ESCP and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Host Third Research Day on Globalisation

The third Research Day on Globalisation and preceding doctoral workshop (28-29 November 2024) brought together over 90 participants to examine multinational enterprises' evolving strategies.

Research Excellence in International Business

The day before, Professor Jean-François Hennart (Tilburg University) taught a doctoral workshop "Designing Good Research and Getting It Published in High-Impact Journals" focused on research design and publication strategies, drawing from his work on Transaction Cost Theory in International Business.

The Research Day paid tribute to Rugman and Verbeke's seminal 2004 JIBS paper on MNE strategies. Professor Alain Verbeke, University of Calgary, Canada, co-author of the original work with the late Professor Alan Rugman, delivered the opening keynote on globalisation and regionalisation's evolution.

Beyond efficiency gains, technologies like AI enable MNEs to better address bounded rationality and enhance local responsiveness while maintaining global coherence. This transformation demands deeper inquiry into the dynamic relationships between headquarters and subsidiaries

Professor Alain Verbeke,
University of Calgary

A panel featuring Dr Xia Han (University of Manchester), Professor Ulrike Mayrhofer (IAE Nice, Université Côte d'Azur), Professor Oli Mihalache (/Vlerick Business School and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), and Dr Hinrich Voss (University of Bristol) examined regionalisation across key markets, highlighting:

  • Europe's re-regionalisation and intra-European trade trends
  • North America's USMCA framework adaptation
  • China's dual circulation strategy
  • Japan's ASEAN investment pivot

The afternoon featured research presentations across three tracks:

  1. Digitalisation and Servitization: Technology's role in strategy
  2. Sustainability and CSR: Environmental integration in MNEs
  3. Internationalisation Strategies: Navigating global disruption

Professor Xavier Martin (Tilburg University) emphasised replication studies' importance for research credibility, while Professor Jean-Luc Arregle (EMLYON) introduced semi-globalisation as a framework for regional adaptation.

Organised by ESCP (Régis Coeurderoy, Duong Nguyen, Stefan Schmid, Marc Oberhauser) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam's Knowledge Hub (Sebastian Baldermann, Ira Chatterjee, Valérie Duplat, Saeed Khanagha, Oli Mihalache, Angelo Solarino, Yueling Zhou).

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