INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES
UM PANORAMA DE 10 ANOS DE MÉTODOS QUALITATIVOS NO JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES
Recebido em: 08/11/2012 • Aprovado em: 27/01/2013 Avaliado pelo sistema double blind review Editora Científica: Manolita Correia Lima
SÍLVIO LUÍS DE VASCONCELLOS silvio.v@ienh.com.br instituição evangélica de novo hamburgo
IVAN LAPUENTE GARRIDO
JEFFERSON MARLON MONTICELLI YEDA SWIRSKI DE SOUZA
CYNTIA VILASBOAS CALIXTO universidade do vale do rio dos sinos
ABSTRACT
This paper aims to present an overview of articles published in the Journal of International Business Studies (jibs), since 2003 till 2012. According to Web of Knowledge website, jibs is the most impacting publication focused in International Business. We analyzed 498 articles in order to select papers built under qualitative basis. We found 65 articles under this premise. Firstly, we analyzed keywords under topics focusing in the entire period (2003-2012). Secondly, we analyzed whole abstracts, focusing in the last five years (2008-2012). Afterwards, we detailed keywords, objectives, strategy of research, object, industry and region where they took place. We concluded that qualitative papers are losing space in jibs. Last years, quantitative papers are serving more to confirm what we know from other studies. Paradoxically, meanwhile complex institutional environments are gaining evidence in International Business, statistics and calculi are those which have been gaining space. More qualitative studies might provide an enriching strategy for better understanding what is going on in new boundaries of IB, like emerging countries. It is a goal of jibs to expand qualitative studies; it could represent opportunities to researchers from countries less researched, like Brazil.
Keywords: qualitative methods; jibs; keywords; abstracts; international business.
RESUMO
Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar uma visão geral de artigos publicados no Journal Of International Business Studies (jibs), desde 2003 até 2012. De acordo com o sítio Web of Knowledge, o jibs é a publicação mais impactante
focada em Negócios Internacionais. Foram analisados 498 artigos com o intuito de selecionar trabalhos construídos sob a forma qualitativa. Foram encontrados 65 artigos sob essa premissa. Em primeiro lugar, foram analisadas as palavras-chave com foco em todo o período (2003-2012). Em segundo lugar, foram analisados os resumos inteiros, com concentração nos últimos cinco anos (2008-2012). Depois, foram detalhadas as palavras-chave, os objetivos, as estratégias de pesquisa, os objetos, as indústrias e as regiões onde ocorreram os estudos. Concluiu-se que os artigos qualitativos estão perdendo espaço no jibs. Nos últimos anos, trabalhos quantitativos estão servindo mais para
confirmar o que já se sabe a partir de outros estudos. Enquanto complexos ambientes institucionais têm vindo a ganhar evidência em Negócios Internacionais, paradoxalmente, são as estatísticas e cálculos que têm tido seu espaço aumentado. Mais estudos qualitativos poderiam fornecer uma enriquecedora estratégia para melhor compreensão do que está acontecendo em novas fronteiras dos Negócios Internacionais, como nos países emergentes. É um objetivo do jibs expandir os estudos qualitativos, o que poderia representar oportunidades para pesquisadores de países pouco
pesquisados, como o Brasil.
INTRODUCTION
Following the expansion of international trade during last four decades, research in International Business (IB) has spread around. Different and complementary paths were thrilled to support this evolution. Some of them involved economic-rational basis, like product cycle (vernon, 1966), location (dunning, 1980, 1988; vernon, 1966, 1979) or transaction costs (anderson; gatignon, 1986). Meanwhile other laid closer to behavioral issues relating geographic (johanson; wiedersheim-paul, 1975) and psychological distances (johanson; vahlne, 1977), involvement (johanson; vahlne, 1990), learning (vahlne; nordström, 1993) or relational learning (johanson; vahlne, 2003, 2009). Most of these seminal articles were built over empiric studies to support theoretical advances.
Contributions for IB studies use to come from different sources, as it is an interdisciplinary field. jibs holds the most impacting factor of the journals in IB. According to the specialized website Web of Knowledge (2012), jibs is ranked as impact factor 3.557 (5.245 if considered 5-year ranking). Some of the most cited articles in the field mentioned above were published at jibs (anderson; gatignon, 1986; dunning, 1980, 1988; johanson; vahlne, 1977, 2009). jibs is aligned to theory improvement and methodological advances as stated at its website (jibs, 2012) as a commitment “to publish insightful, innovative and impactful research on international business”.
Even the jibs Statement of Editorial Policy (jibs, 2012) states the journal seeks “to publish manuscripts with cutting-edge research that breaks new ground, rather than merely making an incremental contribution to international business studies”, there is an interesting point that deserve attention: although jibs had been founded over a rich legacy of qualitative studies, nowadays “such methods [qualitative research] have been progressively marginalized in our field as quantitative methods have become the norm” (birkinshaw; brannen; tung, 2011).
We developed this study with the aim to contribute on understanding which type of research is following straightly the jibs Policy addressing real-world phenomena, problems or puzzles thru qualitative investigation
(jibs, 2012). Hence, this study aims to offer an overview over theoretical-empiric studies published on jibs, since 2003 till 2012, based on keywords and abstracts published ate jibs website (jibs, 2012). Specifically, we intend to know which themes have been researched in IB thru qualitative methods, associated to the keywords (2003-2012) and abstracts (2008-2012). We counted 498 papers (we didn’t consider commentaries, perspectives and research notes). Sixty five articles were clearly qualitative or qualitative-quantitative studies, as Table 1.
Table 1 Articles developed under qualitative methods during last 10 years Year Total of articles Qualitative methods Percentage
2003 34 9 27% 2004 29 6 21% 2005 40 6 15% 2006 46 4 9% 2007 59 13 22% 2008 70 6 9% 2009 72 7 10% 2010 62 3 5% 2011 53 9 17% 2012* 33 2 6% Total 498 65 13% (*) 2012 January- November
Source: jibs (2012) – compiled by authors
It’s relevant to note that there was a special issue attempting to a call for qualitative papers in 2011. That occasion, 118 subscriptions were made and merely eight were accepted (birkinshaw; brannen; tung, 2011).
The qualitative studies report to different topics. We identified 368 different keywords. After excluding some idiosyncratic keywords, like creolization and otherness (hung; li; belk, 2007) we categorized them in 13 generic topics: culture, emerging markets, finance/performance, individuality/ entrepreneurship issues, industry, innovation/knowledge, institutions, internationalization process, interrelation issues, methodology, resources/
capabilities, strategy and theories. We depicted these generic topics in the next section, excepted internationalization process and methodology. Avoiding redundancies, we took out Internationalization Process because it is the main subject of jibs. We excluded methodology because it is intrinsic to the objectives of this article.
GENERIC TOPICS IN INTERNATIONAL QUALITATIVE STUDIES We organized this section according to generic topics we grouped the
368 keywords. Albeit it means a generalist categorization, it may help to organize the corpus we researched, as proposed by Bardin (1977).
CULTURE
Culture has been pointed as keyword in several aspects. Sometimes it refers to organizational culture (brannen; peterson, 2009), other times and more often, to national (caprar, 2011; gould; grein, 2009, for example). While it is referring to organizational aspects, usually it regards to multinational enterprises [mne] (caprar, 2011; yagi; kleinberg, 2011). Frequently qualitative research is useful for cross-cultural studies (yagi; kleinberg, 2011). In some cases culture is connected to other topics, like knowledge (shapiro; ozanne; saatcioglu, 2008). In a space dimension, culture is referred as local (moore, 2011), or means distance (gertsen; soderberg, 2011).
EMERGING MARKETS
Qualitative studies are helpful for studying specific markets, mainly emergent markets like India (khanna; palepu, 2004), Mexico (siegel, 2009) and China (hung; li; belk, 2007). Specifically, ten studies were performed in China, two in South Korea and India, and one in Mexico. Emerging Markets are investigated as destination of sales (Siegel, 2009) or specific characteristics, like Hung, Li and Belk. (2007). mne’s from emerging markets have been studied by qualitative aspects (siegel, 2009). Some developing countries were also studied once: Chile, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, South Korea and Taiwan.
FINANCE/PERFORMANCE
Measurements usually are associated to quantitative studies. Surprisingly, performance has been studied by qualitative techniques (child; chung; davies, 2003; choi; chang-bum; beamish, 2004). Child, Chung and Davies (2003) investigated cross-border investments in China; Choi, Chang-bum,
and Beamish (2004) studied interorganizacional relationships between mne’s and local firms in Korea and performance they achieved as well. International alliances have been their performance analyzed comparing to cultural differences (sirmon; lane, 2004). Financing issues during crisis wereinvestigated by a case study of the Gulf Crisis of 1990 – 1991, examining the behavior of the international oil market during that period (weiner, 2005).
INDIVIDUALITY/ENTREPRENEURSHIP ISSUES
The role of individuals, sometimes inside the organizations other times as subjects of entrepreneurship issues have been examined by qualitative studies in jibs. For example careers in internationalized companies were studies by Bolino (2007) and Lau, Shaffer, and Au (2007). Also, expatriation is often studies by qualitative methods (bolino, 2007; carraher; sullivan; crocitto, 2008; lazarova; cerdin, 2007). Some critical points received attention in a cross-cultural analysis, like cronyism and corruption (khatri; tsang; begley, 2006) and opportunism (verbeke; greidanus, 2009). Entrepreneurship sometimes involves the role of individual as a resource to the organization (jones; coviello, 2005) or as a mentor of an internationalization action as a node of a network (coviello, 2006). Frequently the entrepreneurship is linked to born-global issues (coviello, 2006; fan; phan, 2007).
INDUSTRY
Specific industry studies have been performed in qualitative methods. The automotive industry was investigated by Moore (2011). He evaluated cross-cultural relationships in the organization, and the interaction of manager and worker perspectives. Lamb, Sandberg, and Liesch (2011) analyzed cross-cultural relationships in the organization, the interaction of manager and worker perspectives in small wineries. A longitudinal study in furniture industry was developed by Jonsson and Foss (2011). The service sector was also investigated, like Japanese trading (goerzen; makino, 2007), and software industry in India, under governance aspects (khanna; palepu,
2004). Wireless and telecommunications in Europe were debated under the scope of the internationalization of research and development (r&d) activities.
INNOVATION/KNOWLEDGE
This is a wide range investigation field in jibs, under qualitative methods. The way as innovation takes place usually is related to knowledge formation
or transferring (eapen, 2012, p.244), for instance, concluded that “affect-based ties might motivate foreign firms sufficiently to share information with domestic firms at the search stage, reciprocal benefits and social monitoring conferred by common third-party ties are necessary in the transfer stage”. The place where knowledge is generated and how is transferred as also often
researched (tippmann; scott; mangematin, 2012; martin; salomon, 2003). Knowledge and innovation were associated as capabilities in international competition (knight; cavusgil, 2004). in a broadly range, innovation systems have been investigated in qualitative methods, as Spencer (2003).
INSTITUTIONS
According to North (1990), institutions are the rules of the game. He considered that institutions may refer to formal and informal aspects. In jibs it is evident. Formal aspects were in the lens of Jackson and Deeg (2008); informal aspects were present in Tsui-Auch and Mollering (2010). In a provocative perspective paper Ricart, Enright, Ghemawat, Hart, and Khanna (2004) included institutional aspects for understanding the new frontiers to international strategy. Some articles associated institutions to other themes, like resourced-based view (wang; hong; kafouros; wright, 2012; meyer; peng, 2005) or to path dependency (hutzschenreuter; pedersen; volberda, 2007).
INTERRELATION ISSUES
In this topic we considered behavioral and network issues. We included some subjective characteristics like emotion (lee; yang; graham, 2006), commitment (siegel, 2009) and trust (tsui-auch; mollering, 2010). Other
keywords are related social aspects like business & society (jackson; deeg, 2008) and civil society (teegen; doh; vachani, 2004). Some are related to network issues. Siegel (2009, p.1171) study used a “quasi-natural experiment from Mexico to examine the conditions under which forming a strategic alliance with a foreign multinational firm is actually a superior mechanism for ensuring good corporate governance”.
RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES
Firms need resources and capabilities to compete internationally (PENG, 2001). During last ten years resource-based view has been associated to IB studies (knight; kim, 2009; cuervo-cazurra; maloney; manrakhan, 2007; meyer; peng, 2005). Often, organization learning is listed as distinctive resource to conquest new markets (tippmann; scott; mangematin, 2012). Some studies reveal how domestic firms learns from foreign organizations by knowledge spillovers (eapen, 2012). Javidan (1998) considered that owning resources is not enough for achieving competences; it’s necessary capabilities to arrange them. In fact, capabilities in international strategy is frequently researched, sometimes associated to innovation (knight; cavusgil, 2004), technology (martin; salomon, 2003), in a network perspective (yiu; lau; bruton, 2007) or even in a global wide range (london; hart, 2004).
STRATEGY
According to Dunning (1980), the decision to turn an organization international is a strategic choice motivated by a sort of aspects, like ownership, localization and internalization. This assumption is often mentioned in IB studies. For instance, Brown, Dev, and Zou (2003) studied how some absorptive capabilities are generated due ownership of hotels abroad. Meyer and Altenborg (2008) studies presented a shared ownership of stated-owned Scandinavian telecom companies were incompatible. Ownership and location were associated to strategic decision making by Filatotchev, Strange, Piesse, and Lien (2007: p.556). They presumed that “the entry mode and location decisions appear to be interrelated, with the parent’s equity stake in the affiliate depending inter alia upon the location
within China, and the favored location depending inter alia upon the equity stake”. Often Strategy is related to international market. Verlegh (2007; p.361) observed that consumer behavior is “biased in their evaluations of domestic products vs. foreign alternatives”. Also, Shapiro, Ozanne and Saatcioglu. (2008) observed cultural sensitivity in international business when compared consumers in Netherlands and usa. Besides those behavioral issues, performance is frequently linked to strategy in international business (capar; kotabe, 2003; choi; chang-bum; beamish, 2004).
THEORIES
International business is a multidisciplinary field of investigation (peng; wang; jiang, 2008). So, a vast range of theories support researches. Some are grounded in classical economics, like transaction costs (chen; li, 2005; orr; scott, 2008). Other is co-evolutionary theories (hutzschenreuter; pedersen; volberda, 2007) and social influenced theories (hung; gu; yim, 2007; verlegh, 2007). Some articles are linked to theories yet under consolidation like network (sun; mellahi; thun, 2010) and even multinational corporate theory (martin; salomon, 2003). Those three theories have been basing some relevant studies. Institutional theory is adopted by Jackson and Deeg (2008), resource-based view by Knight and Kim (2009). Usually economics is related to some other knowledge area, like sociology (jackson; deeg, 2008) and politics (siegel, 2009). Meyer and Peng (2005) proposed an international business theory based on organizational economics theory, resource-based theories and institutional theories. Economic reforms in emerging countries have been studied appealing to economics (del sol; kogan, 2007). Sometimes, economics is connected to institutional theory (jackson; deeg, 2008) or used to support longitudinal studies like Siegel (2009).
TRAILS ON ABSTRACTS
After we grouped keywords in topics, we analyzed other aspects. We designed some further criteria in order to describe which themes have been investigated under qualitative methods. Hence, we included some additional information to this exploratory study, in order to organize comparisons on the final considerations. The categories we chose may highlight important aspects from the articles. Also, it may allow different way of analysis to who is interested in develop qualitative studies in IB as well. The categories are:
a Strategy of investigation: we considered which were stated in the abstracts. We found study cases, ethnography, phenomenography, photo-elicitation, and research over previous registered interviews; b Object of study: For object of study we refer to the level of analysis.
Countries, industries, organizations, networks, individuals, and also publications;
c Place where the research was performed: The place where the research was performed refers to regions and countries, if it were specified on abstracts. We identified studies in China (10); USA (9); Japan (3); Germany (2); India (2); South Korea (2); Australia (1); Brazil (1); Chile (1); Dominican Republic (1); England (1); Guatemala (1); Israel (1); Italy (1); Mexico (1); Norway (1); Romania (1); Sweden (1); Taiwan (1) and The Netherlands (1). Some studies refer to continents or part of them. Europe (2); Asia (1); Asian Pacific Rim (1); Central Europe (1); and East Europe (1);
d Objectives: we looked for objectives in all abstracts. It’s relevant to understand why authors decide for qualitative methods. In order to avoid an extent table of information we concentrated analysis in last five years (2008-2012).
T ab le 2 Pu bl ish ed jibs ’ a rt ic le s de ve lo pe d o ve r q ua lit at iv e m et ho ds – 2 00 8-20 12 ( al ph abe tic al o rde r) A ut hor s Ti tl e Ke yw ords Ob jec ti ve St ra te gy Ob jec t Ind ust ry Re gi on Ba lo gu n, Jar zab ko w sk i, an d V aar a ( 20 11 ) Se lli n g , r esis ta n ce a n d re co nc ilia ti on : A c ri tic al d is -cu rs iv e a p p ro ac h t o s ub si -di ar y r ol e e vo lu tio n i n M N Es p ri ma ry da ta s o ur ce ; str at egi c c han ge ; s tr a-te g y p ro ce ss es ; d is -co ur se anal ys is ; c as e st ud y; M NE in te gr at ion To ex p lo re th e su b tl e dy na m ic s i n t he w ay t ha t b ot h h ea d q uar te rs an d sub si di ar ies s ub je ct iv el y re con st ruc t t h ei r i nde -pe nde nt -in te rde pe nde nt re la ti o n ships w it h e ac h ot he r d ur ing c ha nge Ca se s tu dy – d is co ur se an al ysis mu ltin at io na l en te rpr is e (M N E) N ot sp eci fie d Eu ro pe Br an ne n a nd Pet er se n ( 20 09 ) M er gi ng w ithou t a lie na ting : in te rv en tion s p ro m ot in g cro ss-cu lt u ra l organ iz at io na l i nt egr at io n an d t he ir l im ita tio ns p o st -m er g er i n te gr a-ti o n ; c ros s-cu lt u ra l w ork a lien at io n; b ic ul -tur al o rgan iz at io n s; in te rna ti onal o rga ni za -tio na l b eh av io r; fo rei gn dire ct in ve st m en t To s ur fa ces c ro ss -c ult ur al w or k a lie na ti on a s a p he -no m eno n th at c an l im it th e o ve ra ll s uc ce ss o f s uc h ven tu re s, a nd iden tif ie s in te rv en tio ns t ha t h el p t o pr om ot e s uc ce ss fu l po st -m er ge r i nt eg ra tion ite ra tiv e be tw ee n-m et ho ds tr ian gula tio n cro ss-bo rd er m er ge rs a nd ac qu isi tio ns ca se s N ot sp eci fie d N ot speci fie d Br ut on , K ha vul, an d C ha ve z ( 20 11 ) M icr ol en di ng in e m ergi ng ec on omi es : B ui ldi ng a n ew lin e o f in qu ir y f ro m th e gr oun d up m ic ro len d ing ; em er -gi ng m ar ke ts /c oun tr ie s/ ec on om ie s; e n tr epr e-ne ur ship To p ro b e t he c au se s a nd co n se q u en ces of h ig h p er for m anc e a nd bu si -ne ss fai lu re fo r m icr ol oan re cip ie nt s Ca se s tu dy / an al ys is n ot de tail ed Sma ll b us in es s m ic ro le nde rs N ot sp eci fie d D om ini ca n Re pu bli c Cap rar (2 01 1) Fo re ig n lo ca ls : A ca ut io na ry ta le on th e cu lt ur e of M N C lo ca l e m plo ye es cul tur e; c ul tur al imp ac t of M N C s; n at io na l c ul -tur e To pr ov ide m or e s op hi s-ti ca te d e vi d en ce s o f t he cul tur e o f “ ho st -c oun tr y na ti onal s” ( H C N ) o n M ul -ti n at ion al c or p or at ion (M N C ) i ss ue s et hn og ra phi c ex plor at ion lo ca l sub si di ar ie s of A m er ic an MN C s N ot sp eci fie d Ro m ania
A ut hor s Ti tl e Ke yw ords Ob jec ti ve St ra te gy Ob jec t Ind ust ry Re gi on M inin a nd Bia nc hi (2 01 1) Sa fe n es ts i n g lo b al n et s: In te rn at io n al iz at io n a n d appr opr ia bi lit y o f R & D i n w ire le ss te le com qu al ita tiv e/ qu an tit at iv e co mp ar is o ns ; i nt er na -ti o n al iz ati o n th eo ry ; te le co m mu ni ca tio ns ; he ad quar te rs –s ub si -di ar y r o le s an d r ela -ti on s; inn ov ati on a n d R& D ; p at en ts a nd i nt el -le ct ua l pr op er ty To b ri ng n ew em p iri ca l ev ide nc e t o t he de ba te on th e in te rn ati o n al iz ati o n of r es ea rc h and de ve lop -me nt (R &D ) a ct ivi tie s Q ua nt ita tiv e an d q ua lit at iv e st ud y. Q ua lit at iv e pa rt e vo lv es in te rv ie w s. co rp or at e R & D ne tw or ks w ire le ss te le com in dus tr y N ot speci fie d Ea pe n ( 20 12 ) So ci al s tr uc tur e an d t ec hn o-lo gy s pi llo ve rs fr om fo re ig n t o d om es tic fi rm s kn o wle dge a nd p ro -du cti vi ty s p il lo ve rs ; net w o rk s; a b so rp ti ve ca pac it y To c h ec k t h e a d d re ss ed lit er at ur e a bou t F D I s pi llo -ve rs p rim ar ily e xa m in in g whet he r t he p re se nc e o f fo re ig n fi rm s i n a h os t m ar -ke t le ad s t o t ec hn olo g y sp ill ov er s an d up gr ad in g in d om es tic fir m s Ca se s tud y O rgan iz at io n N ot sp eci fie d N ot speci fie d H ul t, K et ch en Jr ., G riffit h, Chab ow sk i, H amm an , D yk es , Po lli tt e, a nd Ca vus gil (2 00 9) A n a ss es sm en t o f t he m ea -su rem en t o f p er fo rm an ce in I n te rn ati o n al b us in es s res ea rc h p er fo rm anc e m ea su -rem en t; fi na nc ia l p er -for m anc e; op er at ion al p er for m anc e; o ve ra ll ef fe ct iv en es s p er fo r-m an ce To b u ild in g k n owle d g e ab ou t t h e d et er mi nan ts of o rgan iz at io nal p er fo r-m an ce m et an al ysis 96 p ub lis he d ar tic le s i n 9 j ou rn al s be tw ee n 1 995 -20 05
-A ut hor s Ti tl e Ke yw ords Ob jec ti ve St ra te gy Ob jec t Ind ust ry Re gi on H ul t, K et ch en J r., G riffi th , F inn eg an , G onz ale s-pad ron , H ar m an ci ogl u, H uan g, T ala y, an d Ca vus gil (2 00 9) D at a e qu iv al en ce in cro ss --c ul tur al in te rna tio nal b us in ess r es ea rch : ass ess -m en t a nd g uide lin es d at a e q u iv a lenc e ; con st ruc t eq uiva le nc e; m ea sur em en t e q ui va -lenc e; d at a co lle ct io n eq uiva le nc e To e xa m in e D at a e qu iv a-lenc e r efer s t o t he e xt en t to w hi ch t he e le m en ts o f a r es ea rc h d es ig n h av e t he sam e m ean in g , an d c an b e a p p lie d i n t h e s am e w ay , i n di ff er en t c ul tur al co nt ex ts m et an al ysis 16 7 s tu di es th at i nv ol ve cro ss-cu ltu ra l da ta p ub lis he d in 5 j ou rn al s be tw ee n 1 995 -20 05 -G er ts en a nd Sø de rb er g ( 20 11 ) In te rc ul tur al c ol lab or at io n st or ie s: O n n ar ra tiv e i nq ui ry an d a n al ys is a s t o o ls f o r re se ar ch i n i n te rna ti o na l bus in es s cr os s-cult ur al r es ea rc h; cros s-cu lt u ra l m an a-g em ent ; Ch in a; i n te r-cult ur al c ol la b or at io n; na rr ati ve in te rv iew in g; nar ra tiv e anal ys is To s h ow h ow n ar ra ti ve m eth ods p ro vi d e us ef ul to o ls f o r i n te rna ti o nal bus in es s re se ar ch Ca se s tu dy / n ar ra tiv e an al ysis , m appi ng di ffe re nc es be tw ee n a nd ch an ge s i n th e nar ra to rs’ pr oje ct s, al lia nc es a nd opp os iti on s in t he c ou rs e of t he ir in te ra ct io n Co llab or at io n be tw ee n a Da ni sh ex pat riat e m ana ge r an d hi s C hin es e CE O i n t he Shan gha i sub si di ar y o f an M NE N ot sp eci fie d Chin a Ja ck so n a nd D eeg (2 00 8) C o mp ar in g cap it al is m s: un de rs ta ndi ng in st itu tio nal di ve rs it y a nd i ts i m pl ic at io ns fo r in te rn at io na l b us in es s co m p ar at iv e thin kin g; ca se t he or et ic a ppr oa -ch es ; i n st itu ti o nal th e or y; e conom ic so ci o lo g y; bu si n es s and s oc ie ty; M NE –ho st co un tr y r ela tio ns To e xa m in es t h e r o le of i ns ti tu ti onal a nal ys is w ithin th e fi el d o f in te rn a-tio na l b us in es s ( IB ) s tu di es m et an al ysis N ot sp eci fie d
-A ut hor s Ti tl e Ke yw ords Ob jec ti ve St ra te gy Ob jec t Ind ust ry Re gi on Jo ns so n a nd F os s (2 011 ) In te rna ti o na l e xp an si o n thro ug h fl ex ib le re pl ic at io n: Le ar nin g f ro m th e in te rn a-tio na liz at io n e xp erienc e o f IK EA N ot sp eci fie d To k now h ow “ inte rn at io -na l r ep lic at or s” bu ild a for -m at f or r ep lic at io n, o r h ow th ey c an a dj us t i t i n o rd er to a d ap t t o lo ca l e nv i-ron m en ts a nd u nde r t he im pa ct o f n ew l ea rn in g A lo ngi tu di nal in -d ep th s tu dy in vo lv in g m or e t ha n 7 0 in te rv ie w s IK EA hom e fu rni shin g Sw ede n Kn ig ht a nd K im (2 00 9) In te rna tio nal b us in es s co m -pe te nc e a nd t he c on te m po -ra ry fi rm ca p a b il iti e s v iew ; re so ur ce -b as ed v iew ; in te rna ti onal b us in es s com p et enc e; i n ter n a-ti o na l p er fo rm an ce ; sm all a n d m ed iu m en te rpr is e To i nv es ti ga te t he w id es -p re ad i n te rna ti o nal iz a-tio n o f S M Es , a nd s pe ci fic fa ct or s t ha t s up po rt t he ir su p eri or p er for m anc e abr oa d ca se s tu di es an d a com pr eh en s-iv e l ite ra tu re rev ie w sm al l a nd m edi um en te rpr is es (S M Es ) N ot sp eci fie d N ot speci fie d Ku m ar , F en em a, an d G lin ov ( 20 09 ) O ff shor ing a nd t he g lob al di st ri b ut io n o f w ork : I m p li-ca ti on s f or t as k i nt er dep en -de nc e t he or y a nd pr ac tic e of f s hori ng ; or g an iz a-ti on t h eor y; c on tr o l an d c o o rdi na ti o n m ec ha ni sm s; g lo ba lly di st ri bu te d w or k; t as k in te rde pe nde nc e; m ul -tin at ion al e nt er pr is es To e xa m in e in te r-ta sk in ter de p endenc e, a k ey op er at io nal d et er mi nan t of i nt er -s it e i nt er ac ti on an d c om mu n ic ati on s in off s hor ing M ini -c as es O ff shor ing co mp an ie s N ot sp eci fie d N ot speci fie d Lam b, S an db erg , an d L ie sc h ( 20 11 ) Sm al l fir m in te rn at io na liz a-ti on u nv eil ed thro ug h p he -nom eno gr ap hy unde rs ta nd ing s; i nt er -na tio na lis ati on a cti vi ty cy cl e; o w ne r-ma na ge d sm all fi rms ; i nt er na ti o -na lis at ion ; p he nom eno -gr ap hy C ros s-cu lt u ra l r el ati o n -ships in th e o rg an iz ati on , th e i nt er ac ti on o f m an a-g er a nd w ork er p er sp ec -tiv es . Ph enom eno -gr ap hy ow ne r-m ana ge d fi rm s sm al l w in er ie s A us tr al ia
A ut hor s Ti tl e Ke yw ords Ob jec ti ve St ra te gy Ob jec t Ind ust ry Re gi on M ey er a nd Al te nb org (2 00 8) In co m p atib le s tr at eg ie s in in ter na ti on al m er ger s: t he fa ile d m er ge r b et w ee nT el ia and T ele nor fai lu re ; in te rn at io na l m er g er s an d ac q u is i-tio ns ; n at io na lis m; s ta te o w n er ship ; s tr at eg ic in co m pa tib ili ty To e xp lor e t he pr ob le m s o f in co m pa tib le st ra te gi es in in te rn at ion al m er ge rs Ca se s tud y Two s tat e-ow ne d cor por at ion s Te le com Sc an di na vi a M oo re (2 011 ) H o lis ti c e th n o g ra p h y: St u d yi n g t h e i m p ac t o f mu ltip le n at io na l i de nt iti es on p os t-ac qui si ti on o rgan i-zat io ns qu al ita tiv e/ qu an tit at iv e co mp ar is on s; na ti onal cul tur e; r o le o f l o ca l cul tur es ; lab or /m ana ge -m en t i ss ue s; p os t-m er -ge r/ ac qu isi tio n in te gr a-tio n; e thn og ra ph y To ana ly ze cr os s-cul tur al re la ti on sh ips in th e o rg a-ni za tio n, th e in te ra ct io n o f m an age r a nd w or ke r p er s-p ec ti ve s, a nd t he e xp re s-sio n o f n at io na l id en tit ie s w it hi n th e fir m a s i ts c ul -tu re i s n eg ot ia te d , a llo -w ing fo r g re at er u nd er s-ta n d in g o f t h e c on fl ic ts th at , i n i ts m an ag er s’ v ie w , af fe cte d t he i nte gr at io n of th e a cqu ire d s ubs id ia ry Et hn og ra phi c res ea rc h cro ss-cu ltu ra l re la tio nships in t he organ iz at io n au tom obi le N ot speci fie d O rr a nd S co tt (2 00 8) In sti tu ti on al e xc ep ti on s on glob al pr oje ct s: a pr oc es s m ode l in sti tu ti o n al th eo ry ; lia b il iti es o f f o re ig -nn es s; cro ss-b o rd er in ves tm en ts ; g lo b al p ro je ct s; in sti tu ti on al ex ce p ti on s; in st it ut io -nal tr an sa ct io ns c os ts To o ff er a n e xa m in at io n ab o u t i nf o rm an ts f ro m fi rm s e n ga g ed i n larg e--sc ale g lob al pr o je ct s rep or te d u n for e se en co st s a ft er f ai lin g t o c om -pr eh end c o g n it iv e-cu l-tur al, n or m at iv e, an d /o r re gu la ti ve in sti tu ti on s in an un fami liar h os t s oc ie tal co nt ex t ca se s tu di es 23 organ iz at io ns N ot sp eci fie d N ot speci fie d
A ut hor s Ti tl e Ke yw ords Ob jec ti ve St ra te gy Ob jec t Ind ust ry Re gi on Pa ju ne n (2 00 8) In st it ut io ns a nd i nfl ow s o f fo re ig n d ire ct i nv es tm en t: a fu zz y-set a na ly si s in st itu ti o n al e nv iro n -m en t; f ore ig n d ire ct in ve st m en t; f uz zy -set m eth o ds ; q ua lit ati ve / qu an ti ta ti ve c o m p ar i-so ns To in ve sti g at e qu es ti o n of c au sa l c om pl ex it y a nd d iv er si ty r el at ed t o t h e in flu en ce o f i ns ti tu ti on s on t he d ire ct i nv es tm en ts (F D I) o f mu ltin ati o n al en te rpr is es Fuz zy -s et anal ys is (q ual i-qu an tit at iv e) 47 c oun tr ie s N ot sp eci fie d N ot speci fie d Shap iro , O zz an e, an d S aa tc io gl u (2 00 8) A n in te rp re tiv e e xa m in at io n of th e de ve lopm en t o f c ul tu -ra l s en si ti vi ty in in te rn at io -na l b us in es s cul tur al se n si ti vi ty ; cul tur al kn o w le d g e; cul tur al i n te lli g en ce ; re la tio nship m ar ke tin g; tr u st ; i n te rc ult ur al co m mu ni ca tio n To e xp lor e t h e de ve lo -p m en t a nd e vo lu ti on o f cult ur al s en si ti vi ty a s i t in te ra ct s w it h t ru st a n d de ve lopm en t o f i nt er na -ti on al b us in es s re la ti on -ships In -de pt h in te rv ie w s Ind iv id ua ls – bu ye rs N ot sp eci fie d A si an P ac ifi c Rim Si eg el (2 00 9) Is t h er e a b et te r c o m m it -m en t m ech an ism t h an cro ss-lis tin gs f or e m er gin g--e conom y fi rm s? Ev ide nc e f rom M ex ic o C o mmi tm en t; i n te r--o rgan iz at io na l r ela -ti o n ships ; e m erg in g m ar ke ts /c oun tr ie s/ eco n o m ie s; s o ci o eco -no m ic st ud ies ; p ol itic al re la ti o n ships ; e co n o -mi cs an d i nt er na ti ona l po lit ic al e conom y To i nv es tig at e i f a c om m on co mmi tm en t m ec han is m is t o b o rr ow U S s ec u ri -ti es l aw s, w hi ch i nv ol ve s lis tin g th e em er gin g ec o -no m y fi rm ’s s ha re s o n a U S ex chan ge qua si -na tur al ex pe rim en t str at egi c al lia nc e N ot sp eci fie d M ex ico
A ut hor s Ti tl e Ke yw ords Ob jec ti ve St ra te gy Ob jec t Ind ust ry Re gi on Sun , M el lah i an d Th un (2 010 ) Th e d yn am ic v al ue o f M N E p o lit ic al e mb ed d edn es s: The c ase o f t he C h ine se au tom obi le ind us tr y p o li ti ca l a sp ec ts o f M NE a ct iv it y; n et w or k th eor y; c om p et it iv e st ra te g ie s o f n o n --e m ergi ng m ar ke t fir m s fo r em er gi ng m ark et s; Chin a; a ut om ot iv e To e xa m in es t he c om pl ex re la ti o n shi p b et w ee n th e e mb ed d ed n es s of m ul tin at ion al en ter pri se s (M NE s) i n ho st -c ou n tr y p o lit ic al n et w o rk s an d th ei r long -r un c om pe tit iv e p o si tio n s i n ho st em er -gi ng m ar ke ts Lo ngi tu di nal st ud y f ro m t he ea rly 1 98 0s to t he m id 20 00 s, u si ng da ta f ro m 1 42 in te rv ie w s o ve r 11 y ea rs , a nd a w ide ra nge of s ec on da ry so ur ce s mu ltin at io na l en te rpr is es (M N Es ) au tom obi le Chin a Tip pm ann , S cot t, and M ange m at in (2 012 ) Pr ob le m s ol vi ng i n M N C s: H ow lo ca l a nd g lob al so lu ti on s a re (a nd a re n ot ) cre at ed mu ltin ati o n al c o rp o -ra ti o n s ( M N C s) a n d en ter p ri se s (M NE s) ; organ iz at io nal le ar ni ng ; kno w le dge -s ee ki ng b eh av ior ; k no w le dge tr an sf er a nd in no va tion in M N C s/ M N Es ; g lo ba l le ar nin g; c as e-th eo re tic appr oa ch es To e xp lo re t h e m ic ro --le ve l d et ai ls o f m an ag er s’ ac tion s a nd in te ra ct ion s in -d ep th qu al ita tiv e st ud y i nt o 38 pr ob le m -sol vi ng pr oc es ses fo ur sub si di ar ie s N ot sp eci fie d N ot speci fie d Ts ui -Au ch a nd M öl le ring (2 01 0) W ar y m ana g er s: U nf av or a-ble e nv iron m en ts , p er ce iv ed vu ln era bi lit y, a nd t he de ve -lopm en t o f t ru st in f or ei gn en te rpr is es in C hi na Ch in a; tr us t; ma na gi ng fo rei gn o per at io ns ; i ns -tit ut io na l e nv iro nm en t; in st itu tion al th eor y; pr i-m ar y da ta s our ce s To hi gh lig ht ho w th e lo ca l en viro nm en t in flu en ce s for ei gn m an age rs ’ p er ce p -ti on o f v uln er ab ili ty , a nd ho w f or ei gn m an ag er s c an de ve lo p t ru st e ve n w he n the ir p er ce iv ed v ul ne ra bi -lit y i s h ig h in -d ep th c as e stu di es tw o fo rei gn -con tr ol le d en te rpr is es N ot sp eci fie d Chin a
A ut hor s Ti tl e Ke yw ords Ob jec ti ve St ra te gy Ob jec t Ind ust ry Re gi on Ve nk atr am an an d N el so n (2 00 8) Fr om s er vi ce sc ap e t o c on -sump tio ns cap e: a p ho to -e li-ci ta ti on s tud y o f S ta rbu ck s in th e N ew C hin a adop ti on o f i n no va -ti o n; C hi na ; gl o b al br an d m ea nin g; p hot o--e lic it at io n ; s er vi ce s-ca pe ; S ta rbuc ks To e xp lo re h ow y o u n g , u rb an C h in es e c o n su -m er s t ra ns fo rm t he i co ni c g lob al br and S ta rbuc ks in to a c on su m pt io nsc ap e thro ug h th eir e na ct m en t of p er so nal ly m ean in gf ul ex p eri enc es , ro le s, and id en tit ie s in th e s et tin g Ph ot o-eli ci ta tio n by h av in g con su m er s re co rd in g t he ir ex pe rie nc e thro ug h ph ot ogr ap hy an d l at er u si ng th es e i ma ges as p ro be s in a d ep th in te rv ie w Ind iv id ua ls in St ar buc ks Re st aur an t Be iji ng , Chin a Ve rb ek e a nd G re id an us (2 00 9) Th e e nd o f t he o pp or tu ni sm vs . t ru st deb at e: B ou nde d re lia bi lit y as a n ew e nv el op e co nc ep t i n r es ea rc h o n M N E go ve rn anc e in te rn al iz ati on th eo ry ; tr an sa ct ion c os t e cono -mi cs ; o pp or tun is m To a ss es s b ot h t he o pp or -tu ni sm c on ce p t a nd e xi s-ti ng a lt er na ti ve s s uc h a s tr us t w it hi n t h e c on te xt of I B r es ea rc h, es pe ci al ly w o rk o n mu ltin ati o n al en ter p ri se ( M N E) g ov er -nan ce Ca se s tu di es ni ne g lo ba l M NE s N ot sp eci fie d N ot speci fie d Ya gi a nd Kl ei nb erg (2 01 1) Bo u n d ar y w o rk : A n i n te r-p re ti ve e th no gr ap hi c p er s-pe ct iv e on n ego tia tin g a nd le ve ra g in g c ros s-cu lt u ra l ide nt it y cr os s-cult ur al mana ge -m en t; c ul tur al i mp ac t of M N Es ; e m ic v s. e ti c; et h no g ra p h y; b ou n -dar y s pan ni ng ; c ul tur al ide nt it y To d es cr ib es an d anal yz e th e b ou nd ar y r ol e p er fo r-m an ce o f t he fi rm ’s J ap a-nes e m emb er s et hn og ra phi c res ea rc h Jap an –U S bin at io na l fir m N ot sp eci fie d Jap an Yu a nd Z ah ee r (2 010 ) Bu ild in g a p ro ce ss m o d el of lo ca l ad ap ta ti on o f pra c-ti ce s: A st ud y of Si x Si gm a im p le m en ta ti on in K or ea n an d U S fi rm s lo ca l ad ap ta tion ; ad ap -ta tio n o f p ra ct ic es ; p ro -ce ss a s t he or y To b ui ld a p ro ce ss m od el of ad ap ta ti o n b y o b se r-vi ng h ow an o rg ani za ti o -na l p ra ct ic e i s a da pt ed t o a l o ca l s et ti ng d if fer en t fr om i ts l oc us o f o rig in Ca se s tu di es Si x S ig m a im ple m en t-at io n i n K or ea n an d U S fi rm s N ot sp eci fie d Ko re a a n an d U SA So ur ce: B as ed o n jibs (2012) – D at a co m pi le d b y t he a ut ho rs
A ut hor s Ti tl e Ke yw ords Ob jec ti ve St ra te gy Ob jec t Ind ust ry Re gi on Ve nk atr am an an d N el so n (2 00 8) Fr om s er vi ce sc ap e t o c on -sump tio ns cap e: a p ho to -e li-ci ta ti on s tud y o f S ta rbu ck s in th e N ew C hin a adop ti on o f i n no va -ti o n; C hi na ; gl o b al br an d m ea nin g; p hot o--e lic it at io n ; s er vi ce s-ca pe ; S ta rbuc ks To e xp lo re h ow y o u n g , u rb an C h in es e c o n su -m er s t ra ns fo rm t he i co ni c g lob al br and S ta rbuc ks in to a c on su m pt io nsc ap e thro ug h th eir e na ct m en t of p er so nal ly m ean in gf ul ex p eri enc es , ro le s, and id en tit ie s in th e s et tin g Ph ot o-eli ci ta tio n by h av in g con su m er s re co rd in g t he ir ex pe rie nc e thro ug h ph ot ogr ap hy an d l at er u si ng th es e i ma ges as p ro be s in a d ep th in te rv ie w Ind iv id ua ls in St ar buc ks Re st aur an t Be iji ng , Chin a Ve rb ek e a nd G re id an us (2 00 9) Th e e nd o f t he o pp or tu ni sm vs . t ru st deb at e: B ou nde d re lia bi lit y as a n ew e nv el op e co nc ep t i n r es ea rc h o n M N E go ve rn anc e in te rn al iz ati on th eo ry ; tr an sa ct ion c os t e cono -mi cs ; o pp or tun is m To a ss es s b ot h t he o pp or -tu ni sm c on ce p t a nd e xi s-ti ng a lt er na ti ve s s uc h a s tr us t w it hi n t h e c on te xt of I B r es ea rc h, es pe ci al ly w o rk o n mu ltin ati o n al en ter p ri se ( M N E) g ov er -nan ce Ca se s tu di es ni ne g lo ba l M NE s N ot sp eci fie d N ot speci fie d Ya gi a nd Kl ei nb erg (2 01 1) Bo u n d ar y w o rk : A n i n te r-p re ti ve e th no gr ap hi c p er s-pe ct iv e on n ego tia tin g a nd le ve ra g in g c ros s-cu lt u ra l ide nt it y cr os s-cult ur al mana ge -m en t; c ul tur al i mp ac t of M N Es ; e m ic v s. e ti c; et h no g ra p h y; b ou n -dar y s pan ni ng ; c ul tur al ide nt it y To d es cr ib es an d anal yz e th e b ou nd ar y r ol e p er fo r-m an ce o f t he fi rm ’s J ap a-nes e m emb er s et hn og ra phi c res ea rc h Jap an –U S bin at io na l fir m N ot sp eci fie d Jap an Yu a nd Z ah ee r (2 010 ) Bu ild in g a p ro ce ss m o d el of lo ca l ad ap ta ti on o f pra c-ti ce s: A st ud y of Si x Si gm a im p le m en ta ti on in K or ea n an d U S fi rm s lo ca l ad ap ta tion ; ad ap -ta tio n o f p ra ct ic es ; p ro -ce ss a s t he or y To b ui ld a p ro ce ss m od el of ad ap ta ti o n b y o b se r-vi ng h ow an o rg ani za ti o -na l p ra ct ic e i s a da pt ed t o a l o ca l s et ti ng d if fer en t fr om i ts l oc us o f o rig in Ca se s tu di es Si x S ig m a im ple m en t-at io n i n K or ea n an d U S fi rm s N ot sp eci fie d Ko re a a n an d U SA So ur ce: B as ed o n jibs (2012) – D at a co m pi le d b y t he a ut ho rs RESULTS
This study aimed to offer an overview over theoretical-empiric studies published on jibs, since 2003 till 2012 (till November), based on abstracts, titles and keywords.
STRATEGY OF INVESTIGATION
Strategy of investigation is not an option. It depends on what the researcher need to answer. The research question is related directly to the choice of methods, and the methods section must be articulated to a particular qualitative method or combination of method to be applied (birkinshaw; brannen; tung, 2011). Abundance of data and access to them permitted a huge expansion of quantitative research. In these twenty seven articles we found twelve case studies, three ethnographic studies, three metanalysis, three triangulations (we included quantitative methods associated to qualitative), one phenomenography study, one photo-elicitation and one experiment. Observing last three years, it’s relevant that in 2010 just three qualitative studies were published on jibs, among 62 papers (5%). It looks like that it was the institutional attraction of jibs raised 2011 results. After a special call of qualitative research papers, among 53 papers, nine were qualitative in 2011 (17%). Nevertheless, in 2012 (Jan-Nov), just two qualitative studies were published, among 33 (6%).
OBJECT OF STUDY
In this paper we considered object of study the level of analysis that authors appointed in their abstracts. All of them have organization as level of analysis. Even though some papers didn’t declare size of companies, two groups have relevant presence: multinationals and small business. Usually, multinationals are an interesting field for research when it is necessary to make comparisons between subsidiaries. Small firms are investigated mainly in entrepreneurship issues. However differences must be related. Comparisons between distinct behaviors in different countries were also related as object of study. International operations also were studied, like
joint ventures, alliances, merges and acquisitions. It’s also relevant that individuals are often considered object of studies, coherent to qualitative study options.
OBJECTIVES
According to Eisenhardt (1989), case study research is a rich field to develop theory. Building theory in International Business involves a vast field, mixing different cultures, institutional environments, different industries, political adversities, and so on. The articles we’ve searched are committed to this challenge. In addition, some of them take more interpretative and inductive strategies, like ethnography. Contribution in theory is not just an idea for research, as written by Locke and Golden-biddle (1997). It must be socially accepted and recognized among researchers of organizational field. The authors aimed to connect innovation, culture strategy, conciliating to International Business research and enacting interdisciplinary as stated on jibs policy. Furthermore, qualitative researches allow depth analysis. It’s clear in Balogun, Jarzabkowski, and Vaara's (2011) objective: “to explore the subtle dynamics in the way that both headquarters and subsidiaries subjectively reconstruct their independent-interdependent relationships with each other during change”. Similar happen to Moore (2011). His intention was “to analyze cross-cultural relationships in the organization, the interaction of manager and worker perspectives, and the expression of national identities within the firm as its culture is negotiated”. Relationships are in the gray area for statistical studies. It supposed to be more flattering subjective strategies of investigations to evaluate this mainstream.
PLACES
Peng, Sun, Pinkham and Chen (2009) considered how important should be to have more investigation in emerging countries. Actually, last year’s an important volume of research is taking place far from developed countries. Just in these twenty seven papers four refer to studies at Chinese organizations, one in East Europe (Romania) and four in Latin America (Chile, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Mexico). The East
Asia is predominant. Beside China, Japan and Korea have been fields of investigation. One study was made in Sweden, one in Australia, one in Italy, and two compared US to other countries (Japan and Korea). South America and Africa are still mysterious.
INDUSTRY
Among twenty seven qualitative research abstracts, just in seven we got to identify in which industry the research was performed. Automotive industry was investigated twice, and so telecom was. Also, restaurant, winery and furniture industries were space for researchers. In qualitative
studies, the context is an important subject. Unfortunately, the most of researchers didn’t mention it in the abstracts, keywords or even titles.
KEYWORDS
This item refers to the section 2. Three hundred sixty eight keywords were mentioned in 497 articles. We grouped them in 13 generic topics: culture, emerging markets, finance/performance, individuality/entrepreneurship issues, industry, innovation/ knowledge, institutions, internationalization process, interrelation issues, methodology, resources/ capabilities, strategy and theories. These topics can illustrate mainstreams for investigation that are currently published in jibs.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
Even though jibs has been recognized as the main space for International Business Studies, editors are conscious about how important is to extend qualitative researches. According to Ellis (2010), the average effect size in international business research has been small. He considers that many authors confuse statistical with substantive significance when interpreting their research results. Hence, what we have is a lot of statistical confirmation about what we already know, endorsing the normal science predicted by Kuhn (1996). In a globalization era, even studies are becoming globalized, generalized. Comparison between different cultures by statistical methods represents risks. Cognitive perceptions of surveyed respondents may carry differences in understanding, language, even in ethics and moral that hardly could be registered by statistical methods.
This study intended to offer an overview over theoretical-empiric studies published on jibs, since 2003 till 2012, based on keywords and abstracts. Furthermore, it was an exercise to grasp qualitative studies and objectives we were seeking as prominent in IB. The proposal was achieved in different levels: Firstly, it presented the proportion of qualitative studies over the total published on jibs, showing that in interpretative approaches are becoming sparse. Secondly, keywords were analyzed and grouped by topics, evidencing fields which qualitative studies have been published in jibs. Thirdly, we grouped a keyword topic analysis section presenting some representative studies, as well as some connections they have among them. Finally, we detailed and analyzed twenty seven articles in order to provide information for further research thru a main panel, comprehending the last five years (Table 2).
It’s noteworthy that there are gaps to be investigated. Considering just these ten years, nothing from South America (except Chile – del sol; kogan, 2007) and Africa were published under qualitative strategy of researching. BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) for instance was out of studies, but China (10) and India (2). Evaluation about understanding institutional involvement in IB is indispensable to know better the
interrelationship between countries, firms and individuals. During last decades, IB expanded as well people moved between subsidiaries. How they are dealing with it? How knowledge is flowing in different levels of analysis? How culture is related to many issues? There is an arsenal of questions to be answered and qualitative methods can be an interesting way of searching IB studies deeper.
It’s necessary to clarify that we don’t intend to point this lack of investigation as some kind of rejection of interpretative papers made intentionally by editors. Better we would like to provoke reflections about the quality level of qualitative studies we are offering to academia. Producing interpretative studies doesn’t mean to build data without connections to theory; as we are involved in a prevalent quantitative mindset it is severely important to be accurate in methodological steps, detailing them, checking evidences, confronting visions widely.
We consider the short period (ten years in keywords and five in abstracts) we investigated as limitation of this paper. A larger range of time could better stand for what has been published in jibs in qualitative strategies of research. Also, it could be extended to other relevant journals, even for comparison. Checking just abstracts and keywords is also a restraint. For future investigation we suggest strengthen the scope of investigation, comparing what has been searched also in quantitative approaches. It could provide interesting confrontation and new insights in order to give possibilities of understanding who researchers are talking about, what is the object of investigation, how researches have been processed, and, mainly, if the method is adequate to the investigation proposed. The largest sample isn’t always the best one. Huge sampling sometimes can be compared to a map of a lake scaled 1:1 without depth for understanding from where the water comes.
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This article was produced under financing sponsorship of capes (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior).
DADOS DOS AUTORES
SÍLVIO LUÍS DE VASCONCELLOS* silvio.v@ienh.com.br
Doutorando em Administração pela UNISINOS
Instituição de vinculação: Instituição Evangélica de Novo Hamburgo Novo Hamburgo/RS – Brasil
Áreas de interesse em pesquisa: Negócios internacionais.
* Rua Frederico Mentz, 526 Hamburgo Velho Novo Hamburgo/RS 93525-360
IVAN LAPUENTE GARRIDO igarrido@unisinos.br
Doutor em Administração pela UFRGS
Instituição de vinculação: Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos São Leopoldo/RS – Brasil
Áreas de interesse em pesquisa: Negócios internacionais.
JEFFERSON MARLON MONTICELLI jeffmarlon@hotmail.com
Mestrando em Administração pela UNISINOS
Instituição de vinculação: Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos São Leopoldo/RS – Brasil
Áreas de interesse em pesquisa: Negócios internacionais.
YEDA SWIRSKI DE SOUZA yedasou@unisinos.br
Doutora em Psicologia pela PUC/RS
Instituição de vinculação: Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos São Leopoldo/RS – Brasil
Áreas de interesse em pesquisa: Empreendedorismo internacional e sobre o desenvolvimento de capacidades de empresas para negócios internacionais.
CYNTIA VILASBOAS CALIXTO cyntia.calixto@gvmail.br
Doutoranda em Administração de Empresas pela FGV/EAESP Instituição de vinculação: Fundação Getúlio Vargas FGV/EAESP São Leopoldo/RS – Brasil
