INTERNATIONAL MARKETING REVIEW
Call for Papers
Special Issue on ¡°Decision-Making in International Marketing¡±
Deadline for submission is 31 July 2020
The saturation of domestic markets and global hyper-competition have pressured many firms to expand into diverse international
markets. Decision-making is a key driver of business success in the international environment (Nemkova et al., 2015). In this
context, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of decision-making is critical to international marketing research theory
and practice. The international marketing literature has made notable progress regarding what are the key substantive
international marketing decisions that drive international marketing success (e.g. degree of standardization/adaptation, foreign
market entry modes, international resource investments). A parallel body of research within international marketing decision
-making addresses the process of how decisions are made to derive optimal and/or satisficing performance outcomes (e.g.
emergent versus deliberate international strategies, cognitive micro-foundations, use of heuristics). Therefore, this special
issue invites papers that help push the boundaries of international marketing decision-making knowledge, in the contexts
of substantive decisions made, and the process of decision-making.
Knowledge regarding substantive international marketing decisions (e.g. adaptation/standardization, entry modes), their
drivers and impact on performance is far from complete, with ambiguity and inconsistencies characterizing much of the field.
In addition, other core decision issues such as CSR, corporate partnerships, and value creation that are of particular
pertinence to today¡¯s international businesses are often overlooked. For example, current environmental decision-making
models explain the adoption of single behaviors only, rather than the coaction suite of behaviors required to halt climate
change (Newton et al., 2015); there is limited research on the determinants behind standardization and/or adaptation
of international marketing strategies (Rao-Nicholson and Khan, 2017); much less what effective foreign market entry
should actually look like given the propensity in the field to only examine individual modes independently and in silo
(Oliveira et al., 2018). In this context, a more holistic view of international marketing decisions that considers a firm's
entire portfolio of activities in foreign markets is needed.
With few exceptions, not much is known about how international marketing decisions are made (Nemkova et al., 2015;
Souchon et al., 2016). Yet, the way international marketing decisions are made is critical for international marketing success
(Hughes et al., 2019). This sphere of international marketing decision-making research, while relatively anemic, is typically
underpinned by behavioral economic theories of decision-making, such that a duality in decision-making processes is identified.
Supported by developments in the cognitive psychology field, the decision-making process is as reliant on emotion and intuition,
as on rational cognition (Hodgkinson and Sadler-Smith, 2018). Nevertheless, international marketing and management
studies are dominated by the planning paradigm (Hughes et al., 2018), while in practice, managers often see the attempt to deviate
from planning as irresponsible and dangerous (Nemkova et al., 2012). The reality is, of course, much more complex where
interactions between alternate decision-making approaches exist (Hughes et al., 2019). Despite the ¡®ideal state¡¯ being a high level
of duality in decision-making (Hodgkinson and Sadler-Smith, 2018) the form that this should take remains unanswered.
This special issue strongly encourages papers from across multiple disciplines and different country contexts, which contribute
to mainstream international marketing knowledge. Conceptual and empirical (quantitative and/or qualitative, and/or cross-national)
works which offer significant new insights both to academia and managerial practice, are all welcomed.
Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
Theme 1: Substantive international marketing decisions
Balancing strategic marketing orientations (e.g., entrepreneurial orientation, innovativeness, technological orientation,
etc.) in international markets
Using coopetition for more successful foreign market entry
International exploration and exploitation strategies
Global CSR: drivers and consequences
Ethical decisions in international markets
Engaging the global consumer in the firm¡¯s decision-making
Social media and digital marketing strategies for the global audience
Customer value creation and export market orientation
Institutional drivers of the adaptation/standardization decision
Theme 2: International marketing decision-making process
Emergent and deliberate strategies as catalysts for international expansion
Opportunistic behaviors within export firms: impact on decision-making processes
The role of decision-making styles in shaping international marketing strategy formulation and implementation
Psychological micro-foundations of international marketing decision-making
Decision-making tools in the New Normal global landscape
Rational and intuitive international marketing decision-making across cultures
The role of digital analytics in international marketing decision-making
Pre-submission Conference
Authors considering submitting to the Special Issue have the opportunity to present their work at a Special Issue track,
Decision-Making in International Marketing, to be held at the 2020 Global Marketing Conference at Seoul
(https://2020gamma.imweb.me/). The deadline for conference submission is 15 January, 2020. Three members
of the Special Issue team (Oliveira, Hughes and Hultman) will be chairing the track called ¡®Decision-Making in
International Marketing¡¯, and authors submitting to the track will be able to present their work to the track chairs,
get feedback on the suitability of the papers for the Special Issue, and build on this feedback prior to submitting
to the Special Issue (contact João S. Oliveira for more information: j.oliveira@lboro.ac.uk). Conference attendance
is not a requirement for submissions to the Special Issue, however, and authors who are unable to attend the conference
are encouraged to submit to the Special Issue, or reach out to the Special Issue guest editors to discuss their manuscript
and its contribution.
Guidelines and Submission Information
The deadline for submission is July 31st, 2020. Submitted manuscripts should follow the format as indicated in the author
guidelines on the manuscript central at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/imrev. All papers will go through a double-blind
peer review process to meet IMR standards.
Guest Co-Editors
João S. Oliveira, Lecturer in Marketing at Loughborough University, United Kingdom, email:
j.oliveira@lboro.ac.uk
Ian R. Hodgkinson, Professor of Strategy, Loughborough University, United Kingdom, email:
i.r.hodgkinson@lboro.ac.uk
Anne L. Souchon, Professor of International Marketing, Loughborough University, United Kingdom, email:
a.l.souchon@lboro.ac.uk
Nathaniel Boso, Professor of Marketing, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, email:
nboso@knust.edu.gh
Ekaterina Nemkova, Assistant professor in Marketing, Nottingham University, United Kingdom, email:
Ekaterina.nemkova@nottingham.ac.uk
Paul Hughes, Professor of Strategic Management, De Montfort University, United Kingdom, email:
paul.hughes@dmu.ac.uk
Magnus Hultman, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, email:
m.hultman@leeds.ac.uk
Call for Papers: Special Issue of International Marketing Review on Decision-Making in International Marketing:
http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/call_for_papers.htm?id=8572
References
Hodgkinson, G.P. and Sadler-Smith, E. (2018). The dynamics of intuition and analysis in managerial and organizational
decision making. Academy of Management Perspectives, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp.473-492.
Hughes, P., Hodgkinson, I.R., Arshad, D., Hughes, M. and Leone, V. (2018). Planning to improvise? The role of reasoning
in the strategy process: Evidence from Malaysia. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Vol. 35 No. 2, pp.449-470.
Hughes, P., Souchon, A.L., Nemkova, E., Hodgkinson, I.R., Oliveira, J.S., Boso, N., Hultman, M., Yeboah-Banin, A.A.
and Sy-Changco, J. (2019). Quadratic effects of dynamic decision-making capability on innovation orientation and performance:
Evidence from Chinese exporters. Industrial Marketing Management, in press.
Nemkova, E., Souchon, A.L. and Hughes, P. (2012), ¡°Export decision-making orientation: An exploratory study¡±,
International Marketing Review, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 349-378.
Nemkova, E., Souchon, A. L., Hughes, P. and Micevski, M. (2015), ¡°Does improvisation help or hinder planning in
determining export success? Decision theory applied to exporting¡±, Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 41-65.
Newton, J.D., Newton, F.J., Salzberger, T. and Ewing, M.T. (2015). A cross-nationally validated decision-making
model of environmental coaction. International Marketing Review, Vol. 32 No. 3/4, pp.350-365.
Oliveira, J.S., Yazdani, N., Cadogan, J.W., Hodgkinson, I.R., Tsougkou, E., Story, V.M. and Boso, N. (2018). The empirical
link between export entry mode diversity and export performance: A contingency-and institutional-based examination.
Journal of Business Research, 88, pp.505-512.
Rao-Nicholson, R. and Khan, Z. (2017). Standardization versus adaptation of global marketing strategies in emerging
market cross-border acquisitions. International Marketing Review, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp.138-158.
Souchon, A. L., Hughes, P., Farrell, A. M., Nemkova, E. and Oliveira, J. S. (2016), ¡°Spontaneity and international marketing
performance¡±, International Marketing Review, Vol. 33 No. 5, pp. 671-90.
About the guest editors
João S. Oliveira is a Lecturer in Marketing at the School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, United Kingdom.
His research interests include international marketing, innovation, offshoring, corporate social responsibility, entrepreneurship,
and digital marketing. He teaches principles of marketing, brand management, and international marketing. He received his PhD
in Business and Management from Loughborough University in 2015. João¡¯s research has appeared in different academic
journals (International Marketing Review, Journal of Business Research, and International Business Review).
Ian R. Hodgkinson is Professor of Strategy at the School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, UK. Ian¡¯s
research interests are strategy development, cognition, and decision-making in complex environments with a particular focus
on (i) strategy types and performance; (ii) strategic resources and resource-based theory; (iii) planning and improvisation in
strategy-making; and, (iv) strategic ambidexterity across levels. Ian has published research articles in Journal of World Business,
Public Administration, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, and Research Policy, among many others.
Ian is Associate Editor of Journal of Service Management.
Anne L. Souchon is Professor of International Marketing and Associate Dean for Enterprise at Loughborough University¡¯s School of Business &
Economics. Anne¡¯s primary research interests are in international marketing, and more specifically in the areas of export marketing decision-making,
export information acquisition, export information use, and export improvisation. Her articles have been published in the Journal of International
Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising, Industrial Marketing Management, International Marketing Review,
among others.
Nathaniel Boso is a Professor of marketing and dean of KNUST School of Business, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.
He is also a Visiting Professor at Strathmore Business School (Kenya). He was previously an Associate Professor in Marketing at Leeds University
Business School in the United Kingdom (UK). His research focuses on the interface between international entrepreneurship, innovation and marketing
management. His research has won multiple prestigious awards and has been published in leading international scholarly journals including Journal
of Business Venturing, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Business Ethics and Journal of International Marketing. He sits on
the editorial review board of International Marketing Review and Journal of African Business as an Associate Editor. He holds PhD from Loughborough
University, and is a Professional Chartered Marketer at the Chartered Instituting of Marketing, UK.
Ekaterina Nemkova is Assistant Professor in Marketing at the Nottingham University Business School. Ekaterina specializes in
international marketing and particularly in decision-making. In her work she examines how firms develop international strategies
that allow them to enter new markets, win international customers and succeed across borders. Ekaterina is also interested in such
constructs as unpredictability, creativity, platform economy and innovation and their impact on firms' international performance.
Her articles have been published in Journal of International Marketing, International Marketing Review, Journal of Business
Ethics and Journal of Business Research.
Paul Hughes is Professor of Strategic Management at Leicester Castle Business School, De Montfort University. Paul¡¯s research
interests are strategic decision-making and the interplay between planning and improvisation in strategy-making; resources and
resource-based theory; strategy failure and adherence to strategy; and, strategic ambidexterity through exploration and exploitation.
Paul has published in leading academic outlets including Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of World Business,
British Journal of Management, International Marketing Review, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management,
and Public Administration, among many others.
Magnus Hultman is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Deputy Director at the Global and Strategic Marketing Research
Centre (GLOSMARC) at Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds. He holds a doctorate in industrial marketing
from Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. His main research interests revolve around international marketing strategy
issues, various aspects of tourism marketing, and supply chain management. His research has been published in journals s
uch as Industrial Marketing Management, International Business Review, International Marketing Review, Journal of
Business Research, Journal of International Marketing, Psychology and Marketing, and Tourism Management among others.