Abstract Research Summary In their Point article, Van Assche and Lindner argue that recent geopolitical developments require revisiting theoretical assumptions underlying global strategy research. We question both the scope of the empirical changes they describe and the implication that existing frameworks have become inadequate. Rising state activism is significant but uneven across countries and sectors. Calls for revising core assumptions risk conflating contextual shifts with theoretical limitations. We argue that established theoretical traditions remain valuable when applied with conceptual precision and empirical discipline. We illustrate this using new internalization theory to explain firm–state interaction under geopolitical volatility. We then outline five pathways for engaging with existing theory to address empirical shifts, drawing on concrete examples of classic strategy and international business theories. Managerial Summary Today's global business environment is more politically charged and less predictable than in recent decades. Governments are intervening more actively, geopolitical tensions are reshaping supply chains, and multinational enterprises (MNEs) face growing pressure from regulators and society. Our study argues that these changes do not make existing global strategy frameworks obsolete. Rather, they make them more necessary. Established ideas continue to help managers organize cross‐border operations under uncertainty, manage complex interdependencies with governments and partners, and respond strategically to increasingly turbulent environments. The practical message is that MNE managers do not need an entirely new toolkit to navigate current disruption. In their strategic planning, managers need to apply existing strategic tools more carefully, broadly, and consistently.

The transaction cost theory of family firms posits that bifurcation bias (BB) – the preferential treatment of family assets regardless of the actual value they bring to the business – leads to inefficiency in decision‐making and performance. Our study examines empirically three mechanisms that, according to extant literature, may help family firms mitigate the effects of BB: professional workforce training, engaging in technological collaborations and involving external investors. Drawing on panel data from the Spanish manufacturing sector (2006–2018), we test whether these mechanisms improve efficiency more in family firms than in nonfamily firms. Our findings suggest that mechanisms that combine resource augmentation with external accountability, such as technological collaborations and external investors, are more effective at alleviating BB than mechanisms focused solely on internal resource development.

This counterpoint challenges the view advanced by Yu, Bansal, and Arjaliès (J Int Business Stud 54:1151–1169, 2023), who argue that multinational enterprises (MNEs), by virtue of their cross-border operations, are inherently detrimental to the environment. While Yu et al.’s call for responsible resource use is commendable, we contend that their framework oversimplifies the complex realities of international business (IB). Drawing on New Internalization Theory (NIT), we examine environmental crises through the lens of multilevel complexity—macro-level institutional interdependencies, firm-level heterogeneity, and individual-level cognitive and behavioral constraints. Our approach underscores the role of bounded rationality and bounded reliability across all relevant actors—not just MNE managers—in shaping environmental outcomes. We find that Yu et al.’s proposed strategies give limited attention to the institutional, industry, organizational, and governance conditions under which environmental value is created. By contrast, we apply comparative institutional analysis to investigate MNEs’ impact on the environment as compared to feasible, real-world alternatives. We argue that meaningful environmental progress hinges not on targeting MNEs, but on fostering multilateral coordination among public, private, and civil society actors, with MNEs being well positioned to lead such collaborations. We call for scholarship that avoids ideological overreach, embraces IB theory, and acknowledges MNEs as key agents in advancing environmental sustainability.

The recent acceleration in the international expansion of digital platform-based firms (DPFs) is changing the global business landscape. A limited but growing number of studies have begun exploring the nuances of DPFs and their unique internationalization processes. However, looking across research domains, the body of literature is substantial, albeit fragmented. With this paper, we provide a systematic review of the literature on the internationalization of DPFs with an emphasis on understanding their characteristics, internationalization patterns and typologies. We aim to provide a deeper understanding of the internationalization of DPFs and the distinct factors that influence this process. We believe that such a timely, comprehensive review will help international business and management scholars chart a clear path for future research. In addition to integrating existing literature, we highlight key gaps and inconsistencies in current knowledge and propose future research paths particularly informed by the distinct typologies of DPFs that have emerged from our analysis.

In this study, we examine over 100 years of Rothschild’s international activity: we analyze this multinational enterprise’s (MNE’s) cross-border transfer of family-derived firm-specific advantages (FSAs) and the challenges of recombination thereof with novel resources. Family-derived FSAs hinge on the resources and features of the owning and controlling family. During the period of Rothschild’s international success in 19th-century Europe, the family itself served as a recombination mechanism for linking family-derived FSAs with complementary resources across borders. However, deploying family-derived FSAs in the American market and recombining these with nonfamily resources was hindered by bifurcation bias (a dysfunctional, affect-based heuristic characterizing family firms). We trace the manifestations of bifurcation bias over time and investigate its multifaceted impact on Rothschild’s internationalization. We suggest that effective resource recombination in host markets can be constrained by a two-stage authentication process. Here, the bifurcation bias in a first stage can influence which complementary resources in foreign markets will be accessed and how these will be integrated inside the firm. In a second stage, bifurcation bias can affect the functioning of the very actors supposed to be linking the complementary resources to be utilized and the extant, family-derived FSAs.

Over the past decade, a consensus has crystallized recognizing the significance of family firm internationalization in international business (IB) research. This recognition comes with substantial opportunities, yet it also presents challenges, such as the pressing need for a more cohesive integration of the family business and IB domains. In this article, we (re)emphasize the relevance of family firm internationalization for IB research considering three IB grand challenges and two important aspects of internationalization where family firms can particularly contribute. We also propose several theoretical and methodological avenues for future studies to help further increase the understanding of family firm internationalization and of IB theories. Finally, we provide an overview of the core insights from the articles included in the related special issue and develop integrative conclusions about the research.

We use a micro-level perspective to analyze the antecedents, enablers, and consequences of a firm-level crisis: the Volkswagen emissions crisis, which reflects a failure of governance to meet commonly accepted standards of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Based on a qualitative analysis of reliable, publicly available data, we identify situational context variables at the macro, firm, and micro levels that facilitated severe information and commitment problems, which culminated in the crisis. We also discuss how the lack of safeguards at the firm level enabled the breakdowns in Volkswagen’s governance routines, leading to the crisis. We show the impact of a variety of facets of bounded rationality and unreliability, and we argue that governance failure can occur due to a variety of microfoundational factors, including but not limited to opportunism. Proper governance must therefore include a range of safeguards that target multiple expressions of bounded rationality and bounded reliability. For managers, we propose a set of specific safeguards to be included in a multinational enterprise’s governance system. These safeguards should help to avoid and mitigate future crises and permit the firm to meet commonly accepted CSR standards.

We examine the interplay between the functional and dysfunctional pursuit of noneconomic goals in the first three generations of the Rothschild bank. The period analyzed covers the founding of the firm in the late 18th century, up to the European revolutions of 1848. Using an analytic narrative approach, we identify instances where the founding family’s pursuit of socioemotional wealth (SEW) resulted in value creation, as well as instances where unconstrained pursuit of SEW and associated biases destroyed value. We observe that dysfunctional properties of SEW pursuit begin to outweigh its functional properties as the structural and managerial complexity of operations increases. The interplay of constructs such as SEW and bifurcation bias explains both the successes of the Rothchild bank, such as its dominant position in European finance in the middle of the 19th century, and the firm’s key failures, such as the failure to capture the American market.

SUMMARY While COVID-19 has caused significant short-term disruptions in global value chains (GVCs), in the longer run, the pandemic will not be the primary catalyst in GVC evolution. As GVCs recover from the initial shock, managers will make GVC restructuring decisions guided by long-term strategic considerations. This article describes barriers that lead firm managers may encounter when rethinking location/control decisions for value chain activities and suggests that, in addition to structural changes, managerial governance adaptations are instrumental in enhancing GVCs’ long-term resilience. Lessons learned from responding to the pandemic can help managers enhance GVC efficiency in the increasingly uncertain global environment.

Contractor (J Int Bus Stud, 2022 ) argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated changes in the world economy that had already started, and that the fundamental rationale for globalization remains. Although we agree with much of Contractor's analysis and conclusions, we argue that in the case of large family-owned multinational enterprises (MNEs), international behavior after the pandemic is likely to be varied, reflecting the strategic persistence and the heterogeneity of the goals, governance, and resources of these firms compared to nonfamily firms. We therefore complement Contractor's article by discussing why most large family MNEs will pursue strategies that are consistent with globalization, but some will pursue strategies that move them in the opposite direction.

While COVID-19 has caused significant short-term disruptions in global value chains (GVCs), in the longer run, the pandemic will not be the primary catalyst in GVC evolution. As GVCs recover from the initial shock, managers will make GVC restructuring decisions guided by long-term strategic considerations. This article describes barriers that lead firm managers may encounter when rethinking location/control decisions for value chain activities and suggests that, in addition to structural changes, managerial governance adaptations are instrumental in enhancing GVCs' long-term resilience. Lessons learned from responding to the pandemic can help managers enhance GVC efficiency in the increasingly uncertain global environment.

Although the study of family firm internationalization has generated considerable scholarly attention, existing research has offered varied and at times incompatible findings on how family ownership and management shape internationalization. To improve our understanding of family firm internationalization, we systematically review 220 conceptual and empirical studies published over the past three decades, structuring our comprehensive overview of this field according to seven core international business (IB) themes. We assess the literature and propose directions for future research by developing an integrative framework of family firm internationalization that links IB theory with conceptual perspectives used in the reviewed body of work. We propose a research agenda that advocates a cross-disciplinary, multi-theoretic, and cross-level approach to studying family firm internationalization. We conclude that family firm internationalization research has the potential to contribute valuable insights to IB scholarship by increasing attention to conceptual and methodological issues, including micro-level affective motivations, background social institutions, temporal perspectives, and multi-level analyses.

This paper has been corrected owing to a production error.

This article reviews the rapidly growing domain of global value chain (GVC) research by analyzing several highly cited conceptual frameworks and then appraising GVC studies published in such disciplines as international business, general management, supply chain management, operations management, economic geography, regional and development studies, and international political economy. Building on GVC conceptual frameworks, we conducted the review based on a comparative institutional perspective that encompasses critical governance issues at the micro-, GVC, and macro-levels. Our results indicate that some of these issues have garnered significantly more scholarly attention than others. We suggest several future research topics such as microfoundations of GVC governance, GVC mapping, learning, impact of lead firm ownership and strategy, dynamics of GVC arrangements, value creation and distribution, financialization, digitization, the impact of renewed protectionism, the impact of GVCs on their macro-environment, and chain-level performance management.