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This article is an argument in favour of the importance of having different perspectives for different situations in marketing. Since the 1990s, relationship marketing has become an accepted stream in marketing research. However, this type of marketing consists of many different perspectives. Here, the network approach is covered. Its origin and its divergence from the mainstream marketing mix approach are discussed. It is concluded that Swedish culture and context influenced the development of the network approach. However, the network view is not pertinent to all marketing situations in Sweden and the approach is also useful outside of the Swedish context. Finally, it is argued that marketing research should benefit from many different perspectives and approaches that could be applicable to different marketing situations.

Research on international new ventures (INVs) also referred to as Born Globals (BGs) has increased dramatically in the last decade. This body of literature examines firms that internationalize soon after their inception. Research identifies these firms to possess a number of characteristics. In particular, INVs are found to be typically led by a manager or a management team with a unique constellation of competencies and capabilities, which can enable them to better combine resources from different national markets to achieve rapid international growth soon after the firm's founding. Despite t

Purpose
This study aims to explore why and how business-to-business (B2B) companies use social media and which users and stakeholders they communicate with.


Design/methodology/approach
The study employs a case study approach because of its exploratory nature. Data from three companies consisted of interviews and observation of websites. The analysis includes within-case and cross-case displays to find patterns and themes in the data.


Findings
The study shows that companies in a B2B contexts use social media as communication to enhance customer relationships, support sales and build their brands, in line with prior research. However, they also use social media as a recruiting tool, a seeking tool and a product information and service tool.


Research limitations/implications
The findings confirm extant literature showing that B2B companies can directly influence content through corporate user accounts. Furthermore, firms in early stages of social media do not target any special stakeholders with broader messages, while more experienced social media users develop special messages for different stakeholders.


Practical implications
This study contributes by shedding light on how B2B companies use social media. It also shows how different channels are effective with different stakeholders.


Originality/value
Few studies have investigated the use of social media in a B2B context. This study goes beyond prior work by detailing how different social media tools are used, identifying different users and stakeholders, and explaining why different tools are used for different purposes targeted towards different stakeholders. New applications of the use of social media are also identified.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review international industrial purchasing and marketing literature with a focus on portfolio models, to develop portfolio models for buyers' and sellers' international strategies, and to combine the models so that both the buyer and seller perspectives are dealt with simultaneously.Design/methodology/approachLiterature on international industrial purchasing and marketing is discussed. Dimensions that are important for the buyers' and sellers' strategies are identified. Portfolio models for buyers and sellers are developed and the two perspectives are matched together.FindingsThe paper contributes a specification of features that are important for industrial buyers' and sellers' international purchasing and marketing strategies. These dimensions are used to develop a model of supplier relationship management and a marketing management model for supplier strategies. The consequences for the firm's international activities are discussed. A model combining industrial buyers' and sellers' international supply and marketing management strategies is developed.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper provides a deeper understanding of international exchange processes by combining literature on international industrial purchasing and international marketing. Situations are identified where different areas of theory are applicable. The paper also contributes to the discussion on what should be the conceptual domain of international business. Here, it is argued that international exchange is the product of joint decisions made by two or more actors based in different countries. Earlier academic literature reveals a striking imbalance: while one side of the coin – the exporter side – has been extensively studied, the importer side has largely been neglected. In this paper, it is tried to present a balanced view of both sides.Practical implicationsThis paper introduces portfolio management models that can be used for both industrial purchasing and marketing management. The paper stresses the importance of finding a fit between the marketing and purchasing strategies within a relationship. If both parties have positioned the relationship in a similar way, there are much greater possibilities for the relationship to create value for both parties.Originality/valueThe paper combines international industrial purchasing and international marketing perspectives as few studies have done before.

Born Global firms are becoming increasingly more important in terms of internationalization, innovation, ability to grow and providing employment. Most of the previous research about BornGlobals is done in North America, Europe or Australia, all these being developed industrialized countries but not developing countries or emerging markets. However, the emerging markets in general, and the Chinese in particular, have become very important for the world economy. Our aim is to investigate the differences between Western literature and literature from emerging markets, regarding internationalization process of Born Global firms. We also aim to discuss the various success factors, which underlie Born Globals' internationalization process, particularly focusing on Born Globals firms in the China. Our methodology in this research has been literature review and interviews with Chinese CEOs of Born Global firms. However, this paper is only based on the litterateur part of our research. Our analysis shows that most of the Chinese Born Globals publications about the internationalization success factors are based on the Western literature and use them as the theoretical platform in the design of their own research strategy and research questions design. The consequence of this observation is important as it indicates that Chinese researchers are reproducing research under different contextual and situational conditions that might lead to unclear conclusions or maybe even wrong conclusions. Furthermore, compared to most Western Born Global companies, which treat innovation as core competence, the innovation culture becomes one of the biggest weaknesses of Chinese manufacturing Born Globals' internationalization. China has special economic environment. Chinese manufacturing Born Globals not only need to follow the market but also the government policies, since the government greatly influences the industries and the whole economy. To foreign investors who want to exploit Chinese market, they also should take Chinese economic ...

AbstractIn this paper we explore internationalization and export growth over time in a sample of 135 small manufacturing firms. By using concepts and arguments from literature on international business and small firms, the paper identifies six situational, or contingency, factors that are expected to influence the international activities of small firms. Our results show that a dynamic and fast‐changing environment may push small firms to go abroad, while it seems to be the experiences built up in the organization and a younger generation of CEOs that can explain why some small firms continue to expand their international activities. The findings suggest that the factors influencing small firms to go abroad and become international differ from the factors that influence them to continue and grow once they are on the international marketplace. The paper ends with a discussion of the findings, together with suggestions for further research.RésuméDans cet article, nous analysons, à partir d'un échantillon de 135 petites firmes manufacturières, l'impact, au fil du temps, de l'internationalisation et de la croissance de l'exportation. Grâce à l'utilisation des concepts et d'arguments tirés de la littérature sur le commerce international et sur les petites entreprises, nous dégageons six facteurs situationnels et conjoncturels qui sont censés avoir un impact sur les activités internationales des petites entreprises. Nos résultats indiquent qu'un environnement dynamique et en mutation rapide peut être à l'origine de l'internationalisation des petites entreprises. Bien plus, les expériences acquises dans l'organisation et le rajeunissement des cadres expliqueraient pourquoi certaines petites entreprises continuent à étendre leurs activités internationales. Les résultats montrent aussi que les facteurs qui poussent les petites entreprises à s'exporter et à s'internationaliser sont différents de ceux qui les poussent à continuer à croître une fois qu'elles sont sur le marché international. Nous bouclons notre étude par une analyse des résultats et une proposition des pistes de recherche futures.

Purpose– The purpose of this article is to, first, offer insights into the relationship between industry idiosyncrasies and international new ventures (INVs), and then present a research conceptual framework that identifies the role of industry factors in new venture internationalization processes and strategies. Second, the authors introduce the content of this special issue.Design/methodology/approach– This conceptual article builds on extant studies on INVs operating in different industrial contexts. Particular attention is given to the role of industry influences in the processes of new venture internationalization, in terms of speed, geographical scope and entry strategy. Such factors are discussed to formulate a conceptual framework as a basis for further research.Findings– The conceptual framework identifies key industry factors as well as emergent factors that influence the new venture internationalization process, in terms of speed, geographical scope and entry strategy. Such key influencing factors are competition and structure, industry life cycle, industry concentration, knowledge intensity, local cluster internationalization and global industry integration. Emergent factors are identified as new business models, technology and industry network dynamics.Research limitations/implications– This article is conceptual in nature, and thus empirical research is recommended in diverse contexts.Practical implications– Further analysis of industry factors is a valid research avenue for understanding INVs.Originality/value– This special issue offers new insights into how industry factors influence INVs' internationalization processes in terms of speed, scope and entry strategy.

PurposeThis paper aims, by a direct comparison, to address the differences and similarities of the internationalization processes of multinational companies both from developed and emerging countries.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed qualitative approach, using an integrated model of internationalization process. Multiple case studies, with two companies with significant involvement in foreign markets and originating in countries with different levels of development, were carried out.FindingsThe results reveal that the case companies show some differences with regards to their use of ownership advantages to facilitate their internationalization. On the other hand, learning and experience of internationalization, coupled with the use of networks, have been factors that have influenced the pace and the pattern of the case companies' internationalization. An integrated model, which includes variables related to networks and learning/experience, may contribute to the understanding of the case of multinational companies from emerging economies.Originality/valueAlthough the research field of emerging multinationals has been growing lately, very few attempts have been made in the sense of directly comparing the internationalization process of firms from both developed and emerging countries. The authors proposed an integrated analytical model that draws on insights from the eclectic paradigm and the Uppsala internationalization model.

PurposeCodes of ethics have become the mainstay of the ethics programs of corporations. Many studies have explored their contents, but few have examined what makes them effective. This international study aims to identify the measures viewed as being important by top executives in determining the worth to their organizations of corporate codes of ethics.Design/methodology/approachData were collected by questionnaires sent to the top 500 companies ranked by revenue operating in the private sectors in Australia, Canada and Sweden. By analyzing the survey results from the top corporate executives in these countries, the research team was able to test for a number of determinants of effectiveness for codes of ethics.FindingsIn a statistically significant model, it was found that four factors related to the internal management of the corporation are positively correlated to executives' perceptions of the value of their corporate codes of ethics.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research may seek to address features of this study that limit its generalizability, as it was conducted on the largest of companies in each country and thus this sample may not reflect the way that business ethics are managed in smaller organizations in those countries.Originality/valueIf executives see particular items as important to their business ethics success, one could postulate that this has arisen from a perception that implementing these measures has been effective for their organizations. This provides guidance to other organizations on what items could enhance the effectiveness of their codes of ethics.

Some 20 years ago, Shenkar (2001) criticized several of the underlying assumptions of the cultural distance (CD) construct. Despite this, researchers continue to use the same metric which fails to address many of the underlying problems. As a result, CD studies seem to generate results which are often contradictory. Rather than rejecting the distance metaphor, the main objective of this study is to provide a more in-depth measure of CD that addresses the assumptions of linearity, symmetry, equivalence, and discordance. We propose that, while the size of the cultural distance between home and host countries may be relevant for some dimensions, it is incomplete, as it does not account for the distinct characteristics of the cultural dimensions, the direction toward countries with different profiles and the contextual settings of the study. We test our hypotheses on a sample from the Orbis database consisting of foreign subsidiary firms from Latin America, other emerging markets from outside the region, and from developed countries operating in 10 of the largest economies in Latin America. Our dataset includes 4226 firm-year observations and a combination of 168 home and host countries. Latin America provides a suitable context for this study, not only because of the diversity of firms from different contexts operating in the region, but also because the region allows us to investigate the influence of home country history and tradition on firms' ability to conduct business in different cultural contexts. Our assessment of CD shows in a precise manner that size together with direction might be adequate for describing the effects of some dimensions of CD on firm performance, while for other dimensions, it is clearly a matter of country profile. By combining our metric with different national culture frameworks, future studies would be able to complement and strengthen our findings and conclusions.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to compare and validate firms' internal and external stakeholder considerations in sustainable business practices across business settings. It aims to assess the validity and reliability of a stakeholder framework appearing in previous studies.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a questionnaire survey and a cross-industry sample consisting of the largest firms in corporate Sweden. Multivariate analysis tests the stakeholder framework. Each of the 294 key informants was initially identified and contacted by telephone, generating a response rate of 36.5 per cent.FindingsThe tested stakeholder framework appears valid and reliable across countries to assess the internal stakeholders of focal firms, as well as their up- and downstream, market and societal stakeholders. This study provides additional empirical support to categorize firms' stakeholder considerations in sustainable business practices.Research limitations/implicationsThis study validates previous findings in terms of Swedish firms' considerations of internal and external stakeholders in sustainable business practices in relation to one similar country (Norway) and one different country (Spain). The study also shows how the three countries perceive the focal company and societal stakeholders differently.Practical implicationsThe tested framework sheds light on focal firms' stakeholder considerations in sustainable business practices and elucidates the extent to which firms' account for their internal and external stakeholders in sustainable business practices.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the development of valid and reliable stakeholder theory across contexts and through time. In particular, it contributes to the development of a valid and reliable framework to categorize firms' stakeholder considerations in sustainable business practices.

AbstractThis study investigates the direct and indirect effects between economic, social and environmental dimensions of triple bottom line (TBL), based on a questionnaire survey and cross‐industrial sample in Sweden. The analyses apply partial least squares structural equation models. The study tests the direct and indirect effects between economic, social, and environmental dimensions of TBL and offers additional validity and reliability to establish the measurement and structural properties between the dimensions of TBL. The study extends earlier findings by explicitly discussing how the three TBL goals relate to each other and shows how the dynamic capability view can be a fruitful lens to investigate business sustainability. Some differences in sustainability business practices caused by differences in national cultures are identified. Sustainability reporting in a strong uncertainty avoidance (UA) country happens in accordance with regulations and laws. Conversely, for weak UA cultures, reporting and compliance with regulations are ways to build trust with stakeholders. That is, reporting is more transparent and widespread in weak UA countries. The study also provides a foundation to guide companies' actions of business sustainability. The model shows companies how to establish the order of actions undertaken across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. In addition, it clarifies that the economic dimension exerts an effect on the social and environmental dimensions. The model also grasps long‐term economic performance by including competitiveness and brand value, while earlier research mainly has focused on more short‐term measurements as return on assets.