Moving beyond entry modes: toward a new paradigm of international involvement in an era of digitalization and global transitions

Abstract

We seek to reconceptualize internationalization strategy by shifting focus from static, single-entry mode choices to dynamic constellations of multiple involvement modes. In an era of rapid technological change enabled by artificial intelligence, blockchain, and robotics, geopolitical volatility fueled by trade wars and violent conflicts, and increasing sustainability demands, multinational corporations (MNCs) need to rethink how they are involved with diverse stakeholder expectations, prioritize flexibility and reversibility, and embed co-creation and legitimacy alongside efficiency. Extending Brouthers et al. (2022), we integrate transaction cost economics with resource-based, institutional, opportunity, and ecosystem perspectives to explain how MNCs configure and reconfigure various constellations of international involvement modes over time to address rapidly changing stakeholder expectations. We further synthesize papers in the special issue on international involvement to provide empirical and theoretical insights into complex, non-linear internationalization trajectories, framing international involvement as an adaptive, interconnected system better suited to today’s multi-objective global business environment.