Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

Special Issue Call for Papers

Institutional Environment and Collaborations/Consolidations in B2B

Submission deadline 1st February 2018

Guest Editors:

Lead Editors:

En Xie, Professor, School of Management, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
Zhi Yang, Professor, School of Management, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China

Submissions Editor:

K.S. Reddy, School of Management, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

Scope of the Special Issue

This Call for Papers invites submissions for a special issue of the JBIM on the “institutional environment, the motives and consequences of collaborative and consolidation strategies, and firm performance in B2B business”.

A focal firm’s growth strategies and performance in the competitive market are greatly influenced by firm characteristics and external environment. The growth strategy and performance outcomes are of particular interest to top-level management and shareholders as well. Since collaborative choices (alliances, networks, joint ventures) and consolidation strategies (mergers, acquisitions) provide immediate access to partner’s resources and capabilities, a focal firm tends to prefer these growth strategies in order to leverage partner’s unique resources, expand distribution network, gain competitive advantages and improve financial returns (Degbey and Pelto, 2013; Gomes et al., 2016; Gulati et al., 2012; Ireland et al., 2002). For Gulati (1998:293), strategic alliances as voluntary arrangements between firms involving exchange, sharing, or codevelopment of products, technologies, or services, which may occur as a result of a wide range of motives and goals, take a variety of forms, and occur across vertical and horizontal boundaries. Mergers and acquisitions provide control over target resources and strategic assets, and the focal acquiring firm integrates target’s businesses to control overhead costs in production and marketing operations, and thereby gains market share. In recent years, collaborative and consolidation strategies have received a great attention in emerging economies’ strategy research (Ahlstrom et al., 2014; Hitt et al., 2000; Lebedev et al., 2015; Young et al., 2014).

Researchers in strategic management, marketing and international business argue that the performance outcome of a specific growth strategy is usually affected by the focal firm’s intent, strategy formulation, partner selection, strategy implementation, partner’s cooperation, and the timing of entry, among others (Ahlstrom et al., 2014; Hitt et al., 2000; Musarra et al., 2016; Nielsen and Gudergan, 2012). In this direction, leveraging theoretical insights from resource-based view, resource dependence, transaction cost economics, industry-based view and social network perspectives, extant literature on the impact of collaborative and consolidation strategies on firm performance has produced inconclusive or mixed results (Gomes et al., 2016; Lebedev et al., 2015). It is because crafting a collaborative or consolidation strategy, the choice of partner or target selection and the implementation of a crafted-strategy not only influenced by firm-level factors such as partner involvement and resources, but also greatly shaped by competitive market pressures and institutional environment of the focal country (Meyer et al., 2009; Xie et al., 2017). Studies on emerging economies suggest that market development and institutional transitions have a significant impact on focal firm’s strategic choices and performance (Peng, 2003; Peng et al., 2008; Young et al., 2014). Studies also contend that the empirical effects are significantly different when a specific strategy is adopted in a given context, for example, emerging economies vs. developed economies. Hence, not much research has published on the impact of institutional environment on B2B strategic choices and performance in the marketing literature (Gomes et al., 2016; Valenzuela et al., 2017). In fact, recent review papers urge the need of more institutions-based research on the contradicting relationship between the choice of collaborative and consolidation modes and firm performance (Lebedev et al., 2015; Xie et al., 2017).

Thus, a central question of this thesis:

How does institutional environment determine the choice of collaborative and consolidation strategies and their affect on firm performance in B2B?

Capturing valuable insights from institutional theory and the burgeoning theory-building research in emerging economies context, this special issue aims to explore:

In general:

• What are the characteristics of B2B firms entering an alliance, joint venture or acquisition?
• What are the motives of B2B firms entering an alliance, joint venture or acquisition?
• How does partner or target selection decision affect firm performance in the industrial distribution and promotional activities?
• What factors influence the choice of collaborative and consolidation strategies in B2B?

Specifically:

• How does institutional environment influence the choice of collaborative and consolidation strategies in B2B?
• What factors determine the success (failure) of alliances, joint ventures and acquisitions in the globalized emerging economies context?
• Does an alliance, joint venture or acquisition with diversification motive outperform in the competitive industrial market?
• What drives B2B firms’ internationalization strategy and its affect on performance?
• What are the consequences of the negative performance due to an alliance or acquisition?
• Do political ties, business ties and social ties moderate the relationship between the choice of collaborative and consolidation strategies and firm performance?

This special edition welcomes original submissions studying a single country or cross-country sample, theory building through case research and grounded theory designs, survey-based research, and conceptual development. Specifically, reviews of the extant literature on promising themes within the special issue coverage are most sought.

Indicative themes of the special issue, but are not restricted, for example:

• Strategic alliances in B2B: design, formation, integration and performance
• Joint ventures in B2B: collaboration, formation, integration and performance
• Acquisitions in B2B: deal initiation, integration and performance
• Characteristics of B2B firms entering a strategic alliance, joint venture or acquisition
• Motives of B2B firms entering a strategic alliance, joint venture or acquisition
• Marketing and financial sources of B2B firms entering collaborations and consolidations
• Partner or target selection in B2B collaborations and consolidations
• Diversification and firm performance in B2B
• Internationalization and firm performance in B2B
• Transaction cost issues and consequences in B2B collaborations and consolidations
• The focal country’s institutional environment and the choice of growth strategies in B2B
• Impact of institutional environment on firm performance in B2B
• Moderating effects of political ties, business ties and social ties in B2B
• Serial alliances and serial acquisitions in B2B and their affect on firm performance
• Collaborative business models and firm performance in B2B
• Institutional transition, industry deregulation, growth strategies and B2B development
• Single country studies such as B2B in emerging and developed economies
• Cross-country studies such as western vs. southern contexts
•  

Submission of full papers via Journal’s Online Submission System: 1st February 2018

* Editorial/Review process starts as soon as the submission is received. Early submissions are highly encouraged.

Submission of Papers

• Papers can be uploaded at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jbim
• When uploading a paper, make sure to select the special issue title (“Institutional Environment and Collaborations/Consolidations in B2B”).
• Follow the author guidelines regarding word limit, citation and referencing style, and uploading of appropriate files (please find here, http://emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=jbim).
• Make sure that your manuscript has been proof read by a copyeditor.

Please feel free to contact us for any queries relating to manuscript preparation, submission and review process.

Submissions Editor: K.S. Reddy (srinivasareddy@mail.xjtu.edu.cn)

References

Ahlstrom, D., Levitas, E., Hitt, M.A., Dacin, M.T. and Zhu, H. (2014), “The three faces of China: Strategic alliance partner selection in three ethnic Chinese economies”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 49 No. 4, pp. 572-585.

Degbey, W. and Pelto, E. (2013), “Cross-border M&A as a trigger for network change in the Russian bakery industry”, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 178-189.

Gomes, E., Barnes, B.R. and Mahmood, T. (2016), “A 22 year review of strategic alliance research in the leading management journals”, International Business Review, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 15-27.

Gulati, R. (1998), “Alliances and networks”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 293-317.

Gulati, R., Wohlgezogen, F. and Zhelyazkov, P. (2012), “The two facets of collaboration: Cooperation and coordination in strategic alliances”, Academy of Management Annals, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 531-583.

Hitt, M.A., Dacin, M.T., Levitas, E., Arregle, J.L. and Borza, A. (2000), “Partner selection in emerging and developed market contexts: Resource-based and organizational learning perspectives”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 449-467.

Ireland, R.D., Hitt, M.A. and Vaidyanath, D. (2002), “Alliance management as a source of competitive advantage”, Journal of Management, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 413-446.

Lebedev, S., Peng, M.W., Xie, E. and Stevens, C.E. (2015), “Mergers and acquisitions in and out of emerging economies”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 50 No. 4, pp. 651-662.

Meyer, K.E., Estrin, S., Bhaumik, S.K. and Peng, M.W. (2009), “Institutions, resources, and entry strategies in emerging economies”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 61-80.

Musarra, G., Robson, M.J. and Katsikeas, C.S. (2016), “The influence of desire for control on monitoring decisions and performance outcomes in strategic alliances”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 55 No. 1, pp. 10-21.

Nielsen, B.B. and Gudergan, S. (2012), “Exploration and exploitation fit and performance in international strategic alliances”, International Business Review, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 558-574.

Peng, M.W. (2003), “Institutional transitions and strategic choices”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 275-296.

Peng, M.W., Wang, D.Y. and Jiang, Y. (2008), “An institution-based view of international business strategy: A focus on emerging economies”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 39 No. 5, pp. 920-936.

Valenzuela, L.M., Merigó, J.M., Johnston, W.J., Nicolas, C. and Jaramillo, J.F. (2017), “Thirty years of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing: a bibliometric analysis”, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 1-17.

Xie, E., Reddy, K.S. and Liang, J. (2017), “Country-specific determinants of cross-border mergers and acquisitions: A comprehensive review and future research directions”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 52 No. 2, pp. 127-183.

Young, M.N., Tsai, T., Wang, X., Liu, S. and Ahlstrom, D. (2014), “Strategy in emerging economies and the theory of the firm”, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 331-354.

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