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The issue of motivation for foreign direct investment (FDI) is central to international business (IB) theory and empirical research. The most common starting point is Dunning’s four motives (4M) framework: market seeking, natural resource seeking, efficiency seeking and strategic asset seeking. This paper explores the genesis, development and application of the 4M framework and demonstrate how it has developed from an abstract typology and heuristic device unsupported by empirical evidence into a set of concrete behavioral assumptions with theoretical and methodological consequences for IB research.

The paper is mainly conceptual, based on relevant theoretical work on FDI motives, and partly methodological, concentrating on the importance of realism for behavioral assumptions in IB.

The authors demonstrate that the shift in the 4M framework from abstract typology to a set of concrete behavioral assumptions has important implications for the development of IB theory and methodology. A critical issue has largely been ignored: the role of realism in the assumptions on which theory and its empirical testing are based and the possible consequences of unrealism in key behavioral assumptions. The authors show that attempts to “fix” the problems inherent in the 4M framework will inevitably fail and suggest ways in which it is possible to inject more realism into behavioral assumptions underlying FDI motivation.

The authors demonstrate that the applicability of the 4M approach, for either firms or policymakers seeking to attract FDI and maximize the benefits from it, needs to be more clearly understood in the context of the particular decision.

Many countries see the attraction of FDI as central to their plans for economic growth and indeed the propensity for industrial development and moving up the value chain. The understanding of FDI motive has, in recent years, been recognized as central to this. The authors offer an important nuance to this understanding.

The paper offers both theoretical and methodological insights for IB scholars interested in FDI motivation.

This paper aims to argue that the endogenous processes of profit shifting by MNEs and tax competition lead not just to inequality but constitute a case of global injustice. The provisions of the planned “two-pillar” reforms to global corporate taxation are then considered relative to the minimum conditions for background justice in taxation.

This paper is partly conceptual, based on relevant theoretical work in philosophy, and partly policy-focussed, based on an assessment of the OECD/G20 “two-pillar solution”.

The normative case for considering international tax competition as a global justice issue is developed, contrasting the cosmopolitan and non-cosmopolitan (“internationalist”) approaches. Three key minimum conditions for background justice in term of international taxation are established. This paper concludes that the two-pillar solution is likely to fail in global justice terms not because of its principles, which are sound, but because its redistributive scope is insufficiently great to have a major effect in correcting the inequality arising from tax competition.

This paper applies the philosophical concept of global justice to a specific issue in international business: MNE profit shifting and tax competition policy.

Miller (2011) revisited his influential 1983 work on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and remarked that its underlying drivers are fully open to debate, fresh scholarship and connection with new theories. Indeed, the genealogy of the EO construct is rarely questioned. We take a “making masculinity visible” approach, engaging with a lens of masculinity, precarious manhood theory (PMT) and double standards of competency, to define and test the masculine elements of EO in the setting of family business CEOs.

Using the 2019 Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Project (STEP) dataset, a comprehensive database of family business chief executive officers (CEOs), we examined the construct of EO, in whole and in its masculine elements. Stepwise multiple regression method was used to test the hypotheses of this study. Control variables entered the equation first, followed by the variable of interest for this study.

We find differences by gender when EO is tested as a whole construct. Further in testing its masculine dimensions, we find that being male is significant to the elements of autonomy and competitive aggressiveness and that gender is not significant to risk-taking.

Although research on the widespread and influential EO continues to proliferate (Covin and Wales, 2019), there is not an understanding of its applicability across genders (Fellnhofer et al., 2016). It is possible that EO may not explain how women do business. Our study contributes to the understanding of between-gender differences in EO, and our findings suggest that the masculine elements of EO vary by gender.

This study aims to explore how ephemeral content marketing enhances brand love and customer engagement, with a focus on the mediating role of brand authenticity, self-brand connection and advertising value.

This research was conducted using a quantitative method through an online questionnaire with a sample of 728 in Vietnam, analyzing data by using the partial least squares structural equation modeling model.

This study evaluates ephemeral content marketing through six dimensions: entertainment, trendiness, informativeness, interactivity, aesthetic quality and perceived relevance. The findings indicate positive mediating roles of advertising value, self-brand connection and brand authenticity on the impact of ephemeral content marketing on brand love and customer engagement.

This study provides a comprehensive model of factors affecting consumer perceptions of ephemeral content marketing, which can help businesses to proactively formulate strategic responses for consumers on social media platforms with ephemeral content features. This also allows them to precisely target their audience, avoiding ineffective and costly advertising efforts on social media when content quality is lacking.

This research sheds light on the six essential dimensions of effective ephemeral content that adds value to customers, ultimately leading to their love and active engagement. This substantial addition to the field of social media marketing opens up possibilities for further investigation of the dynamics across different forms of social media marketing, such as short-form videos or in various contexts such as tourism, fashion, food products and education, particularly in the context of ephemeral content in emerging markets such as Vietnam.

Cost and schedule overruns are rife in dam projects. Normative evidence espouses overruns as though they are inimical to development and prosperity aspirations of stakeholders. This study examines the causal relationship between project financing and overruns.

Causative data were extracted from completion reports of 28 major dam projects in Africa. Each of the projects was financed jointly by up to 10 international development lenders. Relationships between causes of overruns and project outcomes were analysed.

Analyses elicit indicators of remarkable correlations between finance procedures and project outcomes. Lenders’ disposition to risk attenuation was the main debacles to project success. Interests had mounted, whilst release of fund was erratic and ill-timed. Finance objectives and mechanisms were grossly inadequate for projects’ intense bifurcations. Projects had slowed or stalled because lenders’ risks attenuation processes were purposed to favour lenders’ objectives, and not projects’ interests. In addition, findings also show project owners’ own funds and the number of lenders to a single project correlate with overruns.

Findings imply commercial complexities around major projects. They also show transactions are shaped by subtle (mis)trust behaviours in project finance procedures. Thus, scholarly solutions to project performance issues should consider behavioural issues of stakeholding parties more broadly, beyond contractors and project owners. Project finance ecosystems are vulnerable to major actors’ self-interests, opportunism and predatory conducts. Borrowers would manage this by developing and improving their capacity to build resilience and trust. Evidence shows intense borrower nations in Africa have limited capacity and acuity for these.

This study contextualises megaprojects in complexity rather than cost. Its additionality is in how finance steers absolute control of project environment away from project owners and how finance administration triggers risks and overrun.

Construction industry faces challenges in making objective decisions due to monetary value attached to quality. Among various quality management techniques available, cost of quality (COQ) is one such method used to address the concern. However, the absence of measurable COQ factors to monitor quality costs hampers the implementation of COQ framework in the construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to identify COQ factors focused on visible factors (VF) and hidden factors (HF) and the current requirements to achieve it.

This study is based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses protocol guidelines. The present study identified 57 articles published between 1992 and 2023 in peer-reviewed journals.

The findings reveal 22 factors, which are grouped into four categories based on COQ. Through systematic review, the authors observed limited methodological and theoretical diversity. In fact, there are no quantitative frameworks to calculate COQ. The study, therefore, developed a framework comprising four major routes/paths of COQ factors within the framework.

The COQ routes developed through this study will enable the practitioners to meticulously categorise VF and HF, facilitating quantifying of quality throughout the lifecycle of project, which is currently absent from the existing quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) approach. In addition, these COQ routes stand as essential construction strategies, significantly enhancing outcomes related to time, cost, quality, sustainability and fostering closer relationships within project frameworks.

The current study contributes significantly to the existing body of knowledge by developing various COQ routes and proposing future research directions to address gaps in the literature.

Sports organizations have a strategic interest in utilizing video games as a means to generate commercial opportunities and increase participation in their respective sports. This study aims to investigate the specific features of sports video games (SVGs) that may significantly influence gamers’ desire to own virtual items, their Willingness to Pay (W2P) for these items and their participation in real-life soccer activities. The research also considers generational cohorts, and the amount of time gamers spend playing video games, offering a preliminary analysis of potential differences among various demographic groups and gamer types. Conducted in collaboration with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the practical implications of this research aim to provide FIFA and other sports organizations with a foundational basis for the selection and collaborative development of SVGs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to determine the impact of concrete SVG features on consumers’ Ownership, W2P and Participation. Hence, a new survey construct needed to be developed based on an extensive review of scales that have been used by researchers to assess gamers’ gratifications and motivations for playing video games. The new construct was tested and refined through exploratory factor analysis. This study subsequently uses structural equation modeling to explore the impact of various SVG features on Ownership, W2P and Participation.

The results of this study indicate that, from a commercial perspective, competition, collaboration and social interaction appeal to gamers and drive Ownership and W2P in SVGs. Additionally, discovery and exploration enhance the SVG experience further motivating gamers to spend on in-game content. Fantasy, Escape and Sport Context are critical determinants of soccer Participation, as they enable gamers to immerse themselves in a virtual environment that offers experiences unattainable in real life. These features can strengthen gamers’ identification with soccer, making real-life Participation more appealing. Competing, Socializing and Relationship features also boost Participation by fostering a feeling of community and social interaction, encouraging gamers to seek similar real-world experiences. The findings of this study indicate that a universal approach may be ineffective, as various target audiences are motivated to engage in commercial transactions or participate in soccer based on different SVG features. Consequently, it is essential for sports organizations to segment their target audience and strategically develop SVGs that cater to the distinct needs of each group.

Future research should aim to draw more representative samples by including a broader range of demographics, income levels and geographic locations. This would ensure that findings are generalizable across different segments of the population. The study also offers first insights into the preferences of different types of gamers according to their age group and time spent playing. However, additional research is needed to determine the preferences of additional types of gamers, for instance, by creating dedicated gamer marketing personas based on parameters like frequency of play, length of an individual gaming session, number of games owned, etc.

For sports organizations like FIFA, focusing on SVGs with multiplayer experiences, social features and competitive gameplay is crucial. Monetization strategies should capitalize on gamers’ desire to stand out and succeed in social and competitive contexts. With the additional focus on the discovery of rare items, sports organizations should integrate scarcity, exclusivity and discovery mechanics into their video games. The combination of social competition and the thrill of discovering rare items can drive higher engagement, loyalty and revenue. To inspire greater Participation in real-life soccer, sports organizations like FIFA should strategically select or develop video games that harness the power of immersion into a virtual sports environment by incorporating “Fantasy”, “Escape” and “Sport Context” features into SVGs. By creating immersive experiences that encourage gamers to connect with the sport on a deeper level, SVGs can effectively drive real-life soccer engagement.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time a study explores the concrete features of SVGs that may have a significant impact on gamers’ desire to own virtual items (Ownership), on consumers’ W2P for these items and on Participation in real-life soccer activities. Unlike previous research, which has predominantly concentrated on video games in general or specifically on the sports simulation game subcategory within SVGs, this study adopts a broader perspective by considering all types of sports-themed video games.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the prejudice and discrimination constructs through the lens of a transcendent knowledge concept.

The paper seeks to demonstrate that Spiritism or Spiritist Doctrine (SD) – regarded here as a source of transcendent knowledge – offers compelling arguments and provides suitable explanations (i.e. transcendent ontology) in relation to the issue of discrimination

Overall, this paper contributes to a better understanding of diversity and inclusive perspectives by examining the antecedents and consequences of discrimination through the insightful lens of SD tenets. In this sense, the findings suggest that the discriminators and prejudiced people may ironically pass through – as a result of the law of cause and effect – the same hard situations (i.e. ordeals or nightmares) – even though in their future lives – that they impose in their current victims to forcefully open their minds, support universal values, enhance their own feelings and spiritual intelligence.

Evidence presented here (although conceptually in nature) could be somewhat integrated into training sections of diversity management. At a minimum, it may encourage the shift of attitudes, revision of embedded values and reflections about the spiritual consequences to the perpetrators of discrimination against minorities.

Taken as a whole, the SD tenets prompt us to understand that the acts of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination engender suffering for their perpetrators, even in their future lives (i.e. reincarnations). Broadly speaking, the SD principles compel us to consider transcendent knowledge even in the context of organizational life.

Religion and spirituality (R/S) are recognized components of recovery-oriented mental health services. This study aims to present a clinically focused tool for assessing R/S interest among veterans with serious mental illness (SMI).

A questionnaire including 39 items was developed by experienced chaplains and mental health clinicians and administered to modest pilot sample of 110 participants in a recovery-oriented program at a medical center of the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Altogether 40 (37%) participants said they would like R/S issues to be a greater part of their treatment (i.e. very or extremely). A screening tool to identify veterans for referral to R/S focused interventions was developed based on the selection of the five items most strongly loading on the strongest factor in a factor analysis.

First, the identification of items for the survey was made on the basis of clinical experience with issues discussed by veterans in a VA recovery-oriented program and thus are based on clinician experience and their association with a stated desire for more R/S in their treatment. Since no gold-standard measure of “religion/spirituality” has been universally established and validated, this method, though imperfect, was accepted as practical and as having face validity. Furthermore, the sample size, while substantial, was limited and was not representative of the general population. Again, this was a pilot study of a unique effort to identify R/S issues of greatest relevance in a recovery program for people with SMI.

In this SMI sample, 36% of the participants said that they would like more R/S to be incorporated into their treatment. Factor analysis showed the desire for uplifting religious/spiritual community to be the predominant factor and formed the basis for a five-item screening tool that can be used to briefly identify services needs in this area of recovery.

This screening tool can help incorporate religious and spiritual issues into mental health treatment, and area of importance that is often neglected. The results could help destigmatize this area of recovery practice for people with SMI.

This R/S survey of SMI adults suggests that over one-third of the participants in a pilot sample in a recovery-oriented program would like more R/S emphasis in their treatment. Factor analysis showed the desire for uplifting religious/spiritual community to be the predominant factor.

We explore the intersection of Catholic social teaching (CST) and entrepreneurship studies which has seemingly evaded scholars’ attention.

We integrate and expand upon prior work to explicate an integrative framework for examining CST and entrepreneurship studies.

We articulate the mechanisms through which CST and entrepreneurship studies may extend our understanding of the economic paradigm of entrepreneurship studies.

We explicate the economic paradigm of entrepreneurship studies and present the key reasons for Catholicism’s and CST’s exclusion to demonstrate why this is unjustified. Beyond expounding what we mean by CST, we extend the economic paradigm by an application to show why the economic paradigm is flawed and call for more CST-focussed entrepreneurship studies.