Gerhard Apfelthaler

Challenges and opportunities of internationalization in professional service industries

In most Western, industrialized nations, the service sector accounts for more than twothirds of the gross domestic products with numbers still increasing (Simon & Welsh, 2010) – for instance, 77% in the USA (Javalgi, Griffith, & White, 2003) or 70% in the UK (Freeman & Sandwell, 2008). Within the service industry, it is the sector of professional services that is steadily becoming a much more important component of the economy (Cardone-Riportella & Cazorla-Papis, 2001). As developed markets become more saturated and difficult to compete in, particularly in times of economic downturn as the one the world has seen over the last few years, professional service firms are increasingly being driven from well-established markets into the more diverse international arena (Chetty & Campbell-Hunt, 2004; Javalgi, Martin, & Todd, 2004; McKinsey & Company, 2010; Wymbs, 2000). Be it as a reaction to such market pressures, because of the broadening of multilateral trade agreements, advances in information and communication technologies, the increased presence of global networks (Freeman & Sandwell, 2008; Netland & Alfnes, 2007), or out of more pro-active motifs, internationalizing professional services is a complex endeavor. Tight control regimes of target markets or host countries, the centrality of the client and the need for intensive customer interaction, additional knowledge capital requirements, the difficult acquisition and transfer of know-how across borders, the nature of professional services with simultaneous production and consumption and their short lifecycles – all these make international expansion in the professional services a daunting task (Brock & Alon, 2009; Buckley, Pass, & Prescott, 1992; Kathuria, Joshi, & Dellande, 2008; Malhotra & Hinings, 2010; Netland & Alfnes, 2007). Internal and external barriers to international expansion have been and still remain substantial for firms in the professional services industry. At the same time, what Contractor, Kundu, and Hsu (2003) have claimed nearly 10 years ago – that research on internationalization of services lags behind research on manufacturing – largely still seems to hold true. And yet, surprisingly little research on this growing phenomenon has been published in the fields of international business, international management, or cross-cultural management. A relatively recent literature review (Netland & Alfnes, 2007) has shown that only 31 articles on the topic had been published in the most important service industries journals between 1999 and 2005. Unfortunately, as much as the topic of internationalization remains of minor significance for the most important academic journals focusing on service industries, the topic of services is of minor significance for the most important journals in the areas of international business and international management. We have conducted a brief review of all articles published on the internationalization of services in six journals between 2000 and 2010. Looking at four journals from the area of international business and international management (Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Marketing, Journal of International Management, International Business Review) and two from the area of services marketing and services management (Service Industries Journal, Journal of

Cross-Cultural Differences in Learning and Education: Stereotypes, Myths and Realities

Despite the fact that both learning styles and cross-cultural differences have been important research topics for decades, surprisingly little work has been done on comparisons of learning behaviour across cultures and its impact for teachers working in culturally mixed settings. This chapter is based on a research project funded by the European Union seeking to provide fresh knowledge on cross-national differences in attitudes towards learning of students from selected countries. It reports on the results from Austria, Germany, Singapore and Thailand and outlines some of the implications for teaching in higher education.

Integrated Corporate Social Responsibility Communication: A Global and Cross-Cultural Perspective

Based on a brief history and a short overview of global rankings, country-specific and comparative studies, this chapter discusses the impact of cultural differences of CSR communication in the global context. We relate CSR communication to a typology of the multinational enterprise, discuss implications for the ethical framing of CSR communication, and present different options for action before we identify needs for further research.

Standardisation versus adaptation of business practices in Europe: 20 years of the Single European Market and two decades of (scarce) research

Shortly before and after the creation of the Single European Market and, partially, in the early 2000s, international marketing researchers had shown a vivid interest in the effects of European Union harmonisation on marketing strategies. Questions about the benefits of standardisation or adaptation strategies were asked and propositions were made. The last decade, however, has shown a relative paucity of interest by management scholars in the topic - a void that is being explored by articles in this special section.