Current state of the literature and new research directions on the nature of marketing in international B2B service firms: Special issue editorial

Abstract

Business-to-business (B2B) services are the fastest growing segments in the global economy. Yet, cross-border B2B service trade remains relatively poorly explored for a host of reasons, including data availability. A markedly changed geopolitical global landscape and significant advancements in digitalization have prompted us to organize a Special Issue on the internationalization of B2B service firms. In our scene-setting editorial as guest co-editors, we first analyze existing literature using bibliometric analysis and science mapping. We then provide a critical review of the four articles in the Special Issue which focus on the role of technology orientation and service intensity in transnational entrepreneurs' international target market strategies, the interaction of political distance and internationalization scope with firm size in determining the long-term growth of B2B service firms, understanding B2B service firms' cross-cultural challenges in global account management and the role played by digitalization institutions in B2B service firms' divestment decisions. In the end, we outline seven research directions which point to the need for closer integration of marketing and international business theory by highlighting an increasingly relevant digitalization-internationalization nexus of particular relevance to B2B services.