The Role of Digitalization on the Internationalization Strategy of Born-Digital Companies

Digital technologies have led to born-digital companies, defined by their highly digitalized value chains, designed at their inception. Born-digital (BD) companies leverage digitalization across their value chains in the internationalization path. However, despite this emergence, very few empirical studies in international business literature have explained the impact of bricolage in conducting value chain activities and exploiting the internationalization strategy of BD companies. The present study responds to these omissions of how the digitalization of the value chain activities and the internationalization strategy enhance companies by allowing them to reach customers (users) and partners with available resources and less time. The results indicate that the digitalization of value chain activities facilitates the re-use and mixing of the resources at hand to overcome challenges, innovate solutions, or create new opportunities for international growth, in line with the bricolage theory. Overall, this study contributes to international business literature regarding, specifically, the behaviors of born-digital companies as they strategically approach internationalization efforts.

Nature and Extent of International Diversification: Empirical Evidence from India

The paper aims to measure the extent of international diversification achieved by Indian companies in the recent time period. The study also investigates the nature of international diversification of companies during their transition beyond national boundaries. This evaluation of the firm’s nature and extent of internationalization is further extended to cover the period of COVID-19 as well. The Jacquemin and Berry Entropy Approach (1979) is applied to operationalize the firm’s international diversification. It facilitates the measurement of both inter-region and intra-region diversification. World Bank Geographical Region Classification Framework (2018) has been used to facilitate the applicability of the approach applied. Results indicate that Indian companies were inclined to grow beyond their home territories. However, the extent of international diversification is low as ‘Internationally Low Diversification (ILD)’ reveals to be the most popular strategy amongst Indian companies. Nature depicts a preference for relatedness than unrelatedness for overseas expansion as firms prefer intra-region expansion as compared to moving inter-region. Stagnation and halt are witnessed in the global expansion of companies in the period of the pandemic. The present study is novel as it comprehensively evaluates the international growth strategies preferred by Indian companies in the pre-pandemic and the pandemic period.

International growth of SMEs: exploring the effects of adaptive selling, institutional knowledge, innovativeness and opportunity recognition

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effects of adaptive selling, as a high-level individual-level marketing capability, institutional knowledge, international opportunity recognition and general innovation-orientation of managers on the international growth of Iranian small- and medium-sized enterprises. Also, drawing on strands of research into early internationalisation firms, this study attempts to determine the impact of precocity and speed of internationalisation as a moderator of the relationship of antecedents to international growth. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on answers of 748 managers from 186 firms to a self-reporting questionnaire. The partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling approach was used to assess the measurement and construct the model. Furthermore, the study used a PLS multigroup design with four groups of firms to compare the paths with regard to precocity and speed of internationalisation. Findings Significant associations for seven out of eight hypotheses were found. The international opportunity recognition was found to mediate the relationship between institutional knowledge and adaptive selling-innovativeness. Additionally, the results of the comparisons found important implications to early and fast internationalisation. Originality/value This study shows that international growth stems from individual innovation orientation. It sheds light on the importance of institutional knowledge, adaptive selling and opportunity recognition for early and pacey internationalisation. The findings contribute to the international entrepreneurship literature based on both the early and gradual internationalisation.

Molecular Characterization of Laboratory Mutants of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum Resistant to Prothioconazole, a Demethylation Inhibitor (DMI) Fungicide

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (FON) is the causal agent of Fusarium wilt in watermelon, an international growth-limiting pathogen of watermelon cultivation. A single demethylation inhibitor (DMI) fungicide, prothioconazole, is registered to control this pathogen, so the risk of resistance arising in the field is high. To determine and predict the mechanism by which FON could develop resistance to prothioconazole, FON isolates were mutagenized using UV irradiation and subsequent fungicide exposure to create artificially resistant mutants. Isolates were then put into three groups based on the EC50 values: sensitive, intermediately resistant, and highly resistant. The mean EC50 values were 4.98 µg/mL for the sensitive, 31.77 µg/mL for the intermediately resistant, and 108.33 µg/mL for the highly resistant isolates. Isolates were then sequenced and analyzed for differences in both the coding and promoter regions. Two mutations were found that conferred amino acid changes in the target gene, CYP51A, in both intermediately and highly resistant mutants. An expression analysis for the gene CYP51A also showed a significant increase in the expression of the highly resistant mutants compared to the sensitive controls. In this study, we were able to identify two potential mechanisms of resistance to the DMI fungicide prothioconazole in FON isolates: gene overexpression and multiple point mutations. This research should expedite growers’ and researchers’ ability to detect and manage fungicide-resistant phytopathogens.

Global growth may edge downwards in the rest of 2021

Headline INTERNATIONAL: Growth may edge down through 2021

Validation of growth standards and growth references: A review of literature

The World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards provide the most recognized and widely accepted way of assessing child growth. To ensure its applicability, accuracy, and reliability, studies have validated WHO growth standards against local populations and other internationally recognized growth references. We reviewed outcomes of evaluations done on WHO growth standards and assess the appropriateness of using these growth standards on a global level. We undertook a systematic quantitative review of studies published from 2011 to 2020 from multiple databases. Studies were included if they considered children aged 59 months and below and reported on validation of growth standards. There was an agreement in studies that validated WHO growth standards against international growth references of its superiority in identifying stunted, overweight, and obese children. However, they were less likely to identify underweight children. None of the studies reviewed reported similar growth trajectories to WHO standards in all indicators considered. Regional differences in child growth were observed in comparison to WHO growth standards. Adoption of regional-specific standards increases the sensitivity of identifying children with adverse nutrition outcomes.

AN ANALYSIS ON K-POP FANDOM SLANG WORD-FORMATION IN THE DRAMA ‘HER PRIVATE LIFE’

Slang is a language that is used daily and continues to grow due to the development of social media among fan communities. Each fan community has used slang specific to their interests, one of them being the K-Pop fandom. Despite the international growth of the K-Pop fandom and the spread of its cultural influence over recent years, there has been a lack of discussion on the linguistic aspect of its community, on the slang generated and used by its fan community in particular. Therefore, this research aims to expound on how K-Pop fandom slang words found in the drama ‘Her Private Life’ are formed. The study based its theoretical framework on the National Institute of Korean Language’s (2014) classification of new words in Korean based on its wordformation process. Out of the 24 slang words analyzed from the drama ‘Her Private Life’, there are 3 slang words in the form of a single word and 21 slang words in the form of a complex word. In the case of single-word form slang words, all 3 are created through the borrowing process; while complex-word form slang words are mostly created through the blending process, equating to 9 words in total.

Economic prospects will increasingly diverge by nation

Headline INTERNATIONAL: Growth prospects will diverge further

Special Issue on "International Growth and Development Conference"

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