Critical Perspectives on International Business最新文献

{"title":"Transnationality in the XXI century. Concept and indicators","authors":"G. Ietto-Gillies","doi":"10.1108/CPOIB-11-2020-0135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/CPOIB-11-2020-0135","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of major structural changes on the conceptualization of the transnational corporation (TNC) based on foreign direct investment (FDI) and on indicators of transnationality.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Analysis of three major structural changes which impact the current conception of transnationality. They are: the rise of digital companies; the increased role of finance in the economy; externalization of activities via non-equity modalities (NEMs) with an impact on FDI and on the labour market.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The paper finds that the current concept of transnationality needs widening to take account of companies with a low degree of fixed assets abroad such as the digital and the financial companies and those internationalizing via NEMs, as well as to take account of the evolving relationship between TNCs and labour.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000Future research along the lines proposed should consider: working explicitly with the new, inclusive concept of transnationality and arrive at an empirical estimate of the proposed indices of transnationality which modify and amplify the current United Nations Conference on Trade and Development indices.\u0000\u0000\u0000Social implications\u0000Useful for understanding the nature of transnationality in the twenty-first century and for developing policies.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The paper proposes a new concept of transnationality and of the TNC, one that allows for new ways of organizing direct business activities abroad. It also proposes broadening the list of indicators of transnationality.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46124,"journal":{"name":"Critical Perspectives on International Business","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45549907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ethnography of economic globalization in Mapuche and forest territory of South-Central Chile","authors":"Noelia Carrasco Henríquez","doi":"10.1108/CPOIB-12-2019-0101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/CPOIB-12-2019-0101","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to propose an ethnographic discussion surrounding the sociocultural dimensions of the contemporary economy, using the dynamics of monoculture expansion into the indigenous territories of South-Central Chile as an empirical reference.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000From an ethnographic approach, the paper systematizes some ideas about the difference and inequality that have redrafted the current relationships between forestry companies and Mapuche communities within the context of international certification of forestry management.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Findings indicate that difference and inequality, are today managed from global economic rationality and their control impacts directly on quotidian life of diverse and unequal territories. Considering this, this paper gets to conclude that these conditions, while never ceasing to deepen their expression, have been recrafted from the new references of the global economy.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000For the critical ethnographic approach to be applied, it is necessary to design and implement wide access, which means this type of study usually has limitations when not being able to get to every scale of economic development. For this reason, it is important to keep the methodological discussion, about the ethnography of the economy.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The study puts in perspective intercultural relations and the inequality of territories in the framework of the global economy. Illustrates how the managing of the international market of wood and pulp design and insides in local quotidian life systems.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46124,"journal":{"name":"Critical Perspectives on International Business","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49053576","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Challenges of network interaction in managing sustainable development projects in developing countries: case of an international consulting company","authors":"Olga Dziubaniuk, Maria Ivanova-Gongne, Ekaterina Berdysheva","doi":"10.1108/CPOIB-08-2020-0115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/CPOIB-08-2020-0115","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This study aims to explore the challenges and complexities of interaction in international stakeholder networks within the context of projects focused on the implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs). In particular, it examines the challenges faced by stakeholders in a network from a developed country during interaction in the context of a developing country.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Using a qualitative approach, this study analyses interview data collected from the key managers of an international consulting company in charge of a water supply and sanitation project in Nepal. The primary data is triangulated with secondary data, such as project reports and related academic articles.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000This study illustrates how interaction in international stakeholder networks affects and is interrelated with SDGs, as well as how aiming to achieve one specific goal can stimulate the implementation of other sustainable goals. Further, this research shows how project managers from a developed country had to adapt to the specifics of the developing country context and how their sustainability project influenced the well-being of local communities by improving environmental and social sustainability.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The research suggests that challenges in stakeholder interaction may arise because of differences in process management methods used by the international stakeholders involved in the project and country-context specifics, such as corruption, imperfect national regulations, cultural specifics, effects of climate change, etc.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The paper contributes to the literature on international multi-stakeholder interaction between actors from developed and developing countries. Furthermore, it adds to the literature on stakeholder networking by highlighting the importance of engaging in a dialogue with local communities during the conceptualisation stages of both sustainability and SDG implementation because of diverging worldviews and practices.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46124,"journal":{"name":"Critical Perspectives on International Business","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48035395","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"International opportunity development of born global firms: the role of institutions","authors":"Rubina Romanello, M. Karami, Stephan Gerschewski, N. Evers, Cici Xiao He","doi":"10.1108/CPOIB-02-2020-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/CPOIB-02-2020-0013","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of the study is to investigate the international opportunity development process of born global firms embedded in two different institutional contexts: China, an emerging economy and Italy, a developed country. Drawing on the entrepreneurial opportunity literature and institutional theory, this study explores and draws insights into how home country institutions of born globals can influence the international opportunity development process of the firms.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This paper adopts a qualitative case study approach with in-depth, semi-structured interviews of six born global companies from China and Italy. In doing so, this study uses a flexible pattern matching design, which is consistent with the qualitative research design of the paper.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings of the study indicate that home institutions play an influential, yet differential role in the international opportunity development processes of Chinese and Italian born global firms. While the Italian firms shape their opportunities mainly through product innovation, their Chinese counterparts develop opportunities primarily through networks embedded in their home institutional context.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The key contributions of the paper relate to an integrated analysis of the international opportunity development process of born globals in China and Italy based on institutional theory, which has received limited attention in the international entrepreneurship literature. In addition, the study advances the similarities and differences in the international opportunity development process in two different countries, thus providing valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners to enter international markets successfully.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46124,"journal":{"name":"Critical Perspectives on International Business","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42493334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Social impact investing as a neoliberal construction: ego and altruism in the post-colonial space of Oaxaca, Mexico","authors":"F. Alvi","doi":"10.1108/CPOIB-05-2020-0036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/CPOIB-05-2020-0036","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper examines social impact investing (SII), a growing source of investment from the Global North to the Global South celebrated as a new way of doing good in low-income countries, but bearing elements of neoliberalism that can reify post-colonial contexts.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000A microfoundational, autoethnographic approach is used based on the author’s experiences and emotional epiphanies while engaged in an activist entrepreneurial enterprise. The author’s goal was to effect positive social change with Indigenous Mexican producers of mezcal liquor.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Despite the best of intentions and following best practices for SII, the expected altruistic outcomes were eclipsed by inadvertent post-colonial behaviours. Neoliberal foundations of financialization gave primacy to the perspectives and egos of the investors rather than meaningful impact for the Indigenous beneficiaries.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000Based on the findings, three areas are presented for further research. First, how Global North social impact investors balance the ego of their motivations with the altruism of intended outcomes for beneficiaries. Second, what ownership structures of Global North investments allow for social benefits to flow through to intended beneficiaries. Third, how post-colonial power imbalances can be redressed to give an equal position to Global South beneficiaries as people, rather than financial metrics indicating only that they have become less poor.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000By using autoethnographic methods that expose the vulnerability of the researcher, unique insights are generated on what happens when good intentions meet with a post-colonial context. The neoliberal underbelly of SII is revealed, and ways to make improvements are considered.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46124,"journal":{"name":"Critical Perspectives on International Business","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46240636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“Start-up Nation” vs “the Republic of Samsung”: power and politics in the partner choice discourse in Israeli–Korean business collaboration","authors":"Irina Lyan","doi":"10.1108/CPOIB-09-2019-0073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/CPOIB-09-2019-0073","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to propose to politicize partner choice as a discourse that rationalizes, legitimizes and justifies the choice of partners by underlining economic, cultural and institutional differences to (re)create power relations. By reconceptualizing partner choice as a discourse, the paper challenges the established view of partner choice according to international business and management studies as a rational and strategic behavior based on resource complementarity, best practices and win–win situations.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Based on the longitudinal study of Israeli–Korean business collaboration, which includes in-depth interviews, observations and media texts, this paper uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) to demystify partner choice as neither a neutral nor an objective behavior to unveil its discursive construction and embeddedness in power relations.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The actors on both sides of the Israeli–Korean business collaboration evoke resource complementary discourse between “Israeli innovation” and “Korean productivity” to rationalize their partner choice as a win–win situation. CDA demonstrates how both sides are engaged in a “borrowing” process from east-to-west and head-to-hands postcolonial images to (re)produce hierarchy between the parties. While east–west mapping remained almost unchallengeable, the reversal, crossing and blurring of the Israel-to-Korea knowledge transfer direction provides a counter-narrative to resource complementarity discourse.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The resource complementarity discourse supported by east–west mapping and “head–hands” justifications for partner choice reveals the lingering presence of postcolonial images, imagery and imagination. By taking two nations without substantial troubled memories, histories and relations, the paper broadens the picture beyond national contexts, emphasizing the importance of borrowing and translation from postcolonial vocabulary to non-colonial situations.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46124,"journal":{"name":"Critical Perspectives on International Business","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44909546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How far are we from understanding corruption? The effect of cultural distance on corruption perception","authors":"Mike Szymanski, Ivan Valdovinos, E. Kaltenecker","doi":"10.1108/CPOIB-06-2020-0079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/CPOIB-06-2020-0079","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This study aims to examine the relationship between cultural distances between countries and their scores in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), which is the most commonly used measure of corruption in international business (IB) research.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The authors applied fixed-effect (generalized least squares) statistical modeling technique to analyze 1,580 year-country observations.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The authors found that the CPI score is determined to a large extent by cultural distances between countries, specifically the distance to the USA and to Denmark.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000CPI is often used as a sole measure of state-level corruption in IB research. The results show that the measure is significantly influenced by cultural differences and hence it should be applied with great caution, preferably augmented with other measures.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to look at cultural distances as determinants of CPI score. The authors empirically test whether the CPI is culturally biased.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46124,"journal":{"name":"Critical Perspectives on International Business","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43070681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reversal of language hierarchy and the politics of translation in a multinational corporation","authors":"Jonna Ristolainen, Virpi Outila, R. Piekkari","doi":"10.1108/CPOIB-06-2020-0086","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/CPOIB-06-2020-0086","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to explain the reversal of language hierarchy in a Finnish multinational corporation (MNC) from a political perspective. This paper situated the language hierarchy in the historical context of the colonial-style relationship between Finland and Russia. From a post-colonial perspective, the colonial legacy of Russia has had an influence on language strategy and everyday translation work in the Finnish multinational until the present day.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This paper undertook a case study based on qualitative secondary analysis of existing data sets. These data sets originated from two previously conducted studies of the same Finnish MNC.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings revealed a reversal of the traditional corporate language hierarchy. Russian, as the host country language of powerful local subsidiaries, rose to the top of the hierarchy at the expense of English, the common corporate language, and other languages. The colonial-style relationship was enacted by professional and paraprofessional translators who collaborated by using “the master’s language and imitating the master’s voice” to reap the strategic benefits of local responsiveness.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000In contrast to previous work drawing on post-colonial theory in the study of MNCs, this paper represents the headquarters in Finland as the “colonised” party and the Russian subsidiaries as the “coloniser.” Owing to its colonial legacy, Russian, the host country language, became very powerful and influenced the language strategy of the entire MNC. This paper conceptualized translation as a multilevel phenomenon and offers a holistic explanation of why the language hierarchy in the Finnish MNC was reversed.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46124,"journal":{"name":"Critical Perspectives on International Business","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45775649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From Ebola to COVID-19: what explains institutionalized manias and the ultimate preference for non-optimal solutions in global health governance?","authors":"Frederick Ahen","doi":"10.1108/CPOIB-05-2020-0057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/CPOIB-05-2020-0057","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how “manias” in global health governance lead to health inequalities even before, during and in the aftermath of acute health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic “Manias” as used here refer to obsessive ir/rational behaviors, misguided policy/strategic choices and the exercise of power that benefit the major global health actors at the expense of stakeholders Design/methodology/approach: From post-colonial and historical perspectives, this study delineates how the major global health actors influence outcomes in global health governance and international business when they interact at the national–global level using an illustration from an emerging economy Findings: Power asymmetry in global health governance is constructed around the centralization of economic influence, medico-techno-scientific innovation and the geopolitical hegemony of a conglomerate of super-rich/powerful actors They cluster these powers and resources in the core region (industrialized economies) and use them to influence the periphery (developing economies) through international NGOs, hybrid organizations, MNCs and multilateral/bilateral agreements The power of actors to maintain manias lies in not only how they influence the periphery but also the consequences of the periphery’s “passivity” and “voluntary” renunciation of sovereignty in medical innovations and global health policies/politics Social implications: As a quintessential feature of manias, power asymmetry makes it harder for weaker actors to actually change the institutional conditions that produce structural inequalities in global health Originality/value: This timely and multidisciplinary study calls for a novel architecture of global health governance Thus, democratizing global health governance with sufficiently foresighted investments that prioritize equitable access by and the inclusiveness of vulnerable stakeholders will help dismantle institutionalized manias while decreasing health inequalities © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited","PeriodicalId":46124,"journal":{"name":"Critical Perspectives on International Business","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43493216","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"International relationships and resilience of New Zealand SME exporters during COVID-19","authors":"Benjamin Fath, Antje Fiedler, Noemi Sinkovics, Rudolf R. Sinkovics, Bridgette Sullivan-Taylor","doi":"10.1108/cpoib-05-2020-0061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/cpoib-05-2020-0061","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\u0000<p>This paper aims to empirically investigate how small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have engaged with international network partners during COVID-19 and how the crisis has changed network relationships and resilience depending on pre-COVID relationship strength and, secondarily, on opportunity outlook in a market.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\u0000<p>This paper draws on 14 qualitative interviews with managers of New Zealand SMEs from diverse industries and four with industry experts. Rather than generalization, the aim of this exploratory paper is to identify contingency factors, which, under duress, strengthen or break business relationships.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Findings</h3>\u0000<p>Four main patterns emerge from the data, with respect to how SMEs engaged with network partners depending on the nature of their prepandemic relationships and the extent to which their markets had been affected by the pandemic. During crisis, weak ties either break or remain weak, forcing firms to create new, potentially opportunistic, relationships. Strong ties increase resilience, even under a negative outlook, as network partners support each other, including through the development of new ties. Strong ties can also accelerate business model transformation.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Research limitations/implications</h3>\u0000<p>Future large-scale research is needed to test the generalizability of the authors’ findings.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Practical implications</h3>\u0000<p>The findings of this paper indicate lessons for business continuation management and future preparedness for major disruptions. Specific insights may help stimulate managerial action to accelerate contingency planning and policy to support SMEs.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Originality/value</h3>\u0000<p>This paper is an early study on how weak and strong ties influence SME resilience during crisis.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":46124,"journal":{"name":"Critical Perspectives on International Business","volume":"48 19","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138505772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}