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The Penrose effect, or the limitation of the growth rate during expansion due to managerial constraints, has been examined in the context of business diversification, withdrawal and MNE’s foreign direct investment, primarily in the for-profit sector. However, insufficient attention has been paid to its impact on professional service firms, particularly in the context of their expansion through service exports. The main purpose of this study is to examine the Penrose effect in the internationalization of professional service firms through service exports.

This study focuses on large Japanese patent firms as traditional professional service firms and constructs panel data for 48 large patent firms over the observation period from 2002 to 2010 to test our hypotheses.

Our results demonstrate a negative relationship between degree of internationalization and international business growth, thus confirming the Penrose effect. Furthermore, we found that the degree of internationalization has a curvilinear relationship with international business growth and that institutional distance does not have a negatively moderating effect on the relationship between the degree of internationalization and international business growth.

This study made a theoretical contribution to Penrose's growth theory and previous studies on international management and professional service firms and international management by showing that the Penrose effect can be observed in the international expansion of professional service firms through service exports. Moreover, this study identifies the factors that modify the Penrose effect, thereby making a significant theoretical contribution.

This paper investigates how various emergent theoretical perspectives in entrepreneurship research, representing diverse decision-making logics, influence firm growth and evolution. It explores the interaction among decision-making logics, including experimentation, affordable loss, flexibility and pre-commitment as components of effectuation, alongside causation and bricolage and their synergistic effects on firm growth.

This study uses a multi-phase, discovery-oriented approach. Initially, insights from existing literature on decision-making logic were combined with in-depth interviews with 10 Iranian entrepreneurs within the food sector. This phase used alternative template research to evaluate the principles of effectuation, causation and bricolage within case study data depicting firm growth. Subsequently, a self-administered survey was developed based on these insights and distributed to 205 entrepreneurs in Iran. The survey data was analysed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify key factors and pathways influencing firm growth.

Using a discovery-oriented approach, this study formulates a comprehensive framework detailing decision-making logics that influence firm growth. Through fsQCA, 12 distinct paths are identified, highlighting the complex interplay of causation, effectuation and bricolage in high-growth firms within the food sector.

This study has limitations. FsQCA identifies only logically sufficient combinations, suggesting potential for exploring alternative pathways in future research. Given COVID-19’s impact on the food sector, examining decision-making logic across diverse contexts and industries is advisable. Additionally, exploring how bricolage, causation and effectuation affect outcomes like new product development and innovation is essential in a growth-focused context. It is also important to consider environmental and organizational factors influencing growth.

This paper pioneers the examination of emerging theoretical paradigms in entrepreneurship and their impact on firm growth. It identifies critical configurations of causation, effectuation and bricolage, providing actionable insights for navigating dynamic business environments.

The study provides an understanding of strategic planning through an assessment of its definitions, the planning process, and spells-out the outcomes as well as the associated competitive advantage from practicing strategic planning. Despite the popularity of strategic planning as a management tool, it is argued that its practice is one that is least understood.

A review of strategic planning was conducted. The definitions identified were drawn from definitions derived from the top 10 publications with the highest citations from each of the two decades between 2001 to 2020 following a systematic Scopus search of publications with “strategic planning” in their title, and other publications identified through a Google Scholar search on “strategic planning”. The most unique or differentiated definitions were identified and assessed. The identified publications were also analyzed using content analysis to gain insight from their research findings as it relates to strategic planning in general, the planning process and respective competitive advantage.

The review established that there are various definitions of strategic planning, however, they are largely aligned as it relates to the formulation of strategy, the widest difference in the definitions is in the scope of the implementation activities.

The review contributes to the body of knowledge by providing (i) an understanding of strategic planning; (ii) an assessment of the definitions of strategic planning; (iii) a proposed definition of strategic planning; (iv) provision of a theoretical framework to understand the practice of strategic planning; and (v) the positioning of strategic risk management in enabling strategic planning.