country‐specific differences identified.

The paper uses the first comparable data on operating hours and working patterns to demonstrate the limitations on SME operating times across European countries.