AOM IM Division Research Webinar
Digital technology and international entry modes: New trends, databases and research areas. Time for some new theory.
8:00 – 9:30 am (EDT), March 31, 2022
Panelists:
- Keith Brouthers, King's College London
- Liang Chen, University of Melbourne
- Charles Dhanaraj, University of Denver
- Satish Nambisan, Case Western Reserve University
Organizer:
- Noman Shaheer, University of Sydney
International entry mode has been one of the defining research topics for international business (IB), with numerous classic articles claiming prestigious awards at most prominent IB journals. While this research stream has much advanced our understanding of foreign entry, it also restricts the conceptualization of entry modes to discrete organizational structures that can mitigate contractual concerns related to specific cross-border transactions. Meanwhile, advances in digital technology and changes in institutional frameworks (e.g., financial institutions) are paving the way for novel entry modes that are defined by firm involvement, instead of investment, in foreign markets. This has resulted in a notable trend in the literature that focuses on asset-light international entries that are no longer structures for coordinating cost and control issues. For instance, international expansion of digital platforms represents the entry of inverted firms or ecosystems for which the locus of value-adding activities and ownership of value-creating assets resides outside the focal firm's legal boundary. Theoretical arguments underlying such novel entries have also evolved. For example, many scholars emphasize the liability of outsidership rather than the liability of foreignness and recognize network advantages in addition to asset-based and transaction-based advantages. Without due recognition of these novel entry modes that involve limited local asset ownership, the entry mode literature risks missing out on important foreign entry phenomena of the modern era.
This webinar aims at discussing and debating the need for revaluating traditional entry mode research on the wake of recent global transitions such as emergence of platforms, possibility of virtual entries to foreign countries, and ease of establishing innovation outposts. Subsequently, the webinar will explore the emergence of novel entry modes and discuss new theoretical frameworks to incorporate these advances. Finally, panellists will discuss new databases that can help advance and integrate traditional and novel entry mode research. We welcome questions from the attendees during the webinar.
Please use the link below to register.
https://unimelb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BWACmRvTRDWKyMGoEtxncQ
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