Purpose -Outward foreign direct investment (FDI) of firms from Brazil, Russia, India and China has increased significantly during the last few years. Despite this trend, comprehensive research on the specific determinants and antecedents of outward FDI from BRIC countries is still underrepresented. The purpose of this paper is to give a more comprehensive understanding of outward FDI from BRIC countries. Design/methodology/approach -Based on an exploratory approach, case studies of eight companies were conducted. Both a within-case and a cross-case approach were conducted. Findings -The findings reveal the relevance of determinants on the country, industry and firm level. Gaining access to new markets is of utmost importance for all firms. Additionally, most companies seek to obtain access to technological resources and management know-how, therefore emphasizing the availability of these resources in the target countries. While the internationalization of Brazilian and Indian companies is primarily driven by economic motives, many Chinese and Russian firms also receive substantial political support from their governments to invest abroad, especially in strategically important industries. On the firm-level, the strength of firm-specific resources is highlighted. BRIC country firms possess specific strengths that help them to enter both developing as well as developed countries and to pursue their internationalization strategy. Originality/value -The aim of this study is to systematically analyze the determinants of FDI of firms from BRIC countries. While previous studies in this context are based on internationalization theories which were at least implicitly focused on FDI of firms from developed markets, the authors use a more emic approach and look for specific determinants of outward FDI of firms originating in BRIC countries.

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The presence of Chinese companies in international markets has increased, and one of their main challenges is to overcome the negative image that Chinese products have in many countries. This study aims to shed light on how sociopsychological determinants affect the perceived attractiveness of Chinese products in Germany, using a sociopsychological approach based on social identity theory and social learning theory. The results indicate that the individual's age, level of education, occupational status, and international experience have significant effects on the perceived attractiveness of Chinese products, whereas the individual's international experience in China does not show such effects. Significant differences between different product categories are revealed.

Zusammenfassung: Die kulturelle Anpassung von Auslandsentsandten ist eine wesentliche Voraussetzung für einen erfolgreichen Auslandseinsatz. Trotz zahlreicher Studien der Faktoren, welche die kulturelle Anpassung begünstigen, ist dieses Forschungsfeld immer noch durch einen Mangel an gesicherten Erkenntnissen geprägt. Die vorliegende Studie betrachtet zwei bislang noch nicht thematisierte Faktoren, nämlich den Musikgeschmack und die individuellen Reisepräferenzen, und testet deren Einfluss auf die kulturelle Anpassung von 140 Auslandsentsandten in Lateinamerika. Eine Regressionsanalyse zeigt einen signifikanten Einfluss der Präferenz für Folk-und Weltmusik sowie für Erlebnisreisen auf. Diese Präferenzen können im Auswahlprozess von Entsandten als relativ leicht messbare Selektionskriterien eingesetzt werden.

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