The burgeoning of ibusiness firms in the modern digital economy challenges the received internationalization theory. Given that ibusinesses such as social networking sites create value by providing a digital platform for users to interact with one another, we employ a user-network perspective and externalization logic, suggesting that ibusinesses' internationalization process depends critically on users' collective interactions, instead of being solely driven by firms' market commitments as noted by the Uppsala model. However, ibusinesses may suffer from liabilities of outsidership due to the boundedness of international network effects. Drawing on social network theory, we demonstrate that such liabilities can be mitigated by first diffusing the ibusiness platform in countries with higher clout. Our analysis using a unique dataset of mobile ibusiness platforms finds empirical support for the hypotheses. We discuss theoretical implications for the network approach of the Uppsala model in the digital era.

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Recent advances in digitalization and increasing integration of international markets are paving the way for a new generation of firms to use non-traditional entry modes that are largely marginalized in previous entry mode studies. While extant research revolves around the level of resource commitment and control in foreign activities, non-traditional modes are encapsulated by the extent of embeddedness required for exploring new and/or exploiting existing resources. In particular, we draw attention to four such categories of non-traditional entry modes the literature has touched on, i.e., capital access, innovation outposts, virtual presence, and the managed ecosystem. We explore the key attributes, antecedents, and strategic implications of these modes. Our paper highlights the need for enriching current entry mode research by considering a broader range of entry mode activities available to firms as well as employing new theoretical perspectives to understand the complex phenomena of internationalization.

Our paper draws attention to a neglected channel of corruptionthe bribe payments by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This is an important phenomenon as bribe payments by SOEs fruitlessly waste national resources, compromising public welfare and national prosperity. Using a large dataset of 30,249 firms from 50 countries, we show that, in general, SOEs are less likely to pay bribes for achieving organizational objectives owing to their political connectivity. However, in deteriorated institutional environments, SOEs may be subject to potential managerial rent seeking behaviors, which disproportionately increases SOE bribe propensity relative to privately-owned enterprises (POEs). Specifically, our findings highlight the importance of fostering democracy and rule of law, reducing prevalence of corruption and shortening power distance in reducing the incidence of SOE bribery.

Firms strategically expand to countries that offer important location advantages. Yet, for digital firms, which can instantly release their technologies worldwide, it is unclear whether a focus on specific locations can still provide strategic advantages. The authors argue that digital firms reap critical demand-side location advantages for the internationalization of their technologies by strategically interacting with users in lead markets that exhibit either high within-country demand heterogeneity or preference overlaps with several other countries. Simply penetrating a lead market is not enough, however, as both demand-side and supply-side factors influence the digital firm’s potential to take advantage of lead markets. On the demand side, a digital firm should avoid focusing on paying users or acquiring light users. On the supply side, the digital firm must deploy adequate technological and marketing capabilities to benefit from user interactions in lead markets. Thus, the authors link demand-side opportunities and supply-side firm capabilities to develop nuanced theory on how digital firms can spur international expansion. They find empirical support for their arguments by analyzing a large multicounty database of mobile apps in Apple’s App Store.