New Puppets in the Old School: The Applicability of Traditional Internationalisation Theories in the Sharing Economy

Abstract

Sharing Economy platforms have expanded their operations all around the globe at an unexpected rate. Due to its “asset-lite” nature, traditional internationalisation theories may not be able to fully explain or predict their expansion patterns. This lack of theoretical background puts at risk the phenomenon’s future and stops traditional companies from coming up with a solid plan to compete against platforms. To ease the creation of a Sharing Economy internationalisation paradigm, this paper intends to review the existing research regarding the internationalisation of sharing platforms as well as the applicability of existing theories. Through a systematic literature review, the existing research was reviewed, and afterwards, internationalisation theories and their distinct factors extracted were noted to address the applicability of these within the singularities of the sharing phenomenon. This classification of factors was done according to the exiting literature in the field. After this research, we can confirm the lack of explanatory power of traditional theories regarding sharing platforms and confirm the insufficient research regarding these operations. We propose a list of factors that should be considered for future research as a guideline for the further development of the Sharing Economy internationalisation theory. Additionally, the factors classification is tested upon the case of the internationalisation of Blablacar, the most extensive carpooling network operating, to check if the theoretical and the practical approaches converge.

Sustainable International Expansion via Cooperation Networks in the Manufacturing Industries

“…It is acknowledged that the internationalization process, which companies go through, impacts their structures due to the competitive demands of the international market. In other words, when expanding their borders, organizations have to adapt to new legal, social and cultural demands, since it encompasses, in addition to international involvement, the strategic adaptation of resources and structure, with this view proving to be the most appropriate for analyzing the convenience and opportunity of internationalization [67,68]. Today, corporate sustainability is a competitive advantage in the present and in the term, as it seeks to satisfy the needs of organizations without compromising the needs of future generations, covering, the economic, social and environmental factors [69].…”