Welcome to the fifth AIB Insights issue of 2026. This issue contains nine articles addressing a range of international business topics covering perennial themes, as well as more emerging issues related to newer types of phenomena. The issue starts with four articles related to international trade. These are then followed by one article each on managerial creativity and foreign entry decisions, leveraging country-of-origin image, and social networks and proactive resistance. The issue concludes with two articles related to international business in Africa. These themes all resonate heavily with AIB Insights readers and continue ongoing conversations within the journal. The common thread running through all nine articles is their focus on speaking to clearly targeted audiences, focusing on specific and practical issues and challenges they face, knowledge application and clearly operationalized actionable insights that address not just the “what” but also the “how”. The latter is a hallmark feature of any AIB Insights article. The articles are written by scholars across four continents and nine countries, including Austria, Brazil, China (including Hong Kong), Colombia, France, Germany, UAE, the United Kingdom, and the United States, which reflects the diversity of Academy of International Business (AIB) membership and influence.
International Trade
We start this issue with four articles related in various ways to international trade, with a strong emphasis among the articles regarding the impact of the current geopolitical environment, a frequent recent topic in AIB Insights. (See Ciravegna, Hartwell, Jandhyala, Tingbani, & Newburry, 2023, for the introduction to a special issue on geopolitics.)
First, Bala Ramaswamy (China Europe International Business School, China) and Matthew Yeung (Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong) authored “Who Bears the Burden of Trade Tariffs? An Analysis of Importer-Exporter Bargaining Power”. This article examines who bears the cost of tariffs in the context of current global trade. The authors develop a 2x2 framework to examine this issue that combines price competitiveness with supplier replaceability to demonstrate who bears tariff burdens based on four scenarios, along with potential managerial responses in each case. Ramaswamy and Yeung further examine the framework using evidence from the 30 significant US trading partners in the smartphone and electric vehicle industries, resulting in additional managerial recommendations.
Our second issue article, “RTAs and International Business: How the EU-Mercosur Agreement Reconfigures Inter-Regional FDI Strategies”, by Mohamed Amal (Universidade Regional de Blumenau, Brazil), Suelen Carls (Bournemouth University, UK) and Henrique Correa da Cunha (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada), examines how this strategic agreement potentially shapes trade flows and MNE behavior across both regions. The article overviews the institutional framework associated with the EU-Mercosur Agreement, and how key provisions are likely to influence firm-level investment decisions. Additionally, they demonstrate how investment from European and Mercosur firms, while interconnected, will likely focus on different goals. They conclude by highlighting strategies for firms and policy priorities stemming from the agreement.
Luis Miguel Bolivar (Universidad EAFIT, Colombia) authored our third article, “Resilience to Market Loss amid Trade Decoupling Shocks”, which examines how firms can succeed when key export markets are lost due to trade decoupling, using the case of the 2009 commercial decoupling between Colombia and Venezuela as a source of their analysis. Bolivar advises that firms can succeed in decoupling environments by progressing through phases of survival, adaptation and thriving, supported by organizational capabilities related to strategic foresight, market agility, network mobilization, and management commitment. He further develops a typology of four archetype strategic responses to decoupling events, including Exiting, Pivoting, Defending and Thriving Firms.
Next, Seyedhossein Khabiri and Hidehiro Ito (Florida International University, USA) authored, “In Praise of Inefficiency: Rethinking Global Strategy in a Multipolar World Order”. In this article, Khabiri and Ito examine the effects that a shift from a unipolar geopolitical system to a fragmented multipolar one have on efficiency-driven MNE global strategies. Realizing geopolitical disruptions place tremendous stress on optimized MNE value chains, the authors propose that factors related to inefficiency may now be a strategic asset for MNEs. Characteristics such as redundancy, geographic dispersion, and operational flexibility are identified by the authors as dimensions of strategic inefficiency that can enhance resilience in MNEs.
Managerial Creativity, Country of Origin and Social Networks
The issue then includes one article each on managerial creativity and foreign entry decisions, leveraging country-of-origin image, and social networks and proactive resistance.
Andreas Schotter (Western University, Canada) and Sílvio Luís de Vasconcellos (Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing, Brazil) authored “How Creativity Shapes International Entry Decisions: A Microfoundational View”. The authors first recognize that foreign entry mode decisions should not be solely made based on hard data. They instead advocate that managerial creativity can enhance entry decision processes by helping identify additional viable options. Schotter and de Vasconcellos then present a five-step process that uses individual creativity as a starting point that ultimately can lead to the identification of multiple viable entry options. The authors conclude by providing managerial guidance on how to effectively incorporate creativity into foreign market entry decisions.
Mariana Bassi-Suter (TBS Business School, France), Felipe Borini (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil), Surender Munjal (Aston University, UK) and Dinorá Eliete Floriani (Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Brazil) penned “Leveraging Country-of-Origin Image for Competitive Advantage: An Integrated Approach for Internationalized Firms”. The authors examine how firms can actively transform their country-of-origin image (COI) in host markets to become a source of competitive advantage. Bassi-Suter and colleagues develop an integrated framework that managers can use to transform COI into a strategic resource for the MNE. The framework includes three steps: understanding country self-image, aligning COI with their industry, and activating COI as a resource for the firm.
Next, Mohan Song (Central Michigan University, USA) authored “How Social Networks Help with Proactive Resilience: Evidence from Chinese Companies”. Building upon insights generated from interviews with two CEOs, a co-founder and a CFO from Chinese multinational firms that focus on bicycle, interior design, pharmaceutical equipment and brand management, Song identifies three types of organizational networks that assist firms in building resilience capabilities in turbulent environments. These include domestic regulatory, domestic industry, and global networks. Song then develops actionable recommendations for firms operating in increasingly turbulent environments to develop resilience to overcome challenges related to these three areas.
International Business in Africa
The final two articles within this issue build on our Africa-focused special issues from earlier this year (e.g., Dikova, Newburry, & Rose, 2026).
Philipp von Carlowitz and Simon Züfle (Reutlingen University, Germany) authored “From Constraint to Catalyst: Bridging Africa’s Skilled Labor Gap”. The authors note how a skilled labor shortage serves as a constraint on taking advantage of growth opportunities for MNEs in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Von Carlowitz and Züfle trace some of the reasons for talent shortages and mismatches of current skills with growth needs, noting how talent is a strategic resource. They address how MNEs can address skill gaps through a combination of internal talent development, partnership with external organizations, and leveraging local market-based solutions.
Our second article related to international business in Africa, “The Scaling of Social Innovations in Africa and Beyond”, is authored by Melodena Stephens (Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, UAE), Tanvi Kothari (San Jose State University, USA) and Sadaf Khurshid (University of Wollongong in Dubai, UAE). The authors note how social innovations aim to address social, environmental or community challenges, and prioritize social value. Because these innovations aim to manage both revenues and impact, scaling social innovations is inherently more complex than traditional goods and services. This is particularly the case in international contexts as MNEs balance geographic expansion with social impact. Stephens, Kothari and Khurshid examine two social innovations in Africa - M-PESA, a Kenya-based mobile payment service, and Kiva, a USA-based company operating in Africa. They find that the international networks of founders provide legitimacy, influence funding, and enhance social impact during social innovation scaling, while also developing a typology of scaling and suggesting actionable insights for social entrepreneurs.
We hope that you gain valuable and practical insights from this issue which can be used in classroom teaching, inform policy thinking and help catalyze impactful international business research that makes a difference beyond disciplinary boundaries and silos. Please look out for our forthcoming issue on International Business in South Asia, our annual awards issue featuring the finalists for the AIB Best Dissertation Award and interviews with the winners of the 2026 AIB Fellows Awards, and an issue on the 2026 AIB Annual Meeting Theme of Generational Shifts and International Business: Navigating Demographic Change in a Diverging World. As always, please continue to submit your applied international business research to the journal!