Calls for papers

 

European Journal of International Management

 

Special Issue on: "Digitalisation: The Internationalisation of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainability"

Guest Editors:
Dr. Alireza Nazarian, University of Westminster, UK
Dr. Pantea Foroudi, Middlesex University, UK
Dr. Asieh Hosseini Tabaghdehi, Brunel University, UK
Prof. Massimiliano Matteo Pellegrini, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Italy

The recent rapid technological transformation has changed the playing field for managers and entrepreneurs globally (Uys, Nleya, and Molelu, 2004). The technological advancements made the societal issues in international markets increasingly complex and challenging, where the extensive use of artificial intelligence (AI) in everyday businesses creates big data which it can be used as a management tool and digital strategy to improve customers engagement (Liu, Shin and Burns, 2019), and boom business performance for sustainable growth.

Alongside recent rapid technological advancements other concepts like open innovation, share economy and digital sustainability are also challenging traditional management (Osburg and Lohrmann, 2017) and organisational theories which pushing practitioners to think more digitally innovative (Agmon, 2021).

The digital evolution challenges globalisation and made the world a smaller and more competitive place (Van Gorp, and Honnefelder, 2015), where socio-cultural and socio-political issues affect businesses at an unprecedented speed. It is inevitable that the development of digital platforms such as social media, crowdfunding/crowdsourcing, Internet of Things, and virtual workspaces has improved innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainability with broader managerial, organisational and policy implications globally (Caputo, et al., 2021; Pappas, et al., 2021). Where the emergence of new technologies, awareness of corporate social responsibility and the greater need for digital innovation and problem-solving skills are becoming de-facto part of the recent everyday management agenda. Hence, management education needs to up-skill individuals who are required to be constantly learning and adapting to the globalised digital business and social environment.

Yet, academic research in the field of international management (IM) is not evolving fast enough to develop relevant concepts and theories that needed by managers and practitioners, especially where being technologically savvy has become a must to have expertise at all levels in every organisation (Pappas et al., 2021). It is time to create insightful models and measures, to assist corporations to actively promote social agendas such as digital innovation and sharing economy by emphasising on big data analytics and digital design. Furthermore, operating in a dynamic digital environment that cannot be separated from uncertainly does not allow managers to focus on the consequences of digital decision-making. Therefore, a key question to be answered in these turbulent times is, how is it possible for corporations to incorporate safety, security, and ethically with stakeholders in the design of their digital business models while they are struggling to achieve sustainability goals in a new and fast-changing digital era? Considering the multidimensionality of technological advancements and sustainability, it will be useful for managers to know how to direct their efforts towards social development issues in an international market.

Yet, research studies that discussed the issues related to digital social development have failed to consider the challenges faced by managers. There is scant recognition of the gap that exists between academics and practitioners. It has become a moral obligation for scholars to address the significance of technological advancements and big data analytics in promoting digital innovation and the socio-economic development of society. We have a limited understanding of how big data will help firms to understand the needs of society, stakeholders, streamline administrative complexities and new business opportunities when the circular and sharing economy has become more pervasive around the world. Therefore, it is important to know how organisations and their stakeholders can improve management practices and organisational strategies, resources and capabilities to succeed in maximising the business value in a digital era. At present, these questions remain unanswered.

We hope that the theme of this special issue will encourage academics and practitioners in the field of international management (IM) and international business (IB) to use a multi-disciplinary approach to boldly bring together bodies of related knowledge to produce new insights and invites them to submit their works in the form of full papers by Sep 10, 2022. We aim to create a link between digitalisation and its impacts on digital innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainability in an international market from the academic and practitioner points of view. We anticipate that the insights proposed will help managers to perform their functions more efficiently.

References

Agmon, T. (2021). The new distributed digital technology world trade and MNEs: another step in the inventive process. European Journal of International Management, 15(1), 135-145.

Bennebroek Gravenhorst, K. M., Werkman, R. A., & Boonstra, J. J. (2003). The change capacity of organisations: general assessment and five configurations. Applied Psychology, 52(1), 83-105.

Caputo A., Pizzi S., Pellegrini M.M., Dabic M. (2021), Mapping scientific research on digitalization of business models: where are we going?”, Journal of Business Research, 123, 489-501.

Ferraris, A., Santoro, G., & Bresciani, S. (2017). Open innovation in multinational companies' subsidiaries: the role of internal and external knowledge. European Journal of International Management, 11(4), 452-468.

Liu, X., Shin, H., & Burns, A. C. (2019). Examining the impact of luxury brand's social media marketing on customer engagement?: Using big data analytics and natural language processing. Journal of Business Research, 125, 815-826. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.04.042

Osburg, T., & Lohrmann, C. (2017). Sustainability in a digital world. Springer International.

Pappas N., Caputo A., Pellegrini M.M., Marzi G., & Michopoulou E., (2021), The complexity of decision-making processes and IoT adoption in accommodation SMEs, Journal of Business Research, ahead of printing, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.010

Uys, P. M., Nleya, P., & Molelu, G. B. (2004). Technological innovation and management strategies for higher education in Africa: Harmonizing reality and idealism. Educational Media International, 41(1), 67-80.

Van Gorp, N., & Honnefelder, S. (2015). Challenges for competition policy in the digitalised economy. Communications & Strategies, (99), 149.

Vlacic B., González-Loureiro M., & Eduardsen J. (2021). The process of the process of internationalisation: cognitive and behavioural perspectives in small ventures. European Journal of International Management. https://doi.org/10.1504/EJIM.2020.10027574

Subject Coverage
Suitable topics include, but are not limited, to the following:

• The impact of recent rapid technological evolution in digital innovation and sustainability in international markets
• The Ethical implications of digitalisation in big data analysis and organisational management and leadership
• The role of organisational culture, global culture and change management in an international digital market
• The role of social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial behaviour, digital innovation in international customer-relationship management
• The impact of technological evolution in international new product innovation, international buyer-seller relationships and international retailing innovation
• The role of digital transformation in SME’s internationalisation
• The role of digitalisation and technological advancements on international companies’ business model or its transformation toward internationalisation.
• The role of digitalisation in supporting decision making and related to internationalisation and sustainability
• The future of globalisation, standardisation, adaptation with digital innovation in creative industries

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper has been completely re-written and if appropriate written permissions have been obtained from any copyright holders of the original paper).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process.

All papers must be submitted online. To submit a paper, please read our Submitting articles page.

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 10 September, 2022

Notification to authors: 15 December, 2022

Final versions due by: 10 August 2023