Learning by exporting: A system-based review and research agenda

Over the past four decades, flourishing empirical research has attempted to establish the mechanisms and conditions underpinning improvements in exporters’ innovation and productivity via the learning-by-exporting (LBE) effect, and the domain has gained legitimacy and empirical credibility. However, the literature's findings are largely fragmented and require systematic review and analysis to draw definitive conclusions on the factors that influence the subsequent realization of learning from exporting. To fill this void, we critically examine the extant LBE research for the period 1984–2021. We systematically review 167 articles to develop a system-based taxonomy and conceptual model of LBE, which comprises five major components: system outputs (productivity and innovation), inputs (e.g., institutional factors and resources), firm-level capabilities (e.g., absorptive capacity and innovation persistence), managerial characteristics (e.g., entrepreneurship skills) and internationalization strategies. In doing so, we uncover paradoxical tensions within the system brought about by the conflicting roles of some components of the LBE system, such as firm-, industry- and country-level technological capabilities. Our review also reveals research gaps that open relevant opportunities for further research and conclusions that hold novel implications for managers and policymakers.     

Hybrid organization deconstructed: A bibliographic investigation into the origins,development, and future of the research domain

Research on hybrid organization (HO) has grown rapidly over recent decades, yet the conceptualization and research structure remain fragmented. In this paper, we employ a combination of bibliometric analysis and a structured review of recent influential articles to evaluate the domain of HO. As part of the bibliometric analysis, we analysed 676 documents containing 51,014 references by applying citation, co-citation, and social network analysis (SNA) techniques. Based on our analysis, we identified the 108 most influential works shaping the domain and explored the linkages between them to uncover the intellectual structure of the domain. Specifically, we observed five different clusters that depicted the intellectual structure of the HO domain. Our result further clarified the overall centrality features of the HO research network. Further, the structured review resulted in the identification of six different themes: impact of organizational actors on HO, impact of the external environment on HO, hybridization process and organizational response, organizational structure and governance, organizational strategy, and organizational performance. Building on our results, we propose a framework and explicate the gaps for future HO research.     

Five stages of growth in small business

As a small business develops it moves through five growth stages, each with its own distinctive characteristics. Because the transition from one stage to the next requires change, it will be accompanied by some crisis or another. Crises tend to be disruptive and the problems of change can be minimized if managers are proactive rather than reactive. Prior knowledge of what generates crises and what to expect in each stage will smooth the process of change. This article proposes a model of small business growth to enable managers of small businesses to plan for future growth. The model has been successfully tested and used by the authors in analysing and solving the problem of growing small businesses. The model isolates the five growth stages, the sort of things that will precipitate crises and the major strategies that should be considered at each stage. Its main purpose is as a diagnostic tool in analysing the firm's present position and in planning what will be required as it progresses to the next stage of its development.     

Municipal publications: A bibliographic guide to library literature

The following bibliography, which draws together the reported writings relating to municipal publications in the United States, suggests that many of the historical writings have value for presently debated issues.     

Municipal publications: A selective bibliographic guide to 153 cities

Bibliographic control of municipal publications varies greatly from municipality to municipality and in most cases may be termed irregular. Librarians want ways to identify and gain access to municipal activities for their own and other municipalities. This bibliography provides selective information for approximately 87 percent of the United States cities eligible for inclusion in Greenwood Press's Index to Current Urban Documents. It also includes data for Boulder, Colorado; Tallahassee, Florida; Springfield, Illinois; and Carson City, Nevada. Excluded from consideration were Canadian cities, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.     

A categorized bibliographic survey of goal programming

A total of 240 goal programming articles that have so far appeared in over 60 English journal publications are compiled and classified according to technique and application areas. Analysis of these data provides interesting insights regarding goal programming article characteristics, literature trends and future needs.     

Frontiers of research in international business

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are networked firms whose subsidiaries act as nodes embedded in a variety of local contexts. This allows them to tap into many local systems of innovation to access diverse knowledge bases and integrate them to create new competencies. Currently technology is altering our conception of space and forcing us to recognize that it is a multi-dimensional concept, incorporating geographic space, technological space and personal network space. At the corporate level, MNE managers need to understand comparative strategic management, constantly looking for arbitrage opportunities that arise due to differences in resources, capabilities and institutions across the local contexts. At the functional level, in order for the MNE to integrate knowledge from diverse geographic locations, managers must recognize that valuable knowledge resides in invisible communities of practice where narrow technological specializations, personal connections and information sharing are critical means of access.     

Incorporating multiple levels of analysis into occupational stress research

In recent years, more and more research in the organizational sciences has incorporated a multiple levels of analysis perspective (e.g. individual, group and organizational) into models of organizational behaviour. The study of occupational stress, however, has continued to focus almost exclusively on the individual level of analysis. In this paper, the authors contend that incorporating a multi-level perspective in the study of occupational stress has theoretical as well as practical value. The authors illustrate their position using results from an occupational stress research programme conducted by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.     

A productive clash of cultures: Injecting economics into leadership research

Research on leadership in economics has developed in parallel to the literature in management and psychology and links between the fields have been sparse. Whereas modern leadership scholars mostly focus on transformational and related leadership styles, economists have mainly emphasized the role of contracts, control rights, and incentives. We argue that both fields could profit from enriching their approach with insights from the other field. We review and synthesize the economics literature on leadership in organizations and discuss how leadership scholars in management and psychology can benefit from the detailed understanding of transactional methods that economists have developed. We link the contributions in economics to a broad set of topics including the foundations of leadership, leader emergence, and leader effectiveness. At the same time, we also point out limitations of the economic approach and outline how the integration of leadership research and economics would broaden the scope of future studies.     

Industrial co-operation: Europe's companies turn it into a business

Industrial Co-operation (IC) is a fast-growing aspect of high-technology manufacturing, with much potential. This article puts the strategy, involving contractors and sub-contractors, into sharp focus, explaining what opportunities exist, giving examples, and prescribing the elements for successful IC. The prospects look particularly good for European high-tech firms.     

Evolution of industry 4.0 and international business: A systematic literature review and a research agenda

Industry 4.0 has attracted significant attention from researchers in the international business field for a decade. This paper critically analyzes the literature on the relationships between Industry 4.0 and international business. A systematic literature review of 59 studies published between 2011 and December 2020 is conducted. Using the Theory, Context, Characteristics, and Method (TCCM) framework, the review identifies various gaps in research and proposes future research agenda. The results show that (1) Industry 4.0 modifies specific domains in the field of international competitiveness and organization and (2) international business affects the choices and opportunities of adopting Industry 4.0. The need for further theoretical development in the relationships between international business and Industry 4.0 is observed especially in terms of location choices, global value chains, international organizations and international trade. The results contribute to the relevant research field and provide substantial managerial implications.     

Alternative ways of studying time in qualitative international business research: A review and future agenda

Our study provides a systematic theoretical review of 304 qualitative-based articles published in seven international business journals from 2010 to 2020. We constructed a typology that provides alternative ways of studying time and is constituted by two dimensions: ontological conceptions of time (objective vs subjective) and theorising style of research (variance vs process). Our analysis and findings illustrate that time is mostly treated as objective and linear, and they highlight some concerning trends: lack of conceptual clarity; lack of diversity within and between paradigms; and lack of methodological clarity. We propose three pathways for advancing future research on time.     

Regionalization vs. globalization in advertising research: Insights from five decades of academic study

This paper is a response to calls for more research into the regional–as opposed to global–level of international business operations (Rugman and Verbeke, 2004). Focusing on a key issue in international management, the standardization decision, this paper presents a systematic review of top journal articles published over the last five decades on the subject of advertising standardization at the regional level. The results of this review demonstrate that in the last decade studies have frequently taken a regional rather than international focus of analysis, suggesting a shift in research in line with regionalization theory. However, this study also shows that research on regional standardization has lacked consistency in relation to how the phenomenon should be defined and measured. We present a conceptualization of measurement approaches to international advertising standardization, propose a typology of approaches and discuss their implications for knowledge advancement in the area.     

NGOs and international business research: Progress,prospects and problems

Civil society, and non‐government organizations (NGOs) in particular, have become a research interest in international business (IB). The purpose of this paper is to review scholarly understandings of the nature and significance of NGOs in IB. Contributions from complementary research domains are also explored with a view to encouraging greater interdisciplinary integration in analysing the NGO sector and in particular its relations with multinational enterprises (MNEs). These domains are: strategic alliances and resource dependency; global governance and multilateralism; public management; and regulation theory. The primary argument is that such interdisciplinarity may facilitate more innovative IB treatments of the role of NGOs, reflecting more adequately their strategic environment and motivations. Moreover, including a multitude of perspectives helps to address broader issues identified by scholars as pivotal to the future standing of the field: the nature of strategic agency among organizations other than MNEs; the interpretation of globalization and its implications for organizations; and whether IB is too isolated from the other social sciences.     

Social capital and business and management: Setting a research agenda

This paper adopts the template of systematic reviewing and provides an up-to-date synthesis of the literature on social capital and business and management. The review demonstrates that social capital research is concentrated into three core dimensions: structural, relational and cognitive. First, structural social capital includes social interaction and the frequency of contact and connectivity levels among and between actors' network relations. Secondly, relational social capital refers to the underlying normative conditions of trust, obligation, expectation and identity that guide actors' network relations. Thirdly, cognitive social capital refers to the meaningful contexts of communication among and between actors, and includes the shared language, codes and narratives used to create understanding. However, the rich linkages between structural, relational and cognitive social capital across equivalent/hierarchical social space and geographical boundaries are neglected. A further research focus identified is that the role of face-to-face and the increasingly routine tool of electronic mediated communication may produce different characteristics and levels of social capital. The paper also discusses the ways in which critical realism and mixed methodology may enhance understanding of the process-based linkages between structural, relational and cognitive social capital.     

国外知识管理研究范式——以共词分析为方法

在确定国外知识管理研究领域58个高频关键词的基础上,运用共词分析法,以SPSS软件为工具分析知识管理的学科结构,发现了国外知识管理领域的三大学派、两大范式,并预测知识管理今后将会在知识资源这一概念下走向范式的融合,从而得出知识管理的资源范式这一论点.     

Environmental proactivity and business performance: an empirical analysis

This paper analyses the relationship between environmental proactivity and business performance on a sample of 186 industrial companies. This relationship is approached by studying a bundle of relationships between different dimensions or manifestations of environmental proactivity and different measures of business performance. The analysis in part supports the idea that environmental management can bring about competitive opportunities for companies, although it also reveals that some environmental practices produce negative effects. It is thus concluded that there is no one single response for the question of whether environmental proactivity has positive effects on business performance and that this relationship must be disaggregated into more specific and concrete relationships.