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Considers the importance of Eastern European markets to Europe’s large food retailers. Describes and evaluates the international retail activity which has already taken place in Eastern Europe and the impact this is having on retail structures in Eastern Europe. Presents the results of a survey: compares senior retail executives’ perceptions of the opportunities which exist in Eastern Europe with their perceptions of other markets. Discusses the developmental role of Western European retailers in Eastern Europe and considers future prospects.

Considers the interest shown by European retailers in the markets of South East Asia and places this interest within the wider context of East Asian markets. European retailers’ interest in the region has been a feature of recent developments in international retailing. Charts the growing interest in the region and the relative attractions of different markets and critically evaluates the assumptions that are made about East Asian markets and suggests that a far more rigorous set of criteria should be employed when evaluating markets in the region. Evaluates the implications of the recent financial and economic crises on European retail investment in the region.

A number of factors ranging from economic conditions to managerial self‐interest have contributed to today's unprecedented merger boom. But the tide may be turning as the public policy debate over mergers heats up. Most scenarios show a long‐range drop in merger activity. However, the need for an informed, rational national policy on mergers remains.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a new method that allows corporate strategists to scan for profitable growth opportunities by extending the firm's product offering to new (foreign) markets.

The methodology consists of developing and applying a new conceptual framework – MATCH – which assesses the potential value creation in relation to the business model adaptations that need to be made to enter a new market.

The paper shows that traditional methods of calculating the attractiveness of new markets may be misleading if not all elements of the business model are aligned with the contextual conditions (institutional, economic, social.) prevailing in the new market.

The method is illustrated for entering new foreign markets but lends itself to wider applications in the area of product diversification.

Without asking for extensive data collection, the method yields practical insights about the attractiveness of entering new markets and business model adaptations that need to be made.

The MATCH framework is an original and practical approach that builds upon and extends essential insights originating from the related diversification literature.

Upon entering developed markets, emerging market multinational corporations (EMNCs) from China and India must compete with both host companies and other developed nation MNCs to attract and recruit necessary local talent. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent EMNC firms will be perceived as less attractive employers than their developed nation counterparts due to a perceived liability of origin bias. Major demographic and psychographic factors that may affect this bias will also be identified.

Seven hypotheses were tested on a total of 626 German, French and American respondents. Participants were randomly presented identical job descriptions from four hypothetical MNCs (American, European, Indian and Chinese) and were asked to evaluate the perceived attractiveness of working for, as well as their intent to pursue employment with, the offering firm.

Using hierarchical linear regression testing, combined with analysis of variance testing, EMNCs were found to have significantly lower organizational attractiveness than equivalent European or American owned MNCs. Mixed results were found for the various hypotheses based on the moderator variables.

Because the study included three distinct sub-groups, supplemental analyses controlling for possible variances between the sub-groups themselves are included. This multicultural study is one of the first to address the human perspective of EMNC outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by identifying the existence of a potential liability of origin bias toward emerging market firms manifested by potential developed market job applicants. Furthermore, this study is one of the first to examine the influence of applicant age, professional status, gender and nationality with respect to the differences in the perceived level of organizational attractiveness between emerging market and developed nation firms.

This paper extends the literature in three important research areas. First, an extension to the literature on the highly relevant topic of OFDI by Chinese and Indian firms is made. Second, traditional research in the field of organizational attractiveness is further extended by combining it with the timely subject of Chinese and Indian OFDI into developed markets. Finally, this study extends international business literature by studying the influence of demographic and psychographic moderators on the perceived level of organizational attractiveness between emerging market and developed nation firms.

This paper addresses resource redeployment in ecosystems. Prior research examines the value of resource redeployment across product markets in multi-business firms. In contrast, resource redeployment across ecosystems is an important corporate strategy employed by both single- and multi-business ecosystem firms that has received little attention. To address this gap, we present a case study of resource redeployment by an entrepreneurial firm in the US residential solar industry. We propose that the value creation mechanisms (i.e., improving capabilities, bottleneck relief) are fundamentally different when resources are redeployed in ecosystems. We identify “consumption-side” interdependence of components and “production-side” resource relatedness as playing critical roles in both types of value creation and propose conditions under which resource redeployment is most valuable. Overall, we contribute insights into the literatures on resource redeployment and strategy in business ecosystems.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the competitive landscape of emerging market economies (EMEs) and the implications of business models and strategies used by multinational enterprises (MNEs) to enter and operate in such landscapes. It does so by considering the aviation sector in an emerging economy – India, and by studying the strategies pursued by AirAsia India – the Indian joint venture of AirAsia Investment Limited and Tata Sons..

The paper follows a case study approach. Secondary data sources from the library, company website and newspaper articles have been used to build a case that would encourage students to discuss and analyze the competitive strategies followed by MNEs in EMEs.

Emerging markets offer attractive investment opportunities to MNEs across several industries. However, their markets for intermediate goods and services possess imperfections. Competitiveness in such markets will require going beyond country-specific and firm-specific advantages. MNEs will need to integrate location-specific advantages with internalization advantages of these market imperfections to operate successfully in the complex environments of EMEs. A one-size-fits-all approach of transposing successful strategies from home markets will fail to create value.

MNEs, such as AirAsia, will need to develop participatory skills to leverage the location-specific-advantages of EMEs and reduce their own curse of foreignness to be able to succeed in EMEs.

This paper contributes to extant literature by studying the competitive strategies pursued by a global leader in an EME. The case of the “World’s Best Low-Cost Airline” – AirAsia’s India operations seeks to go beyond the Eclectic Paradigm and the country-specific and firm-specific advantages framework, to provide a location-internalization paradigm for operating in EMEs.

Target marketing is a key decision area for all businesses. Market size, growth rates, competitive forces, customer fit and profitability are just a few of the criteria which can be used by businesses assessing the attractiveness of their target markets. Yet despite the wealth of variables available to managers and the development of a range of decision tools to help them, research indicates that many businesses continue to assess target markets on the basis of short‐term profitability measures. This paper examines the wide range of approaches which have been proposed in the literature for identifying market attractiveness and questions how these fit with managerial practice, utilising the findings from cases and two studies of The Times 1000 UK companies’ target market approaches. The studies’ findings indicate that the literature’s formal, multi‐criteria tools for assessing market attractiveness are not necessarily reflected in the simplistic view adopted by many marketing professionals and brand managers. The paper concludes by offering a research agenda to help define future work in this area.