Acceleration and Deceleration in the Internationalization Process of the Firm

By adopting a processual and dynamic view on internationalization, we develop the concepts of acceleration and deceleration, providing analytical tools to enhance our understanding of the non-linearity and multidimensionality of internationalization. We argue that acceleration and deceleration are embedded in the internationalization process and are a consequence of the firm’s capability to absorb and integrate acquired knowledge, and to find and exploit opportunities. In addition, we advance the idea that changes in speed are further influenced by how the firm integrates and coordinates the resources it has deployed within and across various internationalization dimensions. Thus, it emerges that the overall evolution of commitment to internationalization is more complex than received theories tend to present; therefore, empirical studies should aim to include a wide set of international activities and processes embedded in time

Internationalisation speed and MNE performance: A study of the market-seeking expansion of retail MNEs

Existing research is divided on whether firms that rapidly expand their overseas operations perform better than firms that internationalize slowly. Drawing on Penrose’s theory of the growth of the firm we argue that the positive effects of rapid internationalization give way to negative effects with increasing internationalization speed, leading to an inverted U-shaped association between internationalization speed and firm performance. We analyse the market-seeking expansion of 110 retailers over a 10-year period (2003–2012) and find support for a curvilinear relationship between internationalization speed and firm performance that is moderated by the geographic scope of firms’ internationalization path and firms’ international experience. Our study contributes to resolving conflicting views on the link between internationalization speed and firm performance

Simple word of mouth or complex resource orchestration for overcoming liabilities of outsidership

Drawing on the resource orchestration literature, we explore the processes by which transnational entrepreneurs offset the liabilities of outsidership they face in their host country. We show how these entrepreneurs’ outsidership with respect to domestic business networks of the host country is compensated by their involvement in diaspora networks. Our second contribution lies in an extension of the resource orchestration framework, as we show that sequencing of resource orchestration processes is important for the implementation of the entrepreneurs’ strategy for using their embeddedness within the diaspora network for enhancing their competitiveness, and can lead to lead to groupings of activities that differ from the groupings found in the original version of the framework

Pace of innovation and speed of small and medium-sized enterprise international expansion

The literature emphasises that technological advances have enabled firms to expand internationally at accelerated speed. Yet, technological advances are treated as a contextual variable and little is known about how firm-level technological innovations influence the internationalisation speed of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To address this shortcoming, we draw on insights based on capability development theory to establish the effects of innovation timing and pace on SME international expansion speed. We test our conceptual model using a sample of 180 Swedish SMEs and show that the faster the innovation pace, the faster the internationalisation. We then address the boundary conditions of this relationship to show that the elapsed time between a firm's founding and first innovation negatively moderates the positive effects of its innovation pace. Our findings have theoretical, managerial and policy implications

Humidity affects the performance of von Frey monofilaments

Background Assessment of tactile and nociceptive thresholds of the skin with calibrated polyamide monofilaments is an established testing method both in animal and in human research. It is known that changes in relative humidity may affect the physical properties of the monofilaments. As this effect has only been studied in very small diameter monofilaments, used in neonatal research, we therefore studied complete sets of polyamide monofilaments. Methods The effects were studied in a controlled climate chamber during six incremental changes in relative humidity from 20% to 79% (22-24 degrees C). Following 24 h of equilibration at each humidity level, calibration with a precision scale was performed. Results A highly significant linear correlation between the natural logarithm (In) of the bending force and the von Frey number was observed at all humidity levels (r2 > 0.99, P < 0.0001). An inverse linear relationship between relative humidity and In of the bending force for each monofilament was found (r2=0.95, P < 0.0001). One percent increase in relative humidity corresponded to a 1-4% relative decrease in numerical bending force, depending on the diameter of the monofilament. A significant linear relationship was observed between the coefficient of variation and the relative humidity (r2=0.87, P < 0.001). Conclusions The data indicate that the hygroscopic properties of polyamide monofilaments must be taken into account for their reliable use in quantitative sensory testing

Catalytic Iodination of the Aliphatic C-F Bond by YbI3(THF)(3): Mechanistic Insight and Synthetic Utility

A facile iodination protocol, of unactivated alkyl fluorides: using catalytic amounts of YbI3(THF)(3) in the presence of iodotrimethylsilane as a stoichiometric fluoride trapping agent is presented. H-1 NMR spectroscopy demonstrates a two-step :catalytic cycle where TMSI regenerates active YbI3(THF)(3). Finally, the catalytic reaction is extended a one-pot procdure to demonstrate a potential application of the method Overall, the findings present a distinct strategy for C-F bond transformations in the presence of catalytic YbI3(THF)(3)