Oscar Martín

International market selection and segmentation: perspectives and challenges

Purpose – This paper has two overall goals. The first is to serve as a broad overview of the literature on the subject theme, with three main objectives in mind: to highlight the complexities of international market selection or segmentation as a field of study and as a strategic decision by international firms; to explore the various ways and perspectives from which this area has been studied; and to suggest areas for future research by drawing on the preceding discussion. The second goal of the paper is to act as an introduction to the IMR special issue on the title theme, by outlining the special issues objectives and the contributions to it.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on the relevant literatures, the paper begins by outlining the factors that make the field complex in both theoretical and applied terms, moves to consider the research streams that comprise its main components, and concludes by drawing conclusions and implications for future research.Findings – A large part of the complexity ...

Towards an integrative framework of brand country of origin recognition determinants: A cross‐classified hierarchical model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework integrating the types and levels of the determinants of brand country of origin (CO) recognition and to provide evidence on internet users’ brand CO recognition rates, using a sample of multi‐regional and global brands from a variety of product categories and countries.Design/methodology/approach – The authors integrate “level‐1” consumer and brand characteristics and “level‐2” product category and country effects in a single framework. Data obtained through an original on‐line survey hosted by Yahoo provide the basis for the empirical analysis. Seven hypotheses are tested using a two‐level cross‐classified random‐effect model (HCM2).Findings – It is found that: education is positively related with brand CO recognition; experience with brands is positively related with brand CO recognition; integration between the consumer and the country of a foreign brand is positively related with brand CO recognition; internet users’ classification performa...

Country Distance (COD): Development and Validation of a New Objective Measure

We propose a multidimensional and objective measure, country distance (COD), as a comprehensive measure of distance between countries. Although the literature has called for a measure like this, in particular to support international decision‐making by small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), the research carried out so far has relied on measures of limited focus. We use partial least squares to develop the COD index and investigate the relative importance of its three dimensions: socioeconomic development, physical, and cultural and historical distance. We externally validate the measure in an analysis of the international market selection decisions of a sample of SMEs and country‐level export flows.

Knowledge ambiguity, innovation and subsidiary performance

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to focus on the effect that knowledge-ambiguous innovations have on the subsidiary performance of multinational corporations (MNCs). Specifically, the paper s ...

Innovation Processes at unit level: A Study of Headquarters involvement, Innovation Impact, Transfer Performance and Adoption Success

Innovation Processes at unit level: A Study of Headquarters involvement, Innovation Impact, Transfer Performance and Adoption Success

Chapter 11 Effects of Subsidiary Autonomy on Innovation Development and Transfer Intensities

Purpose – To explore the influence of autonomy on subsidiaries’ development and transfer intensities and their interrelationship. Methodology/approach – We develop a theoretical model that we test on a sample of 85 innovation projects developed in 63 subsidiaries in 14 countries. The data were collected by personal interviews and analysed using the Partial Least Squares technique. Findings – Autonomy is an important driver of subsidiaries’ innovation intensity although, surprisingly, we find no influence on transfer intensity. We confirm the positive relationship between subsidiary innovativeness and its role as provider of new competence to sister units within the multinational enterprise (MNE).

Opportunity Discovery and Creation as a Duality: Evidence from Small Firms’ Foreign Market Entries

Little research addresses the likely enabling character of the discovery and creation of opportunities during the internationalization of small firms or how international opportunities are found and constructed during the process of foreign market entry (FME). This article therefore studies how opportunities become connected during small firms’ FME. By incorporating the concept of duality, this article conceives of the discovery and creation of opportunity as mutually enabling rather than opposed. From this duality perspective, opportunity discovery and creation facilitate each other during internationalization processes. This case study involves five high-tech Australian firms and 30 FMEs. The findings show that knowledge, networks, and capabilities enable opportunities in the FME context. International opportunities are connected and nested in different levels of generality and specificity. The FME opportunities may be based on opportunity embeddedness, because each opportunity has implications for other opportunities. The findings lead to a model and propositions to explain the relationships between opportunity discovery and creation in FME.

Evolutionary theory and the advantage paradox of multinational corporations : testing the effects of subsidiary embeddedness and autonomy on innovation development and transfer intensities

This paper focuses on innovation development and transfer in multinational corporations. We use the evolutionary theory of the multinational company as our point of departure and confront it with t ...