International business in the digital age: Global strategies in a world of national institutions

Abstract

Digital technologies are changing how businesses strategize and organize internationally. They not only enable cost reduction in businesses crossing national boundaries but also enable novel types of products and business models. Yet, barriers to cross-border businesses persist or even re-emerge, such that the study of international business remains important in the digital age, but may have to shift focus. We argue that businesses operating internationally develop digital business strategies that are interdependent with their internationalization strategies. In doing so, they have to account for differences across national contexts including informal institutions, formal institutions, and resource endowments. We offer a conceptual framework linking external and internal antecedents to digital business and internationalization strategies. We focus in particular on three digital strategies: owning digital platforms, participating in digital platforms, and transforming traditional businesses for the digital world. On this basis, we discuss the contributions of the papers in this special issue and conclude by outlining an agenda for future research.