Widening the lens: Rethinking distance, diversity, and foreignness in international business research through positive organizational scholarship

• 成果类型: Editorial Material
• 署名作者: Stahl, Guenter K.; Tung, Rosalie L.; Kostova, Tatiana; Zellmer-Bruhn, Mary
• 署名单位: Vienna University of Economics & Business; Simon Fraser University; University of South Carolina System; University of South Carolina Columbia; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2506
• DOI: 10.1057/jibs.2016.28
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 621-630
• 关键词: distance; diversity; FOREIGNNESS; International business; positive organizational scholarship

摘要

The point of departure for the special issue is that current theory and research in international business (IB) may have overly emphasized a negative view on foreignness, distance, and differences of all kinds (national, cultural, organizational, and institutional), with an emphasis on liabilities and adverse outcomes associated with such differences. While existing research is certainly valuable, we argue that focusing on mostly negative processes and outcomes has hindered our understanding of the dynamics, processes, and conditions that enable organizations to benefit from diversity in a wide range of IB contexts. The goal of this special issue is to promote research that is in line with a Positive Organizational Scholarship perspective, which encourages scholars to look at commonly considered phenomena in new ways, as well as to explicitly consider positive phenomena in IB research. We then introduce the three articles included in the special issue and highlight how they help IB scholars better understand when and how foreignness, distance, and diversity can enhance organizational effectiveness and performance at multiple levels.