Dear Participant of the Doctoral Tutorial at the 15th Vaasa Conference onInternational Business

I want to wish you a warm welcome to the Doctoral Tutorial at the 15th Vaasa Conference onInternational Business at the University of Vaasa. The tutorial is jointly organised by the Schoolof Marketing and Communication of the University of Vaasa and the KATAJA Doctoral ProgramFinnish Graduate School of International Business (FIGSIB).

The day includes 21 presentations by doctoral students from several different countries, all tacklingissues related to the challenges of doing business on an international level. We are also delightedto have distinguished guests joining the tutorial and in the closing session we have the opportunityto hear comments from all professors involved in the conference board along myself, related to theproblems and recommendations concerning planning and writing dissertations.

The papers by the doctoral students will be evaluated by 24 professors and senior researchers fromdifferent universities. On behalf of the organisation committee, I want to warmly thank all thediscussants. Furthermore, I want to offer thanks to all the foundations and institutions which havesupported the tutorial, as listed on the back cover.

I hope that we will have an interesting and fruitful tutorial and that you enjoy your stay in Vaasa.

Vaasa, August 19th, 2019.

Jorma Larimo

Professor, Conference Chair and Head of Organising Committee

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Doctoral Students at the Doctoral Tutorial on August 19, 2019

Arshed Iqbal University of Vaasa, FinlandMia Leppälä Aalto University, FinlandRoman Filenko University of Vaasa, FinlandRiku Reunamäki Aalto University, FinlandFeroj Mahmood University of Vaasa, FinlandJaakko Metsola Lappeenranta Technical University, FinlandMaria Uzhegova Lappeenranta Technical University, FinlandSatu Korhonen Lappeenranta Technical University, FinlandFelix Roedder ESCP Europe, Berlin, GermanyHilla Polvinen Aalto University, FinlandHa Nguyen University of Vaasa, FinlandPriit Tinits Aalto University, FinlandSamuel Kusi University of Vaasa, FinlandValeria Nyu Nord University, NorwayXiaoshi Xu Aalto University, FinlandValentina Arrieta Aalto University, FinlandDaniela Majdenic University of Turku, FinlandMichaela Wrede HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, GermanyFang Fang Li University of Vaasa, FinlandJackson Musona Lappeenranta Technical University, FinlandOlga Burukina University of Vaasa, Finland

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Discussants at the Doctoral Tutorial on August 19, 2019

Alon, Ilan University of Agder, NorwayArslan, Ahmad University of Oulu, FinlandGalkina, Tamara University of Vaasa, FinlandGhauri, Pervez University of Birmingham, the United KingdomHaapanen, Lauri University of Oulu, FinlandHennart, Jean-Franҫois Tilburg University, the NetherlandsKontkanen, Minnie University of Vaasa, FinlandKuivalainen, Olli Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland

University of Manchester, the United KingdomLeonidou, Leonidas University of CyprusMacdonald, Stuart Leicester University, the United KingdomMainela, Tuija University of Oulu, FinlandMarinov, Marin Aalborg University, DenmarkMarinova, Svetla Trifonova Aalborg University, DenmarkNummela, Niina Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, FinlandPaavilainen-Mäntymäki, Eriikka Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, FinlandPiekkari, Rebecca Aalto University, FinlandSchmid, Stefan ESCP Europe, Berlin, Germany

Schuh, Arnold Vienna University of Economics and BusinessAdministration, Austria

Suutari, Vesa University of Vaasa, FinlandStrange, Roger University of Sussex, the United KingdomTorkkeli, Lasse Lappeenranta University of Technology, FinlandVissak, Tiia University of Tartu, EstoniaZucchella, Antonella University of Pavia, Italy

Chair of the Doctoral Tutorial

Larimo, Jorma University of Vaasa, Finland

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Tutorial VenueThe doctoral tutorial is held at the University of Vaasa. The opening and closing sessions of thetutorial are both in Auditorium Kurtén C203 in Tervahovi building (second floor). The parallelsessions are held in seminar rooms D102, D103, D115 and D218 in Tervahovi building.

Registration and Information DeskThe registration and information desk can be found in Tervahovi D-block, 1st floor. If you need tocontact the information desk by phone, the number is: +358 (0) 29 449 8182

Bus ServiceThe conference bus service operates from Sokos Hotel Royal Vaasa at 8:10 am via Hotel Tekla tothe tutorial venue. The bus service operates again at 16:20 from Tervahovi building to Sokos HotelRoyal via the Hotel Tekla.

Coffee and LunchCoffee is served on the first floor, close to the information desk

Lunch is served in Mathilda Restaurant (first floor)

Other informationNetwork Connection: eduroam

Taxi Vaasa: 060 100 411/ 020 220 2022

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VAASA IB CONFERENCEDOCTORAL TUTORIAL TOGETHER WITH FIGSIB ON AUGUST 19th, 2019

TUTORIAL PROGRAMME

Bus from Sokos Royal Vaasa 8.10 via Tekla (8.20) to the University

8.30 Registration, Tervahovi building outside Auditorium Kurten, C 203

9.00 Opening of the tutorial day Jorma Larimo, University of Vaasa, Auditorium Kurten C 203

9.40-11.10 Parallel sessionsPlace Tervahovi building, rooms D102, D103 and D115

Session 1 D115

Author: Arshed Iqbal, University of Vaasa, Finland

Title: Determinants and impacts of divestment mode choices on value creation of parent firms:

An empirical examination of Nordic firms wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Discussants: Antonella Zucchella, University of Pavia, Italy and Leonidas Leonidou, Universityof Cyprus, Cyprus

Author: Mia Leppälä, Aalto University, Finland

Title: Boundary Breaking Interaction on Enterprise Social Media: Basis for Knowledge Brokeringwith AI Bots

Discussants: Arnold Schuh, WU Wien, Austria and Minnie Kontkanen, University of Vaasa,Finland

Session 2 D102

Author: Roman Filenko, University of Vaasa, Finland

Title: Determinants of International Joint Venture Termination Mode Choice and Parent Firms’Value Creation.

Discussants: Jean-Francois Hennart, University of Tilburg, the Netherlands and Ahmed Arslan,University of Oulu, Finland

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Author: Riku Reunamäki, Aalto University, Finland

Title: Engaging and empowering management practices of Finnish companies in China

Discussants: Ilan Alon, University of Agder, Norway and Marin Marinov, Aalborg University,Denmark

Session 3 D103

Author: Feroj Mahmood, University of Vaasa, Finland

Title: Internationalization and Social Entrepreneurship of International Firms: Empiricalinvestigation of firms originating from Finland and Bangladesh.

Discussants: Olli Kuivalainen, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland and TuijaMainela, University of Oulu Business School, Finland

Author: Jaakko Metsola, Lappeenranta Technical University, Finland

Title: Socioemotional Wealth and the International Networking of Family-Controlled SMEs

Discussants: Tiia Vissak, Tartu University, Estonia and Lasse Torkkeli, Lappeenranta Universityof Technology, Finland.

11.10-11.30 Coffee break

11.30-13.00 Parallel sessions

Place Tervahovi building, rooms D102, D103, D115 and D218

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Session 4 D115

Author: Maria Uzhegova, Lappeenranta Technical University, Finland

Title: Business Responsibility and the Internationalization of Finnish SMEs

Discussants: Antonella Zucchella, University of Pavia, Italy and Tamara Galkina, University ofVaasa, Finland.

Author: Satu Korhonen, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland

Title: The ‘I’ in International Entrepreneurship: a narrative inquiry

Discussants: Tiia Vissak, University of Tartu, Estonia and Niina Nummela, University ofTurku/Turku School of Economics, Finland.

Session 5 D102

Author: Felix Roedder, ESCP Europe, Berlin, Germany

Title: Foreign ownership and the internationalization of Japanese corporate boards

Discussants: Rebecca Piekkari, Aalto University, Finland and Vesa Suutari, University of Vaasa,Finland.

Author: Hilla Polvinen, Aalto University, Finland

Title: Foreigner exclusion in social interactions - Language-based exclusion of foreign employeesand students

Discussants: Stefan Schmid, ESCP EUROPE, Berlin, Germany and Svetla Marinova, AalborgUniversity, Denmark.

Session 6 D103

Author: Ha Nguyen, University of Vaasa, Finland

Title: Foreign divestment decision: effects of cross-national differences and top management teamcharacteristics

Discussants: Jean-Francois Hennart, Tilburg University, the Netherlands and Roger Strange,University of Sussex, the United Kingdom.

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Author: Priit Tinits, Aalto University, Finland

Title: SME Internationalization and the Role of Governmental Assistance in Manufacturing andService Industries

Discussants: Marin Marinov, Aalborg University, Denmark and Lauri Haapanen, University ofOulu, Finland.

Session 7 D218

Author: Samuel Kusi, University of Vaasa, Finland

Title: Decision-making Logic and Digitalization in Branding Strategies of Small-MediumEnterprises: The Role of Contingency Factors and Performance Consequences

Discussants: Lasse Torkkeli, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland.

Author: Valeria Nyu, Nord University, Norway

Title: Export distribution strategy and export performance

Discussants: Eriikka Paavilainen-Mäntymäki, University of Turku/Turku School of Economics,Finland and Tuija Mainela, Oulu University Business School, Finland.

13.00-13.45 Lunch at Mathilda Restaurant, Tervahovi building, first floor

13.45-15.15 Parallel sessions

Place Tervahovi building, rooms D102, D103, D115 and D218

Session 8 D115

Author: Xiaoshi Xu, Aalto University, Finland

Title: What Management Practices Facilitate Innovation?

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Discussants: Stefan Schmid, ESCP Europe, Berlin, Germany and Ilan Alon, University of Agder,Norway

Author: Valentina Arrieta, Aalto University, Finland

Title: How Self-Management and Decentralization Facilitate Firm Innovativeness? Evidence fromFinland and Russia

Discussants: Svetla Marinova, Aalborg University, Denmark and Tamara Galkina, University ofVaasa, Finland.

Session 9 D102

Author: Daniela Majdenic, University of Turku/Turku School of Economics, Finland

Title: Learning in Global Virtual Teams

Discussants: Roger Strange, University of Sussex, the United Kingdom and Vesa Suutari,University of Vaasa, Finland.

Author: Michaela Wrede, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Germany

Title: Top Management Internationalization, Strategic Risk-taking and the Moderating Effects ofCompensation and Diversity

Discussants: Rebecca Piekkari, Aalto University, Finland and Stuart Macdonald, LeicesterUniversity, the United Kingdom

Session 10 D103

Author: Fang Fang Li, University of Vaasa, Finland

Title: Social media marketing strategies: resource, capabilities, and performance

Discussants: Arnold Schuh, WU Wien, Austria and Olli Kuivalainen, Lappeenranta TechnicalUniversity, Finland.

Author: Jackson Musona, Lappeenranta Technical University, Finland

Title: Understanding sustainable business models under resource constraints and institutionalcomplexity.

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Discussants: Niina Nummela, University of Turku/Turku School of Economics, Finland andLeonidas Leonidou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus.

Session 11 D218

Author: Olga Burukina, University of Vaasa, Finland

Title: Effective strategies of organizational communication development in the digitalizationpolicies of Finnish and Russian universities

Discussants: Stuart Macdonald, Leicester University, the United Kingdom and MinnieKontkanen, University of Vaasa, Finland.

15.00-15.30 Coffee break

15.30 Closing session: chair Jorma Larimo

16.20 Bus via Tekla to Sokos Royal Vaasa

18.10 Bus to the city reception from Tekla and Sokos Royal Vaasa

18.30 CITY RECEPTION

PLACE: KUNTSI MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, Inner harbour

Host: Susanna Slotte-Kock, Director of Development, City of Vaasa

Bus from the city reception 20.10 back to the hotels

Maps and Directions

ARRIVING TO THE CONFERENCE SITE

Buses arrive and leave at entrance of Tervahovi Building

· Doctoral Tutorial Registration August 19th Monday is at Tervahovi, Firstfloor, section D (opposite Room D102)· Conference Registration August 20th Tuesday is outside Nissi Auditorium, Tritonia Building

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TUTORIAL ABSTRACTS

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Session 1Determinants and impacts of divestment mode choices on value creation of parent firms:

An empirical examination of Nordic firms wholly-owned subsidiaries.Arshed Iqbal, University of Vaasa, Finland

Corporate alliances and shifting the focus through divestment or disinvestments is one of theimportant strategic options for the firms (Bowman & Singh 1993; Harrigan 1981). Some of theresearchers have studied the determinants that lead parent firms to international divestment(Dhanaraj & Beamish 2009; Kronborg & Thomsen 2009; Mudambi & Zahra 2007). However,none of these studies explain the relationship between determinants and foreign divestment modechoice that how these determinants explain and influence the divestment mode choice of foreignventures. Moreover, despite the availability of some literature on divestment strategies of firms(Brauer 2006), there is still no consensus on how divestment impacts firm performance (i.e. valuecreation) (Lee & Madhavan 2010). This study will contribute to the existing literature in two ways.First, it advances the research by finding out the role of various factors or determinants that leadparent firms to adopt a certain foreign divestment mode as a strategic option in the perspective ofwholly owned subsidiaries of Nordic firms. Second, the study further investigates theconsequences of foreign divestment mode choice of a wholly owned subsidiary on value creationof parent firm.Research Questions: What factors explain the choice of divestment mode in wholly ownedsubsidiaries and how these divestment choices (i.e. partial sell-off, complete sell-off or closure)impact the firm’s value creation. The main research question is further divided into following sub-questions: 1)To study the factors at the four different levels (host country, parent country, industryand organization) that explain the choice of divestment mode in wholly owned subsidiaries? 2) Tostudy the impact of divestment mode choice on firm’s value creation in the context of whollyowned subsidiary. 3) How subsidiary establishment mode (greenfield vs acquisition) explains theimpact of divestment mode choice on firm’s value creation? 4) To empirically investigate thefactors that explain the choice of divestment mode and how these divestment choices impact theNordic firm’s value creation? This study examines this phenomenon through the lens ofinternational business by using Boddewyn’s (1983) foreign divestment theory.Research Methodology: This study will use mixed research methodology in which the interviewsand survey will be carried out to investigate the determinants or factors explaining and influencingthe foreign divestment mode choice. Whereas, quantitative research methodology will be used toanalyse the secondary data to investigate the impact of FD mode choices at a parent firm’s stockprice (value creation). Semi structured interviews will be conducted in the first phase of qualitativeresearch approach whereas, quantitative phase includes mainly questionnaire surveys andsecondary data obtained from existing databases of the companies and related financialinstitutions. Multinomial regression analysis will be used to analyse the determinants of divestmentmode choice, and event study methodology will be used to analyse and investigate the impact ofdivestment mode choice on firm stock market prices. Based on the time period of divestmentannouncement and stock market reaction, it would be determined whether divestments in-case ofwholly owned subsidiaries create value for parent Nordic firms or not. The focus will be on listedcompanies in Nordic region during 1985-2019. In order to understand the impact of divestment onvalue creation, trading data for the 60 days before and 30 trading days after the divestmentannouncement will be examined.

Keywords: Divestment, Divestiture, Subsidiary, Value creation, determinants

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Session 1Boundary Breaking Interaction in Enterprise Social Media:

Basis for Knowledge Brokering with AI BotsMia Leppälä, Aalto University, Finland

Globalization and knowledge intensiveness of today’s organizations challenge organizationalcommunication. As organizations increasingly operate in knowledge intensive areas, knowledgehas become one of the most important factors of organizations ́success and knowledge sharingobtains more attention. Knowledge sharing and knowledge brokering are the key approaches thatenable looking at knowledge management as a process to share and create knowledge. Knowledgebrokering is a process where knowledge is shared and organizational learning occurs. The everincreasing challenges in organizational communication due to open and exploding informationflows forces both research and practice to find out more effective and simple tools and practicesto share and use knowledge in organizations. Knowledge brokering can be seen as one of theoptions to tackle this complex environment. Considering the continuous development ofcommunication systems in organizations this study aims to add understanding of the possibilitiesto utilize knowledge brokering in organizational communication and learn about the possibilitiesto automate some of the main communicative actions in knowledge brokering. Computer-mediatedsystems, as social media, enable a new way of working in geographically and organizationallydispersed settings. As a communication channel social media is not only connecting more people,but it is shifting the conversations from private to public. When social media is used for enterpriseinternal conversations this means conversations among the employees. Thus, social media ismaking interaction open to everyone in the organization and helps employees notice who knowswhom and what. Employee interaction via social media also provides a possibility for moreindividuals to involve in knowledge sharing. The aim of this study is to explore employeeconversations and knowledge sharing in enterprise social media platform in a multinationalcompany (MNC) to find out possibilities for communication automation. Knowledge brokerscombine knowledge from different departments, enable collaboration between employees whowould otherwise not work together and see the broader value of collaboration. They seem to actas builders of relationships as they create knowledge by establishing new concepts and by findingsolutions to problems. This study focuses on the role of knowledge brokers in the conversationsamong employees and aims to demonstrate how knowledge brokers can be identified through theirconversations and finally propose how human to human interaction may be utilized as basis formachine-learning and building automation, such as knowledge brokering with AI Bots.

Keywords: Knowledge broker, internal communication, enterprise social media, knowledgesharing, virtual work

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Session 2Determinants of termination mode choice in International Joint Ventures and firms

performanceRoman Filenko, University of Vaasa, Finland

The process of globalization has increased in previous decades. The increase was motivated by thenumber of advantages, for example, equal increase in benefits for both rich and poor regions of acountry (Samuelson 2004), raise of the amount of eco-friendly resources (Osland 2003), andimprove the infrastructure level in various areas (Siddiqui 2012) etc. These aspects and constantlygrowing competition level increase the necessity of internalization of firms (Madhok 1996). Oneof the most important actions during the process of internationalization is the choice of entry mode.The great amount of researchers has previously been focused on penetration modes and theimportance of it (e.g. Root 1987; Welch, Benito & Petersen 2007; Morschett, Schramm-Klein &Swododa 2010). International Joint Ventures (IJV) is the one of the most internationalized entrymode that includes the cooperation between two or more firms from different countries(Luostarinen & Welch 1990). Among the adventages of the mode, special attention has been paidto shared risks and resources (Gomes-Casseres 1987), achieving economies of scope and scale(Dussauge, Garrette & Mitchell 2000), geographical presence expand (Parameswar & Dhir 2018),acquisition of new skills (Makino, Chan, Isobe & Beamish 2007) and overcoming legal restrictions(Puck, Holtbrügge & Mohr 2009; Morschett, Schramm-Klein & Swoboda 2010). However, highrates of internationalization also leads to great difficulty in managing of IJVs and as a result tohigh failure rate (Webster 1989; Reuer & Miller 1997). Various researchers report IJVstermination rates between 30% and 60% (Auster 1986; Hennart, Kim & Zeng 1998; Cui & Kumar2012). Therefore, the great number of companies needs to resort to termination mode. Since thereare a large number of factors influencing the methods of completion of IJV, this study will beaimed at determining the majority of these factors and their influence on the choice of a certaintermination method. Additionally, this study aims to investigate parent firm performance after IJVtermination.

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Session 2Engaging and empowering management practices of Finnish companies in China

Riku Reunamäki, Aalto University FinlandInstead of technology, human capital is increasingly becoming the key source of competitiveadvantage for firms. As such, it is extremely important that firms make full use of the employeesthey have. There is a growing body of evidence that employee engagement and employeeempowerment drive employees to make their maximum possible contribution to their firms.However, there remains a need to explore if cultural differences between countries result indifferent factors being needed to facilitate employee engagement and empowerment in differentcountries, especially when comparing Western countries and non-Western countries. My doctoraldissertation seeks to help in filling this gap by exploring and comparing which factors facilitateemployee engagement and empowerment in Finland and China. Reflecting if the same factors willbest facilitate employee engagement and employee empowerment in traditionally hierarchicalChina and traditionally flat and empowered Finland provides a fruitful research setting. I try tofind answers to the following questions: 1) Which engaging and empowering managementpractices of Finnish MNCs work best in their Chinese subsidiaries? and 2) How do Finnish MNCsimplement their engaging and empowering management practices in the Chinese cultural context,which is characterized by high power distance? My intended key contributions are to the literatureon employee engagement and empowerment as well as to the literature on cross-culturalmanagement.

Keywords: Employee engagement, employee empowerment, cross-cultural management, China

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Session 3Internationalization and Social Entrepreneurship of International Firms: Empirical

investigation of firms originating from Finland and BangladeshS M Feroj Mahmood, University of Vaasa, Finland

Vigorous internationalization of social enterprises can have numerous scope to contribute in thedifferent juvenile areas of the individual and society such as access to education, job creation,supply and recognition of business opportunities, social capital and self-efficacy, personalinitiative, leadership building, and financial freedom. This research plans to make a cooperativesynergy between the model of internationalization and international social entrepreneurship in theinternational market. In addition, this research will suggest the future research will follow thenotion of exploring the consequences of existing assumption. Similarly, this study aims to analyzethe effects of innovation on internationalization, and confirm that entrepreneurs who choose toinnovate are more likely to internationalize their activity. In addition, the purpose of this study isto understand the different cultural contexts that influence entrepreneurs on the new opportunitiesfor internationalizing social entrepreneurship in the international market. This doctoral dissertationis a collection of four articles. This research will adopt mixed method research approach. Thisresearch will be accomplished the research objectives through four research articles, covering theessential and main body of the final dissertation. Firstly, Article 1 is a conceptual study based onreviewing the literature at the edge of internationalization of social entrepreneurship andinternational new venture/firms to identify the scholarly thoughts and suggest the future directionon internationalization of social entrepreneurship. Secondly, Article 2 will use the quantitativemethods and survey research design to examine the opportunities of new venture for sustainableinternational market and comparison between the countries. Sequentially, Article 3 will adopt thequalitative method and a case-study research design to formulate a new entry model to enter intothe international market and this study will analyze the Weerawardena and Mort’s (2006) boundedmultidimensional model of social entrepreneurship and the Bhave’s (1994) process model ofentrepreneurial venture creation. Finally, Article 4 will employ the qualitative methods and case-study research design to analyze the orientation of the entrepreneurs into the international marketfor the sustainable international ventures. Finally, this research will open a new horizon of theinternational market to show the path of internationalization in the context of socialentrepreneurship around the world.

Keywords: Internationalization, social entrepreneurship, international market, international firmsand empirical study.

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Session 3Socioemotional Wealth and the International Networking of Family-Controlled SMEs

Jaakko Metsola, Lappeenranta Technical University, FinlandFamily firms (FFs) possess some distinctive features, being passed from generation to generation, offeringconstant triggers for change via changes in the family (births, deaths, illnesses, conflicts), business (changesin markets, technology, competitive situation, institutions) and ownership (changes in ownership, rangingfrom founders to siblings, cousins, etc.) (Gersick et al., 1997). From theoretical standpoint, thedistinctiveness from other types of ownership structures has been argued through agency theory (Karra etal., 2006), the concept of stewardship (Le Breton-Miller and Miller, 2009), a resource-based view(Chrisman et al., 2005), and the socioemotional wealth (SEW) perspective (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2011),among others. These perspectives have also provided evidence on the particular nature and extent of FFinternationalization (Fernandez and Nieto, 2005; Graves and Thomas, 2006; Kontinen and Ojala, 2010;Sciascia et al., 2012).However, the SEW perspective has only recently been applied to the research on FF internationalization,and there has been no consensus on the connection between SEW and internationalization among FFs(Kampouri et al., 2017; Pukall and Calabro, 2014). Yet, SEW, which refers to the tendency of FFs topreserve noneconomic (affective) endowments at the expense of economic goals (Gomez-Mejia et al.,2011), has been argued as crucial for FFs in their strategic decision-making (Berrone et al., 2012; Gomez-Mejia et al., 2007). Hence, it could also pose a dilemma for FFs in their internationalization, a strategicdecision, involving economic versus noneconomic trade-offs (Fang et al., 2018; Gomez-Mejia et al., 2010).Since SEW dimensions (such as maintenance of family control, emotional attachment to the FF, andrenewal of family bonds through dynastic succession) are strongly present when family owners makestrategic decisions (Berrone et al., 2012), and since internationalization is indeed a strategic decision, itcould be claimed that an SEW perspective can shed light on FF internationalization overall. In addition tothe lack of an SEW perspective, there have been only a few attempts to adopt a network perspective in FFinternationalization research (Kampouri et al., 2017; Kontinen and Ojala, 2010; Pukall and Calabro, 2014).Kampouri et al. (2017) as well as Kontinen and Ojala (2010) suggested that in studying FFinternationalization, an SEW perspective should be combined with the network model ofinternationalization (Johanson and Mattsson, 1988). Network relationships are especially crucial for theinternationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), who may depend on foreign partnersto complement their limited resources (Buciuni and Mola, 2014; Eberhard and Craig, 2013). In the contextof the social relationships of FFs, Zellweger et al. (2018: 4) call for research on not merely whether certaintypes of relationships exist but rather how these relationships are formed and maintained, looking at theprocesses through which “family firms generate and appropriate the financial and nonfinancial value thatis tied to these relationships.” Although different network relationships, such as government institutions,business partners, and personal relations, have been recognized as facilitating FFs’ international networking(e.g. Senik et al., 2011), FF internationalization research is still inconclusive in terms of how actively FFsbuild and develop these relationships, as manifested in the dichotomy of active vs. passive networking(Johanson and Mattsson, 1988).

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Session 4Business Responsibility and the Internationalization of Finnish SMEs

Maria Uzhegova, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland

This research is aimed at the development of a theoretical and empirical understanding of the roleof responsible business practices (RBPs) along with internationalization in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME). This research builds on several theoretical lenses, while the methodsinclude a combination of qualitative and quantitative research techniques. The expected researchresults contribute to the SME internationalization and small business responsibility research fields.

Keywords: Small- and medium-sized enterprise, internationalization, social responsibility,environmental responsibility, firm capabilities.

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Session 4The ‘I’ in International Entrepreneurship: a narrative inquiry (working title)

Satu Korhonen, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland

This doctoral dissertation was conducted as an inquiry of the international entrepreneur. As acompilation of four complementary yet individually comprehensible articles (Article I–IV), thisstudy discusses international entrepreneurship (IE) through the narrative of the founders of earlyand rapidly internationalized ventures. The ontological, epistemological and methodologicalcommitments of this dissertation are found in the interpretivist paradigm in treating ‘narrative’ asone of the operations of the ‘realm of meaning’ when generating and analyzing data (Polkinghorne,1988). Accordingly, qualitative data consists of both interview and literary (i.e. archival) data, andthe understanding of them builds on both hermeneutic and interpretivist historical approaches. Thetheoretical contributions of Article I and II stem from the analysis of life-narrative interviews with19 founder-CEOs. The findings add to the understanding of the nature and meaning of international(ization) experiences of individuals by shedding light over the related (I) developmental and (II)transitioning experiences. In particular, findings serve into to our knowledge of the sense-makingand identity (re)construction processes of the founders, and eventually their behavioral orientationsand transitional capabilities when engaged in the emergent phenomenon of IE. Article III and IVstudy both interview and literary data and contribute to literature of IE as a historically embeddedphenomenon. These two articles add to the understanding of the historical context (i.e. generationalcontext and societally bound business environment) and its significance for the individualentrepreneur. Findings suggest both subtle transmissions as much as transformations of thecontext-based meanings of international entrepreneurial experiences in “long run” (III) as well astraces of the international entrepreneurs change agency (IV) when analyzed against the subsequenthistorical time contexts and related “pre-conditions” for IE.

Keywords: International entrepreneurship, sense-making, contextualization, experience, narrativeinquiry

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Session 5Foreign ownership and the internationalization of Japanese corporate boards

Felix Roedder, ESCP Europe Business School Berlin, Germany

There are signs that boardrooms around the globe are becoming more international. However,whereas the overall number of foreign top managers is on the rise, their representation is still farfrom universal or even across corporate boards and countries. The reasons behind these differencesare not clear. With this study, we want to introduce foreign ownership as one meaningful predictorof foreigner board inclusion. Capital markets have internationalized dramatically in recentdecades, and the increasing influence of overseas investors, notably from the USA and UK, hascalled for firms to adjust to a new type of owner. We suggest that companies react to the increasedreliance on foreign capital by nominating aliens onto the board to manage the rising uncertaintiesinduced by a previously unknown owner category.Hence, taking a resource dependency theory perspective, we believe that a higher dependence onforeign investors also increases the necessity of an organizational response in the form ofinternational directors. Japan poses an interesting setting to test this hypothesis. First, the foreignownership ratio of firms listed on the Tokyo Stock exchange has risen from 5% to over 30%between 1990 and 2017, replacing domestic financial intuitions as the primary owner of Japanesecompanies. Second, Japan is known for its particularities in terms of business and corporategovernance practices, which have been handled by insider-dominated boards exclusively filledwith Japanese nationals so far. Third, given the extremely low figures for foreign top managersand foreigners in general in Japan, the recent appearance of non-Japanese on boards is, perhaps,more striking than in some European countries or the USA, which have longstanding traditions ofimmigration. Lastly, Japan has received much criticism from foreign investors and elsewhere tochange its ways since the burst of the bubble economy in 1990. The increase of foreign directorsagainst the backdrop of other corporate governance reforms may therefore also be seen as aresponse to these calls. Therefore, in this study we will test whether foreign ownership increasesthe likelihood of alien directors on boards by using a data sample from the Nikkei 225 index,representing Japan’s largest firms. Furthermore, we will apply foreign business activity andcorporate governance moderators to test how other firm characteristics influence the relationshipbetween foreign capital and foreign directors. This way, we wish to shed light on the connectionbetween two important yet often overlooked aspects of internationalization.

Keywords: Foreign directors, foreign ownership, resource dependence, board composition, Japan

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Session 5Foreigner exclusion in social interactions

Language-based exclusion of foreign employees and studentsHilla Back (Polvinen), Aalto University, Finland

A growing number of both employees and university students are migrating to new countries toadvance their studies and careers, aided by the increased ease of global mobility. For countries likeFinland, dependent on foreign workforce to fill talent deficits and counteract the trends of ageingpopulation and decreasing birth rates, the integration and long-term residence of these immigrantsis a necessity. However, these foreigners face obstacles on their road to integration and inclusion:feelings of isolation among foreign students have been highlighted as a cause for concern in paststudies. Similarly, prior research demonstrates that foreign employees such as expatriates sufferfrom exclusion and are discriminated against during their time in the new host country. Thisdoctoral dissertation sets out to explore the phenomenon of foreign student and employeeexclusion in social interactions. The focus will be on exploring the role of language-basedexclusion, caused by switching between local languages and the lingua franca of English. Focusingprimarily on the research context of Finland, I study this phenomenon both amongst foreignemployees and university students.The doctoral dissertation is divided into three studies, of which the first is completed. The firststudy concerned the phenomenon of social inclusion and exclusion of foreign degree students atAalto University. Using a case study -design with data drawn from quantitative surveys, openanswers, and an interview, preliminary results indicate that foreign degree students feel less peersupport and social inclusion than local Finnish students. Furthermore, language differences,established groupings, and pressure to succeed appear to be drivers for the ‘in-groups’ of Finnishstudents and ‘out-groups’ of foreign students, excluding foreign students from social interactions.The second study will further investigate the reasons behind foreign student exclusion in theUnited Kingdom, Finland, and China, using mixed methods and a comparative design. Results willindicate the factors that influence foreigner social exclusion, including the role of local languageuse. After the student-based studies, the third study will explore foreign employee exclusion insocial interactions using ethnographic research methods. The focus will be on the effects ofobserved language-switching. Results will suggest how diversity management -practices can beimproved to advance foreign employee integration. Practical implications of this doctoraldissertation include insights on how to improve foreigner inclusion and integration into the Finnishsociety.

Keywords: Inclusion, diversity management applied linguistics, international mobility,organizational behavior

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Session 6Foreign Divestment Decision: Effects of Cross-National Differences and Top Management

Team CharacteristicsHa Nguyen, University of Vaasa, Finland

While studies on foreign direct investment (FDI) strategies and performance have been of greatinterest to international business researchers during the last 40 years, there has been relatively fewstudies analyzing foreign divestment decisions, which lead to our pre-mature knowledge about thistopic. Planning to complete the present article-based dissertation within 4 years, I aim to explorehow cross-national differences and top management team characteristics affect the foreigndivestment probability. As there is value in looking systematically at the existing literature on thefield, this research helps clarify and gauge contribution of previous studies. Elaborating on thecontingency perspective, I combine the institutional theory and organizational learning theory toprove the curvilinear relationship to reflect both the distances and interactions between cross-national differences and the divestment probability. Also, I add the upper-echelons theory toexplain the managerial influences on divestment decision. The present proposal also advances themethodological part of foreign divestment literature by treating the hierarchical nested nature ofvariables involving the decision carefully, which usually ignored in previous studies. Combiningthe findings of the four papers, the dissertation also aims to provide practical implications for bothpractitioners and government officers as well as suggest several new and exciting avenues forfuture studies.

Keywords: Foreign divestment, cultural distance, cultural friction, cross-national differences, topmanagement team.

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Session 6SME Internationalization and the Role of Governmental Assistance

in Manufacturing and Service IndustriesPriit Tintis, Aalto University, Finland

This proposal attempts to establish a relationship between the SME export performance and threetypes of export promotion activities that were executed with governmental support: developing anexport plan, attending a trade fair and participating in a ministerial delegation VIP visit. Ratherthan looking at an effect of a single support measure or an effect on macroeconomic variables orpopulation of companies, this paper examines the effects at the firm level, focusing on the “storyof growth” of the firms in the sample. The independent variables are considered to be proxies forcommitment and internal capabilities (export plan), experiential knowledge (trade fair) andnetwork-based view (both trade fair and delegation visit). However, Principal Component Analysiswill be conducted to reveal whether these are three separate constructs or three measures of a largerone. The study will be conducted using data from a single country, Estonia, which is a smallhomogeneous and open economy with a brief continuous history of having a market economy. Theanalysis will be based on longitudinal data that allows matching companies that have obtainedrepeated support and interactions between multiple types of measures as well as the speed ofinternationalization, measured by the change of export intensity. The analysis will compare theresults in the (presumably capital-intensive and inertial) manufacturing sector and (presumablyknowledge-intensive and agile) service sectors to determine whether there are differences in theefficiency of the three measures. Various other variables will be controlled for, such as time tofirst exports, size, age, foreign ownership, and foreign management. The managerial andpolicymaker relevance comes from understanding “what works” which enables scarce financialand human resources SMEs often control and the governments provide to be targeted to the mostimpactful measures or combination of measures.

Keywords: SMEs, export promotion, manufacturing, service sector, speed of internationalization

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Session 7Decision-making Logic and Digitalization in Branding Strategies of Small-Medium Enterprises:

The Role of Contingency Factors and Performance ConsequencesSamuel Yaw Kusi, University of Vaasa, Finland

Studies pertains to international new ventures (INVs) branding strategies although very limited. They havecontributed immensely towards our understanding about how these young firms internationalize withconstrained resources but build successful brands to compete in the international arena.One neglected aspect that existing studies omitted to investigate is decision-making logic (effectuation vscausation) in relation to brand development (e.g. identity, becoming brand oriented) while expanding toforeign markets and the need to address uncertainties such as cultural distance. Decision-making logic(effectuation vs causation) studies mostly focus on the “how” omitting “why” particular decision-makinglogic prevails. Aside, the intersection of international entrepreneurship and branding has become importantstream of research in international marketing. These issues are addressed through four articles of whicheach addresses one research question.First, the doctoral study takes inventory of studies that investigate international entrepreneurship andbranding; defines the intersection, outline ontological and thematic themes and provide future studyavenues. Next, based on theoretical framework and propositions emanated from empirical studies throughface-to-face interviews, the doctoral studies report INVs brand identity unfold in three states: unbranded,sporadically and focused branded new venture state. Each state of development is inspired by the changein decision-making logic. Thus, effectual decision-making offset unbranded and sporadically states; whilecausal decision suits focused branded new venture states. Tenents of decision-making logic give differentprominence to each dimension of brand identity (brand values, personality and relationship). The changeand its effects is strengthened by a moderating factor - perceived uncertainty due to cultural distance. Whenperceived uncertainty is greater, it gives support to apply effectual logic to develop brand identity whereascausal decision to develop brand identity becomes stronger when perceived uncertainty is greater. Thisexplains the “why” of decision-making logic. Third, survey data also provides evidence and explainsprevailing conditions why particular decision-making logic (effectuation or causation) is applicable. Thestudy found entrepreneurial experience provides necessary condition to opt for effectual decision logicwhile marketing experience set the tone to apply causal decision-making logic for the firm to become brandoriented and achieve superior firm performance. We focused on accounting data for performance which islacking in the literature.Following from above, the doctoral study contributes to the effectuation literature by moving beyond "how"to explain the "why" those type of decision-making and significance of each. We also contribute towardsthe larger branding literature that brand building goes further than brand co-creation as recent studiessuggest. Thus, combination of means, affordable loss, leveraging contingency and co-creation makes branddevelopment more subsisting.

Keywords: Effectuation, causation, brand identity, brand orientation, digitalization

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Session 7Export distribution strategy and export performance

Valeria Nyu, Nord University Norway

The purpose of this research is to study the determinants and outcomes of the export distributionstrategy. Although, previous studies have acknowledged the importance of choosing anappropriate distribution channels within the marketing strategy, the research on export distributionand its influence on firm’s success in international markets remains very limited. In thisdissertation, we focus on the factors that determine the implementation of export distributionstrategy and its influence on firm’s competitive advantage and export performance. The study aimsto extend the existing body of literature in international marketing by uncovering the influence ofdynamic capabilities, as well as various macro-, meso- and micro-factors on the export distributionchoices. We aim to investigate the role of transactional/relational approach to channel selectionand standardization/adaptation perspective to the distribution activities. Furthermore, the studyaims to shed light on the relationship between export distribution strategy and export financial andexport market performance. As exporters operate in a number of countries with various logisticinfrastructures, distribution systems and market characteristics, it is necessary for them to be ableto adapt their distribution strategies to volatile and complex business environment. We suggestthat the development of an effective export distribution strategy allows firms to generate a valuablecompetitive advantage in terms of cost, service and product considerations. It is emphasized thata distribution-based competitive advantage enables firms to enhance their export performance.That involves increasing satisfaction among the existing customers, strengthening their loyalty viarepeated purchases and acquiring new customers in export markets. Moreover, the distribution-based competitive advantage is argued to have a positive impact on sales, profits and returns oninvestments in foreign markets. In order to attain the objectives of the research, a mix of qualitativeand quantitative methods will be used. The research will be carried out in four articles: threeempirical contributions and a literature review.

Keywords: Exporting; distribution channels; dynamic capabilities; competitive advantage; exportperformance

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Session 8What Management practices facilitate innovation?

Xiaoshi Xu, Aalto University, Finland

The research topic for my doctoral dissertation is what management practices facilitate innovation?To answer this question, my plan is to write three articles and put them together in a logical way.The first paper is a meta-analytical review focusing on the relationship between managementpractices and innovation; the second paper will be a survey-based quantitative study looking intowhat management practices work best in local firms in China compared to in Finland (or America);the third article will be an in-depth qualitative case study exploring how management practices arebest implemented in different cultural contexts.I have been working on my first paper. This paper uses meta-analytic techniques to synthesize thefindings of previous studies that have explored the relationship between management practicesand technological innovation. Most past studies have focused on one or a few managementpractices. This study advanced past research by including a broad range of management practices,which enables us to compare their relative effects on innovation. In addition, we explore somemoderators including national culture, which may help explain some contradictory findings ofprevious studies. Our study builds on the theoretical framework proposed by Crossan and Apaydin(2010) (which they did not test empirically) to develop a comprehensive framework of whichmanagement practices facilitate innovation in order to test the significance and relative importanceof each practice on innovation (see table 1). Using results from 153 independent samples used inprevious studies, our study contributes to the innovation management field by identifying the top-3 management practice drivers of innovation: organizational culture, knowledge acquisition anduse and strategy.Our findings also extend the international business literature by showing that power distance,individualism, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, indulgence and masculinity havesignificant, but differing moderating effects on the relationship between management practices andinnovation.

Keywords: Innovation; management practices; national culture; meta-analysis; case study

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Session 8How Self-Management and Decentralization Facilitate Firm Innovativeness?

Evidence from Finland and RussiaValentina Arrieta, Aalto University, Finland

In a quickly evolving environment, organizations are forced to become more innovative andadaptive to changes. One way to achieve it is to become more self-managed and decentralized.However, self-managed and decentralized companies are considered as rare cases that are difficultto replicate. Nevertheless, I suggest that some characteristics and practices of such companiescould be adopted in other organizations to achieve different levels of self-management anddecentralization and, consequently, become more innovative. While some studies look into self-managed and decentralized companies, the research is rather limited due to the focus on radicalexamples and fragmented due to the wide range of concepts describing the phenomenon. Moststudies describe practices and characteristics of the radically self-managed and decentralizedcompanies, which presents important insights, but creates little understanding of how it could beimplemented in less extreme cases. Moreover, various terms were developed to describecompanies with more decentralized decision-making and high level of self-management, forexample, post-bureaucracy, network organization, holacracy, teal organization etc. These termshave some differences and overlaps, which makes the research field rather fragmented and inhibitsfurther advancement of knowledge in the field. Therefore, in my research I aim to integrate existingstudies to date, identify characteristics that allow a company to become more self-managed anddecentralized and test the effect on innovation and stability of these characteristics across differentnational culture contexts. As a result, my research contribution will be an extension of the theoryon more self-managed and decentralized companies and practical insight on how companies couldbecome more innovative and responsive to changes.

Keywords: Self-management, decentralization, innovation, Finland, Russia

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Session 9Learning in global virtual teams (GVTS)

Danijela Majdenic, Turku School of Economics – University of Turku, Finland

Global Virtual Teams (GVTs) are an increasingly common way of organising work inmultinational firms and organisations. Their members are located in different countries, timezones, cultures and organisational departments, but nonetheless they need to work togethereffectively (Järvenpää and Leidner 1998). However, little is known how the virtual nature of GVTinteraction plays out in the team learning process let alone how learning in GVTs affectsperformance. My dissertation therefore asks how does learning occur in global virtual teams? Tothis end my dissertation project is composed of a synthesising kappa and three papers. The firstpaper focuses on individual GVT members and their learning and, among other questions, askswhat role does experiential learning play in the GVT context. The second paper looks at teamlearning in GVTs and contrasts this to extant literature in organisational learning. The third paperlooks specifically at conflict and conflict management in GVTs as an important component of teamdynamics.The research is conducted based on a series of three laboratory experiments involving over 360business students based in four countries in 2015 – 2017 working on graded consultancy-typeassignments of progressively increasing difficulty under time pressure. The simulation producedover 1700 individual reflective assignments describing personal learning and team development.Preliminary results for papers 1 and 2 provide insight into what and how individuals and teamslearn in a global and virtual setting. It is clear that not all individual team members learn equally;learning is dependent on personality and the degree to which individuals are willing to learn.Results indicate that team dynamics are another important factor determining individual and teamlearning process. Team dynamics, specifically conflict, including conflict management andresolution, will be further explored in paper 3. Further analysis is forthcoming.

Keywords: Individual Learning, Team Learning, Global Virtual Teams, Project-based organising,Experimental setting.

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Session 9Top Management Internationalization, Strategic Risk-taking and the Moderating Effects of

Compensation and DiversityMichaela Wrede, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Germany

In today’s business environment, top managers are increasingly confronted with making decisions underuncertainty – a phenomenon which several authors consider to be synonymous with risk-taking. While risk-taking is necessary to improve firms’ performance and build a competitive advantage, inappropriate levelsof managers’ risk-taking may have drastic consequences for firms and their stakeholders. Indeed, risk issubjective and corresponding responses depend on the decision-maker’s perceptions, which, in turn, arebased on their unique blend of values, personality traits, feelings, and experiences. In line with upperechelons theory, this notion has important behavioral implications for firms, as top managers’ cognitionsare reflected in firms’ choices and related outcomes. Building on the growing presence of internationally-seasoned individuals in management boards, scholars have begun to empirically explore the implicationsof international top managers for firms. Based on these studies, there is reason to believe that a raisedtendency to take risks might exist among international top managers. A comprehensive empiricalunderstanding about the influence of international top managers on risk-taking in firms is still absentthough.With this study, we aim to contribute relevant insights by investigating whether and to what extent topmanagement internationalization is associated with firm’s strategic risk taking. In this context, weparticularly focus on the CEO, who is considered the most powerful member of the top management team.Combining upper echelons theory with insights from the psychology and corporate governance literatures,we argue that international CEOs tend to engage in higher levels of risk-taking because 1) they are innatelymore self-confident and open for ambiguity, 2) they acquired greater confidence in their abilities throughtheir international experiences, and 3) and they can rely on a personal network that facilitates the access tovaluable information, resources and opportunities. These characteristics may lead international topmanagers to overestimate their competencies in dealing with complications and to underestimate the preciserisk involved in reaching success. This illusion of control may manifest itself in larger investments that takea longer time to manifest potential returns. We further argue that the risk-taking behavior of internationaltop managers is channeled by his/her variable compensation and the diversity within the overall topmanagement team (TMT).Our study draws on a sample of firms listed on the German HDAX index from 2010 to 2017 and 1270demographic profiles of the respective management board members. Based on panel data estimations, ourfindings demonstrate that the internationalization of the CEO positively influences a firm’s strategic risk-taking. This association was found to be weakened with increasing variable compensation of the CEO andto be enhanced with a rising TMT tenure diversity. Besides, our supplementary analysis reveals thatstrategic risk-taking is primarily attributable to the internationalization of the CEO but neither to theinternationalization of the other TMT members nor the CFO. Overall, this paper contributes toward agreater theoretical understanding about the antecedents and boundary conditions of strategic risk-taking infirms. Moreover, we help advance upper echelons research by contributing relevant insights about theimplications of international top managers for firms.

Keywords: Upper Echelons theory, top management internationalization, strategic risk-taking, diversity,compensation

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Session 10Social media marketing strategies: resource, capabilities, and performance

Fang Fang Li, University of Vaasa, Finland

Social media is becoming a promising marketing tool for achieving firms’ business goals andcompetitive advantages. Despite the popularity of social media marketing, how to integrate socialmedia into firms’ marketing strategies has become an ongoing challenge, especially forinternational companies who are using social media in global markets. In this dissertation, theauthor aims to advance the understanding of the integration of social media and marketing strategyand its underlying mechanism. More specifically, the research objectives are to conceptualize“social media marketing strategy” from strategic marketing perspective, to investigate differenttypes of social media marketing strategies that are formulated and implemented based on variousmarketing resources and capabilities in different firms, and to explore the relationships betweensocial media marketing strategies and marketing performance. Based on the Resource-based viewand capabilities approach, the whole research framework is built on a resources/capabilities-strategies-performance research logic. In order to fulfil the research objectives and questions, amixed-method approach will be adopted through four papers by blending qualitative andquantitative research designs to have a deeper and better understanding of the social mediamarketing strategy phenomenon. This research thus will make contributions to both social mediaand marketing strategy research field. The results will provide theoretical underpins forunderstanding firms’ social media marketing strategies, which may serve as a basis for developingsocial media marketing strategy constructs, operationalization, and measurement scales. It willalso extend the strategic marketing literature on social media resources, capabilities, and theirrelationships with social media marketing strategy and performance.

Keywords: Social media; marketing strategies; social media resources; social media performance

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Session 10Understanding sustainable business models under resource constraints and institutional

complexityJackson Musona, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland

Grassroots entrepreneurs innovating for sustainability have not received much attention in thecurrent sustainable discourse. These entrepreneurs establish micro and small enterprises that arefostering sustainability through sustainable innovation to produce goods and services, employmentcreation and environmental conservation. Through a mixed methods approach, this thesis exploresthe activities of sustainable entrepreneurs in countries such as Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania andZimbabwe in order to develop an understanding of how their innovative activities evolve.Moreover, quantitative data from surveys and secondary data sources is also used. The thesis drawsinsights from the neo-institutional and sustainable business model theoretical perspectives tounderstand scalable innovative activities by entrepreneurs in such context. By exploring businessmodels for sustainability and sustainable entrepreneurship in resource scarce and institutionallycomplex environments, the thesis contributes to the literature on sustainable micro-small andmedium enterprises in developing countries, which is scanty.

Keywords: Sustainable business model, base of pyramid, MSMEs, environment, institutions,resource scarcity.

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Session 11Effective strategies of organizational communication development in the digitalization

policies of Finnish and Russian universitiesOlga Burukina, University of Vaasa, Finland

The research focuses on the digitalization strategies and organizational communication practices of Finnishand Russian universities. The relevance of the topic of the PhD Thesis is stipulated by the need to studythe existing practices in organizational communication and approaches to the establishment anddevelopment of digitalization policies and strategies and analyse the current practices in the chosen Russianand Finnish universities as part of their digitalization processes aimed at ensuring their competitiveness inthe globalized world. With universities being at the core of the global changes, issues of their digitalizationand organizational communication are questions of particular interest, as well as the presence of artificialintelligence in their policies and strategies and communicating it both to their employees and students.In the increasingly globalized and hyper connected world, every organization striving for future successfuldevelopment needs a communication strategy, which at its core relies on ongoing conversations. So, it isabsolutely important for organization leaders to empower their staff and support them with the right toolsand systems to ensure the employees cannot only communicate effectively, but constantly evolve and getbetter by improving both internal and external organizational communications (Cansialosi 2016). Thedigital has drastically increased the pace of working life and organizational communications as, Digitaltechnologies have largely contributed to automating the more transactional aspects of work. Digitalcommunication has been the linchpin for remote or dispersed teams. Digital communication allowsorganizations to have access to a global talent pool that can connect across borders, languages, time zones,and generations (Clark 2017).However, the evolving digital tools and technologies bring about a number of challenges, which have to betackled by administrators within balanced digital organization policies. The challenges created by theincreasing reliance on digital communication tools in the workplace include the following – Digital toolsand platforms keep people tethered to work all the time, which is not healthy, to say the least. So, everyorganization’s digital environment needs clear boundaries to help the employees to periodically unplug.Taking into consideration the swiftly growing number of apps and other digital tools, choosing the righttools for the organization and its workflow can be a frustrating process (Cansialosi 2016). Today someorganizations face a situation with some of their employees spending all of their time communicating andhardly any time actually working (Clark 2017). (This situation reveals common students’ behaviour in mostRussian universities.) Today’s multigenerational workforce has vastly different rituals, routines, andexpectations with regard to communication, which can create situations where people feel alienated,disrespected or just plain left out of the loop (ibid.). All these require well-developed and highly adaptiveorganizational communication strategies and policies, benefitting organizations and their employees.

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NOTES

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The organisers of the 15th Vaasa Conference on International Business wish to acknowledge withgratitude the generous support given by the following foundations and institutions:

Evald and Hilda NissiFoundation

Gustaf Svanljungin Säätiö