New IE Articles — February 2022

Journal of World Business – Volume 57 (Issue 5). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2022.101311

How classical and entrepreneurial brand management increases the performance of internationalising SMEs?

Kusi,S.Y., Gabrielsson, P., Baumgarth, C

Research is limited on how accumulated international experience and decision-making style propel internationalising SMEs toward brand orientation. Our study builds a model of the process on classical and entrepreneurial brand management principles plus the firm’s applied experience and decision-making logics. An online survey of 235 internationalising SMEs found that adopted decision-making logic mediated the relationship between cumulative international experience and international brand orientation. We conclude that managers and planners must select the most appropriate approach to international brand management permitted by available international firm-specific experience if they are to achieve strong international brand orientation and superior financial performance.

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research – DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-03-2021-0227

International business opportunity recognition and development

Di Gregorio, D., Musteen, M.C., Thomas, D. 

Understanding how international business opportunities (IBOs) are recognized and developed is critical to the study of international entrepreneurship. We draw on entrepreneurial cognition research broadly and the entrepreneurial judgment perspective specifically to develop a model of the recognition and development of IBOs by considering three theoretically important sets of drivers – social networks, international experience and a proactive mindset. We use a sample of 92 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to test the model empirically. We find robust support. Entrepreneurial judgment surrounding IBOs and uncertain international business environments entails tapping social networks, international experience and a proactive mindset to both recognize third-person opportunities for someone as well as to act upon and develop IBOs as first-person opportunities from which a focal firm can profit.

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research – DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-08-2021-0639

The malleability of international entrepreneurial cognitions: a natural quasi-experimental study on voluntary and involuntary shocks

Clark, D.R., Pidduck, R.J., Tietz, M.A. 

The authors investigate the durability of international entrepreneurial cognitions. Specifically, they examine how advanced business education and the Covid-19 pandemic influence international entrepreneurial orientation disposition (IEOD), and subsequently entrepreneurial intentions (EIs), to better understand the psychological dynamics underpinning the drivers of international entrepreneurship. Against the backdrop of emerging entrepreneurial cognition and international entrepreneurial orientation research, the authors theorize that both a planned business education intervention (voluntary) and an unforeseeable radical environmental (involuntary) change constitute cognitive shocks impacting the disposition and intention to engage in entrepreneurial efforts. The authors use pre- and post-Covid-19 panel data (n = 233) and uniquely identify the idiosyncratic cognitive effects of Covid-19 through changes in the OCEAN personality assessment. Findings demonstrate that when individuals’ perceived psychological impact of Covid-19 is low, business education increases IEOD. Conversely, the effects of a strongly perceived Covid-19 impact reduce the risk-taking and proactiveness components of the IEOD scale. The authors trace the same effects forward to EIs.

Academy of Management Discoveries – DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amd.2020.0170

How do immigrant family business achieve global expansion? An embeddedness perspective.

Chavan, M. Chirico, F. Taksa, L. & Alam, M.

Extant literature on immigrant family businesses (IFBs) refers to the vital role of embeddedness in their success. Yet, little is known about how embeddedness evolves from family to global and how it helps IFBs to establish themselves in a host country, survive the related challenges, and thrive in the international market. By drawing on the lived experience of 25 highly successful family business entrepreneurs in Australia, we develop an integrated process model and discover a four-phase chronology of IFBs’ success toward global expansion: arriving, establishing, expanding, and thriving. Further, this model links these transitory phases to the IFBs’ embeddedness that evolves from family to local, host-country, and global. Our findings suggest that while the strength of family embeddedness is critical over time, its scope is limited as the IFBs form new, more extensive networks toward the global market. IFBs act as boundary spanners, blending local and international resources to create value. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are shared in the concluding section. Keywords: Immigrant family business; embeddedness; process model; global strategy