Issue about “The Role of Dynamic Capabilities in Global Strategy of Emerging Economies’ Multinationals”

Guest Editors: Zaheer Khan, University of Sheffield, UK, (z.khan@sheffield.ac.uk), Yong Kyu Lew, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Korea, (yklew@hufs.ac.kr), and Rekha Rao-Nicholson, University of West of England, UK, (rekha.nicholson@uwe.ac.uk)

- SCImago Journal Rank; Scopus; EBSCOhost, ProQuest; ABI/INFORM Complete

- ABS UK Academic Journal Ranking Guide (2); ABDC Journal Ranking List (B)

- working towards SSCI Index

We invite scholars to submit papers for a special issue of ISMO. The focus of the special issue is on “The Role of Dynamic Capabilities in Global Strategy of Emerging Economies’ Multinationals". The issue aims to contribute to the literature on dynamic capabilities, internationalization and global strategy.

Dynamic Capability (DC) has been widely studied in the field of strategic management (Helfat 1997; Teece, Pisano, and Shuen 1997; Teece 2007; 2014). Much of this literature is based on the multinational enterprises (MNEs) from developed economies and their innovation-creating behavior. The key argument in this stream of research is that unlike functional/operational strategies, DC contributes to firms’ innovation and competitiveness in terms of sensing, seizing, and transforming processes. Also, micro-foundations for these processes are of critical importance as these micro-foundations provide meta knowledge within the firm boundary, thus the firm knows what allows individuals to access more knowledge than what is embedded in them (Argote and Ren 2012; Teece 2007). These transactive memory systems within an organization are not only beneficial in stable environments; they are most valuable in dynamic environments, typically, the context observed for international business activity. International business strategy entails cross-border value chains activities of economic and innovation actors (Tallman and Pedersen 2015).

In international business research, academics have begun to pay attention to the Emerging Economies’ MNEs’ (EMNEs) activities such as their motivations for internationalization, and whether existing theories explain their investment patterns (Luo and Tung 2007; Ramamurti and Singh 2009; Cuervo‐Cazurra 2012; Williamson 2015). Recent research on EMNEs reveals that based on their business experience at home, they aggressively invest in foreign markets by acquiring overseas assets in developed markets. Through this, EMNEs are likely to complement their lack of advanced knowledge, and develop value chains within their home market. Even though many of them take advantages of location-specific specialities at home in their internationalization process, known as a spring board perspective (Luo and Tung 2007), arguably some of the successful EMNEs may require high-order capabilities in order to identify, internalize, and master skills and knowledge during their internationalization or post-internationalization process.

The aim of this issue is to encourage authors to link DC to the context of EMNEs, and different strategies that these firms pursue in foreign markets. For example, do EMNEs pursuing either transnational, global standardization or localization strategies require different resources, and a different set of DCs, or are these the same capabilities regardless of the strategy being pursued by these firms? Also, we lack comparative studies on developed economy MNEs (DMNEs) vis-à-vis EMNEs and how they develop and use DCs to survive or acquire knowledge and resources from developed or developing markets. This call highlights the following research questions: How and to what extent do DCs contribute to EMNEs’ global competiveness? What are the micro-foundations of DC pertinent for EMNEs’ internationalization? How, in global strategy context, do EMNEs differently develop and use DC from DMNEs? How do EMNEs’ global strategies use DCs for generating innovation and leveraging them for value creation versus value capture? What are the implications of EMNEs pursuing DC for internationalization and global strategies?

The above-mentioned topics and questions are still underexplored in the EMNE's context. We believe that this Special Issue can significantly contribute to extending the existing knowledge on this subject, and provide new insights to scholars and practitioners. We prefer comparative papers for this issue.

- DC and global strategy for developing competitive advantage by EMNEs vis-à-vis DMNEs

- The impact of DC on business performance and competitiveness of EMNEs and DMNEs

- DC implications for EMNEs’ internationalization process

- the meaning and micro-foundations of DC by EMNEs vis-à-vis DMNEs

- Dialectic relationships between DC and functional capabilities of EMNEs

- Integrating DC with institution- and/or industry-based views on the firm in emerging economies context.

- DC, competitiveness, and longevity/survival of EMNEs in the global context

- role of leaderships, DC, and EMNEs performance

- The role of DC in corporate geographic diversification of EMNEs

- Role of DCs in knowledge and change management in EMNEs context

- DC and various types of innovation in emerging economies pertinent for global market

- Methodological challenges in measuring DCs and their link with EMNEs performance and innovations.

- DC and global supply chain of EMNEs vis-à-vis DMNEs

- DC and standardization vs. localization strategies of EMNEs vis-à-vis DMNEs

- DC and global operations management strategies of EMNEs versus DMNEs

- DC, agility, and resilience of EMNEs in the global business environment

- DC and EMNEs’ non-market global strategies

- DC and corporate social responsibility view on the firm and social performance in the global context

Submission of full papers via E-mail                             31 December 2016 

Editorial Desk decision                                            15 January 2017 

Review report communicated to authors                         30 March 2017 

Final Submission of the complete issue to Journal Editors     30 November 2017 

Schedule of Online/Print Publication                             2018/2019 

All submissions must satisfy the theme of the special issue. The papers should be relevant to theory testing/development, and/or managerial implications. Please submit your manuscripts via email to: ismodcinemnes@gmail.com