Scrutinizing Emerging Markets and Exploring the Impact of Paradigms on Knowledge Production in International Business

Over the last few decades, the global economy has witnessed an unprecedented interest in Emerging Markets. They have become critical players in the global economy and contribute a significant proportion of the GDP in many countries. Indeed, most of the fast-growing economies today are Emerging Markets, and this trend will become more pronounced in the next decades. Some regions that were underrepresented in global economic forums because of their negligible economic influence are now emerging as promising destinations for foreign direct investments (FDI) and international trade. This is the case of the African region where some of the fastest growing Emerging Economies are located. The continent is projected to become a major economic hub by 2050, with more than 25% of the world’s population and consumers, the largest percentage of youth population and labor in the world, the largest reserves of mining and rare minerals, the largest reserves of underutilized water and arable land, and the largest Regional Economic Integration in the world, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) that was efective in 2019. With these considerations, it is unsurprising to notice a growing interest among researchers and academic journals in Emerging Markets, especially those in the African region. This is the case of the Journal of Comparative International Management (JCIM). Although this journal has focused on Emerging Markets for the last 25 years, it has reaffirmed its interest in Emerging Markets as one of its new strategic goals and is reinforcing its positioning in this regard with new leadership. I would like to mention that the second strategic goal of the journal is to raise its standard. The journal is fortunate to have a high-profile editorial team that I have the distinct honor to coordinate. The Editorial Board is comprised of 105 scholars from 25 countries located on five continents. Many of them are leading scholars, including a former president of the Academy of International Business (AIB), fellows of AIB, chairs of AIB regional chapters, and editors and associate editors of leading journals. I extend my heartfelt gratitude for their support. Not one of them hesitated to join the journal when I contacted them, which was immensely encouraging. Due to space limitations, I cannot name all of them here in this editorial article, but I thank the following colleagues for their exceptional support since the beginning of this new journey, and most importantly, for their contributions to this inaugural issue: Robert Grosse, former president and fellow of AIB; Elizabeth Rose, former president of ANZIBA (Australia and New Zealand International Business Association) and fellow of AIB; Gary Knight and Rebecca Piekkari, both fellows of AIB; Helena Barnard, former vice-president of AIB; and Tanvi Kothari, co-chair of AIB-US West and board member of Women of Academy of International Business (WAIB). Also, I extend special thanks to Nandini Lahiri of American University, Katherina Pattit of St. Thomas University, Malou Roldan of San Jose University, Richard Fletcher of the University of Western Sydney, Claudine Gaibrois of the University of St. Gallen, and Marijana Johansson of the University of Glasgow for their contribution to this inaugural issue. I extend my heartfelt congratulations and sincere thanks to Prof. Basu Sharma, who founded JCIM 25 years ago and served as its Editor-in-Chief until passing this role to me recently. Serving as Editor-in-Chief is a time and energy consuming responsibility. Without the tenacity of Prof. Basu Sharma, JCIM would not have become the well‑established and ABDC ranked journal that it is today. This inaugural issue of JCIM contains six papers that focus on subjects related to Emerging Markets. These subjects vary from a new theory of the competition in Emerging Markets firms to women entrepreneurship in Emerging Countries, influence of the institutional environment on trust in Emerging Countries, Corporate Social Responsibility, marketing communication strategies in Emerging Countries, and finally, the impact of researchers’ paradigms on language-sensitive research in IB research. In this editorial article, I present these six papers by identifying their contributions and discussing the questions that they raise to inspire and enrich the conversation among International Business scholars.

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