Expatriates, Rise of Telecommuting and Implications for International Business

International business (IB) travel has long been considered an important aspect of international business management strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Extant literature further recognizes that expatriate managers are an essential cornerstone of MNEs’ global strategies. They play a crucial role in the management of subsidiaries as well as in knowledge transfer of organizational routines and practices. Covid-19 has caused a collapse of the airline industry due to travel restrictions, which have been referred to remain in place in one way or another for the foreseeable future. The issue of international travel has become a daunting problem in relation to Covid-19 pandemic. Many MNEs have been overwhelmed by the unprecedented and severe problems they face in regard to the mobility of their workforce. The fundamental changes in the way the global economy is being run, and firms operate offer profound future research opportunities on labor mobility and IB travel.© 2021 Routledge. This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge COVID-19 and International Business: Change of Era on 21 December 2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003108924fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Emerging-market firms’ dynamic capabilities and international performance: The moderating role of institutional development and distance

While extant research has examined the separate influences of dynamic capabilities and institutions on international performance, their interactive role has received limited attention. Therefore, we examine the role of host-country institutional conditions in the relationships between emerging-market firms’ (EMFs) innovation-related dynamic capabilities and their international performance. We use multi-source secondary data and primary data from multiple informants from 254 Turkish international firms to test our framework. The study finds that the linkages between three innovation-related dynamic capabilities (innovativeness, supply-chain agility, and adaptability) and international performance are positively and negatively moderated by institutional development and institutional distance, but that their influences are opposite. These influences demonstrate that host-country institutional conditions shape the link between dynamic capabilities and EMFs’ international performance in a multifaceted and paradoxical fashion

Industry 4.0 and circular economy in an era of global value chains: What have we learned and what is still to be explored?

This article reviews the industry 4.0 (I4.0) and circular economy (CE) literature from a global value chain (GVC) perspective. More specifically, it (1) summarizes the empirical findings on the applications of I4.0 and CE practices; (2) explores the previous literature and identifies several future research directions to advance the existing literature. In this respect, the interface between I4.0 and CE research is a relatively young field of inquiry that has been little concerned with developments in GVCs. We systematically review 112 peer-reviewed papers in the field of I4.0 and CE to distill key future research opportunities and trends in the GVC field. We develop three specific conclusions from our literature review. First, GVCs can vary widely within the various forms of I4.0 technologies with the various CE practices. Second, GVC research is underdeveloped with regard to I4.0 and CE. Third, our findings are congruent with previously published studies, which recognize the importance of GVC research that has generated a rich body of knowledge, mainly from a governance perspective in operations management, supply chain management, and international business. Likewise, our study offers promising avenues for future research studies at the intersection of I4.0, CE, and GVCs. Our systematic literature review suggests that there are many opportunities to advance the I4.0 and CE debates in the burgeoning field of GVC

Environmental practices and firm performance in emerging markets: The mediating role of product quality

Environmental practices have not received as much research attention in emerging market contexts as traditional topics like quality. However, the importance of environmental practices for a firm’s production strategy has been increasing at an unprecedented level across the globe. Our research objective is, therefore, to investigate the interplay between environmental practices and quality in the pursuit of firm performance. Relying on 492 responses from Turkish manufacturers to test our hypotheses, we show that environmental practices directly improve the quality of products over and above the effect of quality management practices in emerging markets. Product quality, in turn, is important for increasing firm performance, acting as a mediator for the positive effects of environmental practices on performance. Thus, we reveal that product quality functions as an instrumental conduit between environmental practices and firm performance in emerging markets like Turkey where stakeholder pressures are weak, and regulations are often not properly enforced.WOS:0004680055000052-s2.0-8506453448

Working through frame incongruences : A process perspective on (re)framing for digital servitization

Industrial firms are increasingly seeking new means of competitiveness through digital servitization that involves incorporating digital services and platforms. Despite the growing prominence of digital servitization, we have yet to understand how such changes are being framed, reframed, and unfold in industrial firms. To this end, we undertake an in-depth longitudinal exploratory case study of an industrial firm to understand the organizational framing and reframing activities vis-à-vis digital servitization. Our findings identify how motivational, diagnostic, and prognostic framing gradually unfolds over distinct phases. Specifically, our findings reveal the occurrence of frame incongruence among different groups of actors, compelling the firm to engage in strategies and tactics to achieve frame alignment. Notably, we identify that management engages in the alignment processes of frame extension, translation, and clarification, which creates a space of workable certainty. While transient in nature, this state of workable certainty serves as a catalyst in propelling the firm forward in its pursuit of a digital servitization strategy. By shedding light on the process of digital reframing that firms undertake in order to materialize their digital servitization strategy, our study contributes to a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. Moreover, we raise pertinent managerial implications for firms embarking on the path of digital servitization, emphasizing the imperative of continuous attention to the ongoing framing and reframing processes accompanying such change endeavors.© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Internationalization of Turkish business groups: Motives and institutional context

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the internationalization motives behind location choice among emerging country business groups (EBGs) and the way in which institutional factors affect Turkiye € ’s foreign direct investment (FDI). Design/methodology/approach – This study develops a multi-perspective framework that integrates the ownership, location and internalization (OLI) paradigm (Dunning and Lundan, 2008) and the linkage, leverage and learning (LLL) model (Mathews, 2006) with neo-institutional theory to explain the internationalization of EBGs. It adopts a multiple-case study research method relying on 14 semi-structured interviews with top executives to explore the internationalization strategy of a set of Turkish BGs. Findings – This study supports the combination of the OLI paradigm, the LLL model and neo-institutional theory to explain EBGs’ internationalizing behaviors. Turkish BGs have adopted both asset exploitation and asset augmentation internationalization strategies. The institutional legitimacy mechanism moderates the internationalization motives of Turkish BGs, and their host country location choice and normative pressures are more salient than their regulative and cognitive pressures. Research limitations/implications – This study is based on a sample of EBGs from Turkiye, and this € restriction limits the generalizability/applicability of the findings to BGs globally. Originality/value – Few studies have considered EBGs and their internationalization strategies in the international business field. This paper puts forward an integrated framework for analyzing internationalization and legitimacy in the institutional context of EBGs. This study highlights that BGs bridge institutional voids. Focusing on Turkish BGs helps to answer Granovetter’s Coasian question and contributes to the understanding of emerging countries’ economic development

Understanding demand and supply paradoxes and their role in business-to-business firms

In this paper, we explore paradoxes firms face when managing demand and supply activities and managers' experience of coping with and transcending these paradoxes. Following an exploratory research approach and based on the analysis of interviews with executive managers, documents from, and observations of 19 business-to-business (B2B) firms, we develop empirically grounded propositions. We first find and explain three major demand and supply paradoxes, namely collaboration-competition, concord-conflict, and integration-differentiation. We then expand on the handling mechanisms B2B firms employ to respond to these paradoxes. We find that B2B firms that understand, balance, and transcend demand and supply paradoxes achieve greater synergy between demand and supply activities and leverage both demand and supply approaches as overarching guiding principles for their strategy. Our study informs B2B marketing and marketing strategy by exploring the nature and role of paradoxes that shape the relationships between demand and supply activities. In doing so, it also offers an empirical account of the discrepancy between the theory and practice of demand and supply integration

Relational job crafting: Exploring the role of employee motives with a weekly diary study

© The Author(s) 2018. In this weekly diary study, we integrated research on job crafting to explore the associations between expansion and contraction oriented relational job crafting, work engagement and manager-rated employee behaviours (work performance and voice). Furthermore, we investigated cross-level moderations of prosocial and impression management motives on our proposed associations. We tested our hypotheses with matched data collected over seven weeks in Istanbul, Turkey. The results from multilevel analyses revealed that (a) expansion oriented relational job crafting is positively related with work performance and voice via work engagement, while (b) contraction oriented relational job crafting is negatively related with work performance and voice via work engagement, all measured at the week level. Furthermore, impression management motives of employees moderated the association between expansion oriented relational job crafting and work engagement in that this positive association is stronger for employees low on impression management motives. Our results contribute to job crafting research in two ways. First, it focuses on relational job crafting and discusses how and why the two opposite types of relational job crafting (expansion versus contraction oriented) impact on work engagement and employees’ key outcomes in the way they do. This addresses the question ‘is there a dark side to job crafting?’ Second, it focuses on the importance of context and integrates two motives relevant to understand how relational job crafting unfolds, thereby taking a step to address questions for whom (i.e. what kinds of employees), relational job crafting is more effective and translates into enhanced (vs deteriorated) work outcomes. Moreover, our use of a weekly within-person design adds to a recently growing research stream emphasizing the dynamic nature of job crafting

Unlocking the relationships between strategic planning, leadership and technology transfer competence: The mediating role of strategic quality management

Purpose This study aims to investigate the relationships between firms' strategic planning (SP), leadership and technology transfer competence (TTC) by specifically incorporating the mediating role of strategic quality management (SQM). Design/methodology/approach This study performs structural equation modeling using AMOS on survey data collected from 200 Turkish firms operating in multiple industries and sectors. Findings This study finds that leadership in Turkish firms operating in multiple sectors is positively associated with SQM. This study further finds that SQM positively influences Turkish firms' TTC and mediates the roles of SP and leadership in TTC. Research limitations/implications A key research implication from this study relates to the mediating role of SQM in TTC in an emerging economy context. This study highlights that SP and leadership can play an essential role in TTC through the mediating mechanism of SQM. Consequently, SQM emerges as a crucial linking pin in conveying the impact of quality management practices on technology transfer in emerging markets. Practical implications An essential managerial implication of this study relates to the critical roles of leadership, SP and SQM in TTC. For the managers of firms operating in a relatively uncertain emerging context such as Turkey, it is essential to adopt a supportive and empowering leadership style, where open communication and innovative activities are viewed positively and SQM is adopted holistically. Also, SP should be streamlined throughout the firm and followed by SQM to support TTC. Originality/value This paper links the technology (and knowledge) management and the strategy and leadership literature streams by focusing on the mechanisms of technology transfer and delving into the linkages between SQM, leadership, SP and TTC. It specifically presents SP and leadership as precursors to SQM in their joint influence on TTC. Accordingly, this research bridges technology, strategy and leadership research and provides a broader picture of technology transfer that encompasses the joint role of different processes in firms' TTC