Ambidexterity as a dynamic capability in the globalization of the multinational business enterprise (MBE): Case studies of AB Volvo and IKEA

“I see the future”

“…Importantly, while case study research can be a source of ground-breaking, novel theoretical insights, its theorising potential is not fully exploited in international business research (Welch, Piekkari, Plakoyiannaki, and Paavilainen-Mäntymäki, 2011). Recent contributions, however, highlight the further consideration of case study research as a useful method to examine various contexts and aspects related to international business (e.g., Serafini and Szamosi, 2015;Vahlne and Jonsson, 2016;Zaefarian, Eng, and Tasavori, 2016).…”

Unraveling the Role of Cognition in the Internationalization Process

“…The concept of managerial ambidexterity refers to the alternation between the two strategic models (March, 1991), since the adoption of an ambidextrous strategy guarantees sufficient exploitation to ensure the company's current and future viability to allocate resources that are necessary for exploration (Lee, 2015;Vahlne & Jonsson, 2017). However, exploration and exploitation are two very different logical processes, with many points of conflict (Laureiro-Martínez, Brusoni, Canessa & Zollo, 2015), because, at the business level, they may be arranged in orthogonal patterns, and not in a gradient (Keller & Weibler, 2014;Laureiro-Martínez et al, 2015).…”

“…In addition to the continuous need to contribute to this clarification, Zahra, Newey & Li (2014) point to the perception of opportunity as an important factor, relating it to the issue of exploitation of opportunity (Keller & Weibler, 2012), as well as the willingness to deal with the uncertainty of results (Kiss, Williams & Houghton, 2013), which on the one hand, is associated with ambidexterity and the preference for exploration or exploitation (Keller & Wibler, 2012;Vahlne & Jonsson, 2017), and on the other, with the connection between this issue and the entrepreneur's cognition (Feuerstein, 2015).…”

The Successful Internationalization of Intesa Sanpaolo Bank in Central and Eastern Europe: Acquisitions, Insidership and the Uppsala Model

“…This decision implies the activation of organizational processes, also called knowledge development processes (processes that firms put in place to face the external environment) like learning, creating and trust-building (Johanson & Vahlne, 2009;Vahlne & Jonsson, 2017) that are useful to overcome the liability of outsidership. Those elements, which are part of the change aspects, are connected with state aspects.…”

“…In the same way opportunity seeking corresponds to an exploration issue (Vahlne & Johanson, 2017;Vahlne & Jonsson, 2017) that is fully integrated in commitment decision and evolution processes. As the Uppsala model and the business network view gives us an idea of how a firm evolves through networks (Coviello et al, 2017) and offers a dynamic approach that allows us to better understand interconnected systems, considering that internationalization path can be interpreted as network issues relying on increasing commitments.…”