Learning processes during re-internationalization: A case study of Chinese SMEs

Yu, H., Fletcher, M. and Buck, T. (2022) Learning processes during re-internationalization: A case study of Chinese SMEs. In: International Business in Times of Crisis: Tribute Volume to Geoffrey Jones. Emerald Publishing Limited: Bingley, pp. 131-167. ISBN 9781802621648 (doi: 10.1108/S1745-886220220000016010)

Abstract

Understanding how and why firms behave differently during re-internationalization has increasingly been at a premium in international business research. The authors conducted a case study of 11 Chinese international small and medium-sized enterprise and explored how they learned and recovered from involuntary de-internationalization. From case data, the “complete” re-internationalizers learned the lessons of foreign market exits more proactively than “partial” re-internationalizers. The complete re-internationalizers adopted internal and external sources of knowledge acquisition, “middle-up-down” information distribution and ambivalent information interpretation, while the partial re-internationalizers relied on internal sources of knowledge, “top-down” or “bottom-up” information distribution and univalent information interpretation. This study contributes by identifying the crucial role of learning processes to complete re-internationalization, which is absent in existing re-internationalization research.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Yu, Honglan and Buck, Professor Trevor and Fletcher, Professor Margaret
• Authors: Yu, H., Fletcher, M., and Buck, T.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• ISSN: 1745-8862
• ISBN: 9781802621648
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 Honglan Yu, Margaret Fletcher and Trevor Buck
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy