International Business Overview

Principles

Definition

International business is an academic field that investigates the strategies, operations, and performance of firms engaging in commercial activities across national borders, encompassing the complexities of diverse cultural, economic, and legal environments inherent in global markets.

Ontological type

Core Theories

Entry Strategies

Global Strategy

Key developments

Key Figures

OLI-Learning Paradigm era

Jan Johanson [1], associated with Uppsala University [3] during the OLI-Learning era, helped articulate early questions about how firms develop knowledge to expand abroad. His key contribution lies in The Internationalization Process of the Firm—A Model of Knowledge Development and Increasing Foreign Market Commitments [6], which linked experiential learning with staged foreign commitments and explained why firms deepen commitments over time. Richard E. Caves [2], affiliated with Harvard University [4] and Columbia University [5] during this era, helped frame the industrial economics approach to foreign investment. His pioneering work, International Corporations: The Industrial Economics of Foreign Investment [7], laid the groundwork for understanding how firm-specific ownership advantages and locational factors influence multinational activity, a cornerstone of the OLI-Learning paradigm.

Networked Internalization era

John Humphrey [1], associated with Duke University [3] and McGill University [4], exemplifies the era's networked internalization. His key contribution in this era comes from the governance of global value chains [6], which analyzes how governance structures influence cross-border coordination and spillovers, underscoring the internalization logic. Gary Gereffi [2], linked with Columbia University [5] and Duke University [3], is a central figure in the era's global value chain scholarship. Gereffi's work on the governance of global value chains [6] elaborates how networked governance shapes cross-border capabilities and value-chain upgrading, a finding that underpins the era's emphasis on networked internalization.

Ecosystem-Driven Internationalization era

John H. Dunning [1] emerges as a central figure in the Ecosystem-Driven Internationalization era, with affiliations at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey [3] and University of Reading [4]. His key contributions in this era center on the analysis in Multinational enterprises and the global economy [7], which clarified how multinational firms navigate networked ecosystems to coordinate modular value chains and accelerate cross-border entry, thereby shaping strategy in ecosystem-driven internationalization. Sarianna M. Lundan [2] is associated with Maastricht University [5] and Aalto University [6] during this era. Her key contributions, as reflected in Multinational enterprises and the global economy [7], illuminate how firms orchestrate transnational partnerships and governance within ecosystems to manage CSR-related liabilities and risk, underscoring why ecosystem orchestration matters for international expansion.