ERIM Research Clinic: Internationalization and its co-evolutionary dynamics


Speaker


Abstract

The presentation introduces the research streams which I am developing at RSM as Professor of International Business and Organization, one that concerns the internationalization of SMEs and another which has the multinational corporation as a central agent of international business. Both research streams recognise organizations - SMEs and MNCs - as social and political actors. This means taking account of (a) the potential of SMEs, as collective actors, to shape the economic and social environment in which they are embedded and (b) the power of corporate actors to mobilize resources and information to persuade institutions to change or create regulations that harmonize with their strategic intentions. This approach requires necessarily a co-evolutionary perspective that takes into account the relational framework on which both SMEs and also MNCs are embedded. Relational frameworks can be used by firms to advance their goals and interests but may also emerge as an outcome of firms’ interaction with key actors in networks. A co-evolutionary dynamics is therefore an important tool to understand firms' interaction with their environment, including its social implications and consequences for competition. This stance has given rise to some research questions which I am currently investigating and intend to bring in for discussion with research students.
 
Contact information:
Suzana Rodrigues
Email