Rethinking network embeddedness in international business: A review and view in space and time

Abstract

Conceptual and empirical contributions to network embeddedness have flourished in the last decades within the field of international business (IB). Scholars have used the concept to explain IB phenomena through the lens of business actors’ network relationships and positions in their networks. Yet, network embeddedness has been conceptualized and operationalized quite differently across IB. To bring clarity to the field, we conducted a systematic literature review of 182 conceptual and empirical articles published between 1996 and 2025. Our review unpacks the various theoretical perspectives, definitions and operationalizations used in network embeddedness research in IB. Moreover, our findings highlight the limited attention paid to space and time in the conceptualizations and operationalizations of network embeddedness in IB. To improve upon these aspects, we advance a spatio-temporal view of network embeddedness that combines dimensions of geographical space beyond the country level, accounts for social and digital space and incorporates the notion of subjective time. Our proposed view opens new directions for future research in IB, moving and expanding current scholarship in the interface of network embeddedness and internationalization.