The world is spiky: An internationalization framework for a semi-globalized world

Firms operate in a semi-globalized world wherein opportunities and constraints arise at both the country and regional levels; however, extant theories of firm internationalization focus mostly on country-level determinants. We aim to overcome this deficiency by developing a theoretical model that explicates the mechanisms driving firm internationalization in a semi-globalized world. Integrating the organizational learning literature with research on semi-globalization, we argue that firms internationalize through the interplay among three mechanisms: (1) intraregional exploitation; (2) intraregional reconfiguration; and (3) inter-regional exploration. We define and integrate these three mechanisms to derive two ideal typical internationalization trajectories that firms follow in a semi-globalized world: home regionalization and multiregionalization. We then elaborate on how macro-level contingencies moderate these two ideal types and conclude with implications for future research.