Welcome to the second AIB Insights issue of 2025. We have recently added two additional members to our Editorial Team: Desislava Dikova (WU Vienna, Austria, & Kozminski University, Poland) as a second Deputy Editor, and Matevz (Matt) Raskovic (Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand) as Reviewing Editor. We continue our efforts with the journal, working closely with our excellent Managing Editor, Anne Hoekman.
As we enter another year of publication, we are pleased to report on the journal’s progress. Towards the end of 2024, we passed the four-year mark, both as a peer reviewed journal and in using the Scholastica publishing system. As a result of these substantial changes, and others, we continue to see growth in the impact of AIB Insights. Statistics from the Scholastica portal for calendar years 2021 through 2024, shown in Table 1, demonstrate a continued upward trend in various metrics of this peer-reviewed journal.
As seen in Figure 2, which is based on information from the Dimensions database[1], the annual citations of AIB Insights articles have increased substantially since 2021. (The value for 2025 is projected based on citations to date.) Each AIB Insights article published in 2022 has received, on average, 6.73 citations by other articles in the database; this is a high mark for the journal. The mean number of citations for 2023 articles, to date, is 3.22. These statistics demonstrate an important academic impact, in addition to our primary applied mission. We will continue to monitor these statistics and others over time.
2024 and Future Publications
For the second year, AIB Insights published five issues in 2024, moving toward our goal of gradually expanding to six issues per year; we will achieve this goal in 2025. We published two special issues last year. The first was on the 2024 AIB Conference theme of “Dynamics of International Business” (see Newburry & E. Rose, 2024 for a summary). In addition to an editorial by AIB 2024 Conference Chair, Catherine Welch, the issue contains articles on data and artificial intelligence regulations and their impact on international business, advancing international business research through necessary component analysis, strategies for multinationals to navigate social movements, and our first perspectives article addressing how academics can reduce their carbon imprint by redesigning our conference structure to reduce flying.
The second special issue was on “Mental Models and Cognitive Frames in International Business”, overseen by Guest Editor Sokol Celo working with William Newburry (see Celo & Newburry, 2024). The four articles in this special issue of AIB Insights provide guidance to MNEs regarding how mental models and cognitive frames influence decision-making in IB. They address topics such as how external peers shape headquarters attention to subsidiaries, intergroup biases in assessing political risk, how managerial biases affect foreign market entry decisions, and adapting mental models for unfamiliar environments.
In addition to the two special issues, for the second year, we supplemented our annual issue featuring the finalists for the Peter J. Buckley and Mark Casson AIB Dissertation Award to include interviews with the recipients of the 2024 AIB Fellows International Educator of the Year, John Fayerweather Eminent Scholar, and International Executive of the Year awards. The issue provides insights into the international business field by some of our most promising new scholars alongside overviews of three highly distinguished careers; see Newburry & E. L. Rose, 2024.
Looking to the remainder of 2025, we have three special issues currently in the works: one in cooperation with the AIB Emerging Markets Special Interest Group (SIG) on “How Really Unique are Emerging Markets and their Firms?”, one on “International Business in Africa”, and one associated with the 2025 AIB Conference Theme of “Making International Business Scholarship Matter”. These are in addition to our February 2025 special issue developed with Guest Editors Margaret Fletcher and Cyntia Calixto of the AIB Teaching and Education SIG, featuring papers authored by the finalists for the SIG’s Best Innovation in Teaching Award. (See Fletcher & Calixto, 2025 for a summary.) These issues, in addition to our “regular” ones, should ensure great content in the upcoming year and beyond.
Outreach Efforts
Throughout the year, we have also worked hard to reach out to promising authors to aid in their efforts to develop submissions that match the expectations of an applied journal. In addition to our annual Paper Development Workshop (PDW) at the AIB conference, we continue to promote the journal in various forms (paper development workshops, stand-alone presentations, editors’ panels) at other conferences. Of note, in May 2024, we conducted our first stand-alone PDW, which was held in Nairobi, Kenya, in conjunction with Strathmore Business School. Most recently, we held a PDW and participated in an Editors Panel and other sessions at the Indian Academy of Management (INDAM) conference in January 2025 in Kolkata. Our PDWs around the globe have been well-received and have also developed into a promising route to develop initial submissions to the journal, with several papers originally presented in workshops having already been published in AIB Insights.
Articles in this Issue
Proceeding to introduce the articles in this issue, the first three address issues related to geopolitics, an area of continuing importance since it was addressed in a 2023 AIB Insights special issue (see Ciravegna, Hartwell, Jandhyala, Tingbani, & Newburry, 2023). The first article is by Beat Habegger (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Switzerland) and is titled, “Applying Materiality Assessments to the Management of Geopolitical Risks”. Habegger notes how companies have developed advanced capabilities to systematically analyze their geopolitical environments, with the goal of mitigating sustainability risks at an early stage, and proposes utilizing sustainability materiality assessments to assist in managing these geopolitical risks.
The second article with a geopolitics-related theme is by Anlan Zhang (Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong SAR). In this article, “MNEs’ Media Strategies Under Geopolitical Tensions”, Zhang identifies four geopolitical dynamics in media coverage of MNEs based on relationships among the MNE subsidiary, the subsidiary’s headquarter, and the host and home countries. The article develops a framework that advises on media strategies to address these four tensions, based on strategic alignment with nationalistic narratives, global media engagement and agility, and contextual adaptation to geopolitical sentiments.
The third article examines the effects of geopolitical issues on individuals. Marina Iskhakova (Australian National University, Australia) and Anna Earl (University of Canterbury, New Zealand) authored the perspective piece entitled “Dealing with the Stigma: The Case of Russian Academics Abroad Affected by War”.[2] Iskhakova and Earl use Russian academics as a case study to examine coping strategies that displaced employees and expatriates can utilize to deal with national stigma. They provide a typology of coping strategies: confronting stigma, consolidating stigma, circumventing stigma, and self-isolation for MNCs, displaced employees, and expatriates to use in managing the stigmatization process.
Aureliu Sindila (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR) authors our issue’s fourth article, “When Cross-Border M&As Face Repugnance: Strategies for Overcoming Societal Resistance”. This article outlines four strategies that multinational enterprise (MNE) leaders can utilize to deal with societal resistance when pursuing cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As). These strategies include precise stakeholder mapping, proactive stakeholder engagement, strategic transparency, and socially responsible mechanisms. The article aims to equip MNE leaders with a structured framework to navigate resistance and achieve long-term success in cross-border M&As.
Our fifth article is “Regional Logistics Capability and Foreign Direct Investment Location Choice of Multinational Corporations” by Qing Lu (Rabat Business School, International University of Rabat, Morocco), Jie Wu (University of Aberdeen, Scotland) and Zaheer Khan (University of Aberdeen, Scotland). The authors develop a new index to assess the logistics capability of countries or within-country regions, which can be used by managers as a tool in location-related decision-making. The index incorporates four pillars: import-export procedures, physical and information communication infrastructure, logistics services, and the regulatory and operating environment.
Komal Kalra (Newcastle University, UK), Magdalena Viktora-Jones (University of Southern Indiana, USA) and Tomke J. Augustin (University of Manitoba, Canada) author our issue’s final article: “The Accent Ceiling: Intersections of Non-Native Accents and Gender in Leadership Experiences of Women”. The authors examine leadership issues faced by women with non-native accents, related to perceptions regarding their knowledge and the skills needed for promotion. The authors provide actionable recommendations under the categories of promoting accent inclusivity through training and awareness programs, developing inclusive communication standards and practices, and implementing policies to support diversity and inclusion in leadership.
We hope that you gain valuable and practical insights from this issue. Please continue to submit your applied international business research to the journal!
Perspectives articles are subject to the same double-blind review process as our regular articles, with a similar emphasis on actionable insights.