AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings - Academy of International ...

SUNDAY
Session: 1.4.12 - Interactive
Track: 3 - IB Theory, FDI, and Entry Mode
Conceptual Innovations and Reflections
Presented On: July 1, 2012 - 14:30-15:45
Chair: Stephan Manning, University of Massachusetts Boston
Dynamics of Differentiation in International Business Research: A Relational Cluster Perspective
Stephan Manning, University of Massachusetts Boston
Werner Kunz, University of Massachusetts Boston
This study develops a relational cluster perspective on the evolution and differentiation of the international
business research field. We show how over time distinct clusters of IB research have emerged and positioned
themselves vis-à-vis each other thereby constituting and expanding the scope of IB as a research field along
multiple dimensions. Based on a co-citation analysis of articles published in the Journal of International Business
Studies (JIBS) from 1978 to 2011, we identify 19 distinct clusters of research which constitute the scope of IB
research today. We find that the clusters are positioned within a space that is constituted by three dimensions:
(1) issues of going abroad vs. operating across countries; (2) governance vs. location issues, (3) strategic
decision-making vs. operational challenges and capabilities. Over time, IB research has shifted and expanded
from a focus on governance and strategic decision-making to incorporate location and operational issues. Our
findings have important implications for the IB research agenda and for a better understanding of the evolution
and differentiation of research fields and the role research clusters and their relational positioning play in this
process. (For more information, please contact: Stephan Manning, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA:
stephan.manning@umb.edu)
Looking for the Nature of the Internationalization Performance Relationship: A Neuronal Network Approach
Hannah Noriko Richta, University of Mainz
Jan Gutenberger, EBS Business School
Michael-Jörg Oesterle, University of Stuttgart
Over the last four decades the impact of firms' internationalization on their performance has remained one of
the key questions in international business research. Although extensive research has been conducted to
understand this relationship, the results have been inconclusive. One reason for this is that there are several
theoretical arguments for positive as well as negative relationships. Various shapes of the internationalizationperformance
(IP) relationship seem reasonable depending on the arguments a researcher chooses and the
weight a researcher assigns to each argument. Against this background, this paper does not investigate the
nature of the IP relationship by theorizing and model building but by using a relatively new artificial neuronal
networks (ANN) approach. The application of ANN seems promising since this method needs neither a
specification of a causal nor the assumption of a linear relationship. The analysis is based on a large dataset
comprising data of 102 German manufacturing firms. We reach good levels of generalization for the ANN and
the visualization of the functions computed by these ANN reveals the existence of a systematic IP relationship.
The influence of firms' internationalization, however, is rather small and the operationalization affects the nature
of IP relationship tremendously. (For more information, please contact: Hannah Noriko Richta, University of
Mainz, Germany: hannahrichta@web.de)
Spatial Relativism: Toward a Fine-Grained Approach for Capturing the Effect of Space (and time) in
Multinationality and Performance Research
Keith Kelley, Florida International University
AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings
Page 68