International Marketing Strategies of Emerging Market Firms: Nature, Boundary Conditions, Antecedents, and Outcomes

Emerging markets are countries that have low-income but that experience rapid economic growths (Cavusgil et al., 2002) and often include developing countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and transition economies in the former Soviet Union, and China (Hoskisson et al., 2000). While the world is witnessing dramatic shift in wealth creation from firms in developed economies to firms in emerging markets (Bruton et al., 2013), scholarly works have not fully recognized that the behavior of emerging market firms challenge long-held international marketing concepts and theories developed to explain phenomena in developed markets of Western Europe and North America, which have relatively stable and efficient market supporting institutions.

Unique to emerging markets are conditions of institutional underdevelopment and great market uncertainties such that firms operating in emerging markets face severe and unpredictable market conditions that often threaten their very survival (Bruton et al., 2013). Market supporting institutions (e.g. market intermediaries, capital markets, and legal institutions) are poorly developed, necessitating the need for firms to plan for unexpected upheavals (Quartey, 2003). Money is hard to come by in such markets given those markets’ poor capital markets and history of subsistence consumption (Viswanathan and Rosa, 2007). Market oriented principles are yet to take root in such markets as many are still in transition after several years of running centrally-planned economies (Manolova et al., 2008).

Evidence shows that internationalizing emerging market firms face conflicts with their host Western country governments and capital markets due to concerns about the nature of emerging market firms’ marketing (and financial) transparency (The Financial Times, 2012; Wall Street Journal, 2006). There is also concern that these firms receive disproportionate protection and preferential resource allocation from their home governments to support their international marketing efforts (Rugman et al., 2014).

The socio-cultural, economic, regulatory and political conditions under which international marketing strategies are made in emerging markets are unique and are in rapid transition (Acquaah, 2007). Some of these issues suggest that how international marketing is undertaken in emerging markets might be very different from what we already know in developed markets. An implication is that international marketing theory needs recalibrating to account for emerging market conditions that may shape the nature, boundary conditions, antecedents, and outcomes of international marketing strategy best practices in emerging market firms.

Despite these unique characteristics of, and dynamics in, emerging markets, and the emergence of scholarly works on the international marketing activities of emerging market firms to inform mainstream scholarly discourses (Acquaah, 2007; Kriauciunas et al., 2011; Walumbwa et al.,, 2011), we still know relatively little about how international marketing strategies are undertaken by emerging market firms (Barney and Zhang, 2009; Tsang, 2009). Accordingly, we seek manuscripts that help enrich our understanding of how conditions in emerging markets help explain the nature, boundary conditions, antecedents, and outcomes of international marketing strategies of firms in such markets. Studies examining international marketing activities of firms of all sizes (e.g., micro, small and large multinational enterprises) and ownership forms (e.g., state-owned and privately-owned enterprises) are welcome. We strongly encourage papers that focus on issues that advance and enrich current managerial and scholarly thinking while simultaneously contributing to mainstream international marketing knowledge.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• What processes do emerging market firms follow to develop their international marketing strategies?
• What are the institutional and/or task environment forces driving international marketing strategy development in emerging market firms?
• What are the performance outcomes and boundary conditions of international marketing strategy in emerging markets?
• Subsistence consumption and international marketing strategy in emerging markets
• The informal sector and its implications for international market performance of emerging market firms.
• Strategic orientations of internationally active emerging market firms.
• Nature of international marketing strategies of emerging market multinationals.
• Export marketing strategy of emerging market firms.
• International marketing knowledge transfer of emerging markets Firms.
• International innovation strategy of emerging market firms operating in declining versus high-tech industries.
• Drivers of international product innovation success and failure of emerging market firms.
• International marketing and entrepreneurship interface in emerging market firms.
• Market entry mode choices and international marketing strategy of emerging market firms.
• Extending the institutional difference hypothesis across multiple emerging markets
• Strategies for learning from brand and business failures in internationally active emerging market firms.
• When and how are relationships at home and/or foreign markets useful for international marketing strategy effectiveness?

Guest Co-Editors: Prof. Yaw Debrah, Swansea University; Dr. Joseph Amankwah-Amoah, University of Bristol; Dr. Nathaniel Boso, University of Leeds

Guidelines and Submission Information

All manuscripts should be submitted to the special issue at manuscript central at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/imrev, following IMR manuscript submission guidelines available at http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=imr. All papers submitted to the Special Issue will be subjected to double-blind peer review in accordance with IMR guidelines. For further information please contact any of the Guest Editors for this Special Issue: N.Boso@Leeds.ac.uk; joseph.amankwah-amoah@bristol.ac.uk; y.a.debrah@swansea.ac.uk

References

Acquaah, M. (2007), “Managerial social capital, strategic orientation, and organizational performance in an emerging economy” Strategic Management Journal, 28, 1235-1255.

Barney, J. B. and Zhang, S. (2009), “The future of Chinese management research: A theory of Chinese management versus a Chinese theory of management”, Management and Organization Review, 5, 15-28.

Bruton, G. D., Filatotchev, I., Si, S., and Wright, M. (2013), “Entrepreneurship and Strategy in Emerging Economies”, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 7(3), 169-180.

Cavusgil, T., Ghauri, P., and Agarwal, M. (2002), “Doing business in emerging markets: Entry and negotiation strategies”

Thousand Oaks: Sage. Financial Times (2012), “Investors steer clear of Chinese IPO in US”, The Financial Times, January 3.

Hoskisson, R.E., L. Eden, C.M. Lau and M. Wright (2000), “Strategy in emerging economies. Academy of Management Journal”, 43(3), 249-267.

Kriauciunas, A., Parmigiani, A. and Rivera-Santos, M. (2011), “Leaving our comfort zone: Integrating established practices with unique adaptations to conduct survey-based strategy research in nontraditional contexts”, Strategic Management Journal, 32, 994-1010.

Manolova, T. S., Eunni, R. V., and Gyoshev, B. S. (2008), “Institutional environments for entrepreneurship: evidence from emerging economies in Eastern Europe”, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 32(1), 203-218.

Quartey P. (2003). “Financing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana”, Journal of African Business, 4(1), 37–55.

Rugman, A.M., Nguyen, Q.T.K. and Wei, Z. (2014), “Chinese multinationals and public policy”, International Journal of Emerging Markets, 9 (2), 205-215.

Tsang, E. W. K. (2009), “Chinese management research at a crossroads: Some philosophical considerations”, Management and Organization Review, 5, 131-143.

Viswanathan, M., and Rosa, J. A. (2007), “Product and market development for subsistence marketplaces: consumption and entrepreneurship beyond literacy and resource barriers”, Advances in International Management, 20, 1-17.

Wall Street Journal (2006), “IPO outlook”, The Wall Street Journal, August 28, p. C6.

Walumbwa, F. O., Avolio, B. J. & Aryee, S. (2011), “Leadership and management research in Africa: A synthesis and suggestions for future research”, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 84, 425-439.