| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1020259 | Journal of International Management | 2015 | 6 Pages |
Demand-side perspectives represent a burgeoning research area in the fields of technology innovation, entrepreneurship and strategic management, yet are only at an early stage in the field of international business. Demand-side research looks outside the focal organization toward consumers and product markets to explain managers' strategic decisions — decisions that increase value created within a value system by emphasizing: consumer benefits experienced; thematic similarity (i.e., products and services that are used in performance of the same activity); value systems/ecosystems rather than a single focal organization only; and value creation for consumers rather than value capture for a firm. Demand-side research can be valuable for expanding the strategic actions available to multinational organizations and international social enterprises by integrating geographical expansion and business diversification in ways that can create the most value for heterogeneous end users both across and within national boundaries. This adds conceptual complexity to the international business field by raising international consumer issues to the strategic level – with, for example, investments in mergers and acquisitions and strategic alliances – rather than the more typical single-business or functional marketing levels. This added complexity has the potential to extend international business theories in new ways.
