Submission Deadline: 16 January 2024
Registration Deadline for Presenters: 7 March 2024
Theme: International Business in Evolution: Disruptions, Transformations and New Internationalisation Trends
Point of Contact: AIBUKI2024@aston.ac.uk
Overview: In recent years, the global business environment has witnessed unprecedented disruptions and challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, geopolitical tensions and expansion of the conflict zones, energy crisis and economic downturns, the surge of political populism trends, and climate change. Such international disruptions undoubtedly can alter the cross-border activities of firms, offering both internationalisation threats and opportunities. For instance, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit, many firms have been challenged by disruption in their supply chain, reduction in their national and international demand or restrictions in access to financing.
Furthermore, the ever-evolving technological advancement has changed the international business game. On the one hand, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and new digital technologies such as social media, AI-driven marketing tools, and digital platforms like the metaverse have provided a wider outreach for firms to new customers in international markets. On the other hand, failure to invest in and adapt to the latest technologies, along with cybersecurity and privacy issues, can disadvantage firms in the competitive international markets, pushing them to consider the option of reducing their international activities or exiting from foreign markets.
In response to such disruptions, international firms need to make strategic transformation decisions and shift to more flexible and agile business models. It begs for the employment of innovation and new technologies to the firm’s operation, re-orchestration of their global value chains, inter-firm knowledge collaboration and R&D, and taking advantage of foreign market context advantages. However, such strategic decisions need to be well aligned with the new world order and international business policy, as well as the recent changes to economic geography, while prioritising sustainable business practices.
We invite scholars to join this debate at the 50th AIB UK & Ireland Chapter Conference, where we further scrutinise the evolution of international business as a response to the recent disruptions. This conference theme further explores the new internationalisation trends and practices applied by small and medium (SME) internationalisers and multinational enterprises (MNEs). We also invite research on non-linear internationalisation strategy, which explores the wave of de- and re-internationalisation resulting from the disruptions and firms’ responses. However, in the tradition of previous chapter conferences, we welcome papers that explore different international business topics pertinent to the conference tracks below.