Prelims

Half Title Page

Decision-Making in International Entrepreneurship

Series Page

Entrepreneurial Behaviour

Series Editors:

• Dr Andrea Caputo, University of Lincoln, UK

• Dr Massimiliano M. Pellegrini, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy

This series is dedicated to communicating innovative and multi-disciplinary new research that advances theory and practice in Entrepreneurial Behaviour. The series is focussed on expanding the scope of Entrepreneurial Behaviour theory and analysis and enriching practice by encouraging multi-theoretical, multi-cultural, and multi-disciplinary approaches.

Key issues explored in Entrepreneurial Behaviour include cognition, decision-making, and organisational behaviours, and identifying, creating, and exploiting opportunities concerning new products, services, processes, innovations, or ventures from entrepreneurial perspective.

The primary focus will be on the study of entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises, and family businesses, with a secondary focus on entrepreneurial and innovative behaviours in other forms of organisations, such as non-profits corporations and public administration.

Editorial Page

Editorial Advisory Board

• Andrea Caputo (Editor)

  University of Lincoln, UK

• Massimiliano M. Pellegrini (Editor)

  University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy

• Afsnahe Bagheri

  University of Tehran, Iran

• Matteo Cristofaro

  University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy

• Marina Dabic

  University of Zagreb, Croatia and Nottingham Trent University, UK

• Leo-Paul Dana

  Dalhousie University, Canada

• Sally Dibb

  Coventry University, UK

• Mohammad Fakher

  University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy

• Giulia Flamini

  University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy

• Laëtitia Gabay-Mariani

  CERAG – Grenoble-Alpes University, France

• Luca Gnan

  University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy

• Anibal Lopez

  Nova School of Business and Economics, Portugal

• Charlott Menke

  Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW, Germany

• Damiano Petrolo

  University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy

• Matthias Raith

  Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Germany

• Marco Romano

  University of Catania, Italy

• Yi Ruan

  University of Nottingham Ningbo China, China

• Sid Hanna Saleh

  Colorado School of Mines, USA

• Anna Souakri

  ESCP Europe, France

• Marzena Starnawska

  University of Warsaw, Poland

• Giuseppe Valenza

  Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Italy

• Cizhi Wang

  Capital University of Business and Economics, China

Title Page

Decision-Making in International Entrepreneurship: Unveiling Cognitive Implications Towards Entrepreneurial Internationalisation

Edited by

VAHID JAFARI-SADEGHI

Aston University, UK

AND

HANNAN AMOOZAD MAHDIRAJI

University of Leicester, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2023

Editorial matter and selection © 2023 Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi and Hannan Amoozad Mahdiraji.

Individual chapters © 2023 the authors.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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Contact: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80382-234-1 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80382-233-4 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80382-235-8 (Epub)

Dedication Page

To my lovely wife, Rosie, with infinite thanks

Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi

To my beloved wife, Mahsa

Hannan Amoozad Mahdiraji

Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Figures

Tables

About the Editors

Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi (PhD, SFHEA) is a Lecturer in International Business and is the Programme Director of MSc International Business at Aston Business School. Before joining Aston University, he was a Senior Lecturer in International Entrepreneurship at the Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, and a Lecturer in Business Strategy at the School of Strategy and Leadership at Coventry University. He is an active researcher in the field of international entrepreneurship, particularly in the area of SME internationalisation. He has published papers in leading international journals such as International Business Review, British Journal of Management, Journal of Business Research, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Journal of International Entrepreneurship, etc. He is an Associate Editor for the EuroMed Journal of Business, and a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, International Journal of Business and Globalisation, and British Food Journal. He has served as the Lead Guest Editor for special issues of the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, the Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, and the British Food Journal. He has edited various books in Springer and Routledge and performed as track chair and presenter for several international conferences.

Hannan Amoozad Mahdiraji (PhD) is a Lecturer in Strategy and Business Analytics and the Programme Leader of MSc International Business, School of Business, University of Leicester. He previously was a Senior Lecturer in Business and Management at De Montfort University. Before that, he was a Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Management at the School of Strategy and Leadership at Coventry University. He graduated with his PhD in Management Science in 2012 from the University of Tehran. His primary interest areas include multiple-criteria decision-making methods, game theory, and supply chain management (SCM). Since 2011, he has published 79 research papers in famous international journals, including the British Journal of Management, Journal of Operational Research Society, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Journal of Business Research, Computers and Industrial Engineering, Expert Systems with Applications, Cleaner Production, Operations Research Letters, etc. He has also participated in and presented articles at prestigious international conferences such as the Academy of Management and the Academy of International Business. Furthermore, he has published one book in Springer, focussing on the applications of management science in international entrepreneurs’ decision-making. His h-index is 28, i-10 index is 48, alongside 1,700 citations. He is also the Area Editor of the Operations Management Research Journal.

About the Contributors

Safiya Mukhtar Alshibani is an Assistant Professor at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University. She is the Programme Director of the BSc Business Administration course. She holds an MSc in Strategic Management and Innovation and a PhD in Entrepreneurship from The University of Western Australia. Her research focus is on entrepreneurial well-being, work–life balance, and performance. She has participated in many regional and international conferences. She is a member of The European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Emmanuel Kusi Appiah is a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Vaasa, School of Marketing and Communication, International. He is currently working on a research project focussed on the internationalisation of new ventures in the digital context which is being funded by the Foundation for Economic Education, and the South Ostrobothnia Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation. He has presented his papers at top scientific conferences, such as the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, EIBA, the Academy of International Business, and McGill International Entrepreneurship. Also, he has previous consulting experience in the area of digital and social media marketing.

Seyyed Mohammadreza Ayazi is a Master’s student in Supply Chain Management at the Faculty of Management, University of Tehran. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2020. His research interests include sustainable supply chain management, circular economy, multiple criteria decision making, supply chain management, and simulation and machine learning.

Ali Zamani Babgohari has a PhD in Operations Management at the Faculty of Management, University of Tehran. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from the University of Rafsanjan in 2018. He received his Master’s degree in Operations Management from the Faculty of Management at the University of Tehran in 2020, respectively. His research areas include operations and supply chain management, sustainable supply chain management, multiple criteria decision making, data envelopment analysis, and mathematical modelling.

Mohammadjafar Nikimaleki Borchalouei holds a Master’s degree in Operation and Manufacturing Management from the University of Tehran. He completed BESc in Civil Engineering at Azad University Tehran Central Branch. Besides, he is a Civil Engineer at Sadrab Sanat, a water and wastewater engineering company. He also was a Research Assistant at the Water and Energy Resources Development Company. Moreover, his chief research interests contain sustainable construction management, sustainable civil engineering, multi-criteria decision-making approaches, and data envelopment analysis.

Hasan Boudlaie (PhD) is currently a Faculty member and an Assistant Professor at the University of Tehran, Kish International Campus, Department of Management. He received his PhD in Human Resource Management from the Allameh Tabataba’i University in Tehran in 2013. His primary interest area includes HRM, organisational behaviour, and strategic management.

Shiv Chaudhry is a Professor of Marketing and International Business at the Business School, Birmingham City University, UK. His current research interests involve work at the marketing/international entrepreneurship interface and particularly work involving ethnic minorities.

Federico Chmet has got his PhD in Business and Management at the Università Degli Studi di Torino, Italy. He is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Management of the University of Turin. His Doctoral course focusses on citizen participation and public sustainability choices. His doctoral journey also focusses on accounting and finance.

Dave Crick is the Paul Desmarais Professor of International Entrepreneurship and Marketing in the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, Canada. His current research interests involve work at the Marketing/International Entrepreneurship interface and particularly work that addresses a more effective public/private sector interaction.

James M. Crick is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the School of Business, University of Leicester, UK. His current research interests involve work in entrepreneurial marketing and international strategy, particularly work that addresses competitiveness.

Amir Daneshvar is a Lecturer in International Business at Coventry University. He is the Associate Course Director of BSc International Business Management. His portfolio compromises student experience and he has led several projects within the Business School, School of Strategy and Leadership. Before joining academia, he worked for over 10 years in the industry. This invaluable experience is reflected in his teaching and research. His research focusses on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education and his research interests include the transformation of universities towards entrepreneurial universities.

Giuseppe De Luca is Professor of Economic History at the University of Milan and Honorary Professor at The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London. He holds a PhD in Economic and Social History from the University Bocconi, Milan, and he has been Visiting Professor in Spain and USA. He is currently the Principal Investigator of the European Project ‘Alpine Research and INnovation Capacity Governance’ (1.3 ML Euro grant). Among his publications are Infrastructure Finance in Europe. Insights into the History of Water, Transport, and Telecommunications, edited by Youssef Cassis, Giuseppe De Luca, and Massimo Florio, New York, Oxford University Press, 2016; Conflicts, Financial Innovations, and Economic Trends in the Italian States During the Thirty Years’ War, in Financial Innovation and Resilience, edited by Lilia Costabile and Larry Neal, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

Danial Esmaelnezhad is a Master’s student in Industrial Management at the University of Tehran. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from Agh Qala Payame Noor University in 2018. His research areas include Agent-based simulation, multiple criteria decision-making, digital marketing, strategic alliances, and marketing.

Hamide Ghahremani holds a Master’s degree in Information Technology Management from the University of Tehran and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from the same university. She is a Project Manager and Vice President of Information Technology and Cyberspace at the University of Tehran. Her main research interests include business intelligence and business analysis.

Sepehr Gheiratmand is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Tehran Kish International Campus. He holds his Postgraduate in Industrial Engineering at the Islamic Azad University of Shiraz, and his main interest areas include international entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, and supply chain management.

Runar Gundersen is Program Manager for the bachelor’s program in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at University of South-Eastern Norway. He is specialized in, and have his R&D interests in the field of intellectual property rights, business development, entrepreneurial project management and enterprise strategy.

Faezeh Hanifzadeh has a PhD in Entrepreneurship from the University of Tehran. She completed her Master’s degree in Entrepreneurship at the University of Tehran and her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering at Azad University – South Tehran Branch. Her academic research has mainly focussed on ‘business growth and scale-up’ as well as ‘business model scalability and related issues’. The outcomes of her work were two ISI articles, a conference paper, and under-review manuscripts. She also translated the book titled Entrepreneurial Small Businesses into Farsi.

Badrosadat Hashemipour is a PhD candidate at the University of Tehran Kish International Campus. She holds her Postgraduate degree in Operations and Manufacturing Management from the University of Tehran. Her main interest areas include multiple-criteria decision-making methods, game theory, international entrepreneurship, and supply chain management.

Elaheh Heydari has received her Master’s degree in Management and Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. Her background includes finance, executive management experience in healthcare, and advisor in marketing. In addition, she works as a Customer Satisfaction Analyst at the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in Iran. Her main research interests are customer satisfaction, behavioural studies in business, and entrepreneurship.

Sundas Hussain is a Senior Lecturer in Management at Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University. Her PhD examined entrepreneurship support for socially disadvantaged women in collaboration with a Birmingham-based housing association. She also leads a team as a Climate Director with Woodfarm Education Centre, a Scottish registered charity. Since 2015, the centre has successfully delivered several Climate Challenge Fund projects financed by the Scottish government. Grants received range from £100,000 to £250,000 for climate change projects aiming to reduce CO₂ emissions and the carbon footprint of the local community. Her other affiliations include membership of the Gender and Enterprise as well as Entrepreneurship in Minority special interest groups at the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi (PhD, SFHEA) is a Lecturer in International Business and is the Programme Director of MSc International Business at Aston Business School. Before joining Aston University, he was a Senior Lecturer in International Entrepreneurship at the Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, and Lecturer in Business Strategy at the School of Strategy and Leadership at Coventry University. He is an active researcher in the field of international entrepreneurship, particularly in the area of SME internationalisation. He has published papers in leading international journals such as International Business Review, British Journal of Management, Journal of Business Research, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Journal of International Entrepreneurship, etc. He is an Associate Editor for the EuroMed Journal of Business, and a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, International Journal of Business and Globalisation, and British Food Journal. He has served as the Lead Guest Editor for the special issues of the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, and British Food Journal. He has edited various books in Springer and Routledge and performed as track chair and presenter for several international conferences.

AliAsghar Abbassi Kamardi received his BSc in Industrial Management from the Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Iran, in 2018. Then he received his MSc in Project Management from the same university in 2021. He is a PhD candidate in Industrial Management focussing on industrial strategy at the above-mentioned university. He has published numerous decision-making and game theory papers and has reviewed several articles. His areas of interest include decision-making and optimisation in supply chains, project management, and control and entrepreneurship.

Mohammad Hosein Kenarroodi graduated with an MBA from the University of Tehran and is currently a PhD candidate in Business and Management at Kish International Campus. His main research interests are in HRM and strategic HRM. All of his research is focussed on the HR field and some of this research has been published in academic journals.

Vida Khaledi is a PhD candidate at the University of Tehran Kish International Campus. She holds her postgraduate in EMBA at the Iran University of Science and Technology. Her main interest areas include multiple-criteria decision-making methods, system dynamics, artificial intelligence, and supply chain management.

Matteo Landoni is a Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow. Before, he was Visiting Scholar at Rutgers Business School and received a PhD in Business History and Management from the University of Milan. He teaches about the history of globalisation, international economic relations, and international business. His research interests are state capitalism, entrepreneurship, and the space industry. He published two books on the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Space Industry and published articles widely in international journals such as Industry & Innovation, R&D Management, Structural Change & Economic Dynamics, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change.

Birgit Leick is Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the School of Business (Department of Business and IT) of University of South-Eastern Norway. Her current research interests are regional entrepreneurship in the Nordic sharing economy, creative entrepreneurship in rural peripheral locations, and leadership in relation to entrepreneurship.

Amirhossein Maleki is an Assistant Professor of Management at Northeastern Illinois University. His primary research interests are International Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intentions, and decision-making. He has published his research articles in several respected academic journals including The Academy of Management Perspectives and The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Kaveh Moghaddam is an Associate Professor of International Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Houston-Victoria. His primary research interests are internationalisation strategies of emerging market firms and international entrepreneurship. He has published his research articles in several respected academic journals including Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, International Business Review, and Journal of International Management.

Marco Pironti is Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Management at the University of Turin, President of the Interdepartmental Centre for Innovation ICxT, and a member of the Scientific Committee of the PhD in Innovation for the Circular Economy. He is the author of over 90 articles and other publications. His main research interests are strategy, innovation management and business modelling and planning. He is the councilor for innovation, smart city, and ICT systems of Turin. He is carrying out the innovation and digitisation strategy in this city.

Parisa Rasoulian is currently a PhD candidate in Entrepreneurship at the University of Tehran. She completed her Master’s degree in Entrepreneurship at the University of Tehran.

Marziyeh Rassaf holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Shahid Rajaee and a Master’s degree in Industrial Management from the University of Tehran. She worked for two years as a coordinator in a healthcare company. Moreover, she worked as a Teacher Assistant at Mehr Alborz Higher Education Institute for a year. Her research interests include multiple-criteria decision-making methods and data envelopment analysis, particularly in international entrepreneurship, customer satisfaction analysis, and supply chain management.

Mojtaba Rezaei has got his PhD in Business and Management at the Università degli Studi di Torino, Italy. His research interests are knowledge management, digitalisation, and business internationalisation. He has contributed to different research projects with various scholars and universities. He has published papers in several international publications, such as the European Business Review, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, the Journal of Knowledge Management, the British Food Journal, and the International Journal of Technology Management. In addition, he cooperates with journals and conferences in reviewing papers.

Irina Nikoskaja Roddvik is Associate Professor in Marketing at Østfold University College in Norway. She has doctoral degrees in Philosophy and International Marketing and Management Control. Her current research focuses on SMEs and international communication, international business from an historical perspective, marketing ecosystems and behaviour theories in marketing/entrepreneurship, with a focus on emerging market economies.

Razieh Sadraei (PhD) is an Assistant Lecturer in Business Strategy at the School of Strategy and Leadership at Coventry University. Before joining Coventry University, she was a Business Lecturer at Scholars School System University College, and a Lecturer in Business and Management at Kingston University ISC (Study Group), London. She did her Postdoctoral programme at Wolverhampton University. She is currently teaching a number of modules in business strategy. She is an active researcher in the field of female and international entrepreneurship. She has published papers in several international journals.

Sina Sarmadi received his BSc in Information Technology Engineering from the Karaj Branch of Islamic Azad University in 2017. Afterwards, he earned an MBA from the Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University in 2022. His primary research interest and professional field lie in business intelligence, data science, and entrepreneurship.

Sayed-Shakoor Shahidi is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Tehran Kish International Campus. He holds his postgraduate EMBA from the Iran University of Science and Technology. His primary interest areas include multiple-criteria decision-making methods, strategy, international entrepreneurship, and supply chain management.

Mohammadreza Taghizadeh-Yazdi is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial Management at the University of Tehran, Iran. He received his MS degree in the Department of Industrial Engineering and a PhD degree in the Department of Industrial Management from the University of Tehran. His research fields include operations research, simulation, simulation-based optimisation, and supply chain management.

Kambiz Talebi is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran. He has published 85 articles in Iranian entrepreneurship journals and 20 articles in Scopus and WOS Member Journals. He has presented 20 articles at Babson College ECIE conferences. He has published 10 books in the Persian language in Tehran University Press. He conducted 10 research projects in the field of entrepreneurship in small and medium businesses, strategy in start-ups, and knowledge management. His research background includes entrepreneurship strategy, growth and scaleup, venture creation management, and open innovation.

Thomas Weber is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Southern Indiana. His primary research interests are international strategy and corporate governance. He has published his research articles in several respected academic journals including Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice, Journal, International Business Review, and Journal of International Management.

Fatemeh Yaftiyan is a PhD candidate in Operations Research in the Faculty of Management at the University of Tehran. She also completed the same university’s BSc and MSc in Industrial Management and Operations Research. Recently, she has contributed to national and international research grant. In turn, she is an expert in the academic research area and she has reviewed for the Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management (Emerald Publishing). Moreover, she voluntarily was an Executive Manager in Business Process Management System (BPMS) at SFUT (i.e. the charity of the University of Tehran). Besides, she was an executive expert in BPMS at the knowledge-based business consultant SMEs. In this vein, her chief interest fields cover multiple-criteria decision-making methods, classical and evolutionary game theories, system dynamics, data envelopment analysis, sustainable, resilient and digital supply chain management, entrepreneurship, BPMS and business intelligence. Since 2021, she has published such relevant research paper in the well-known ABS 1* ranked international journal, that is British Food Journal and she has also some articles in press, including the popular ABS 2* ranked international journals such as Journal of Cleaner Production, Computers and Industrial Engineering, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, etc.

Babak Zamani holds a Master’s degree in Strategic MBA from the University of Teheran – Kish International campus. He is the Managing Director of an Iranian retail E-commerce and has over a decade of experience as the Director of Information Technology in the footwear industry. His studies have led to a passionate interest in sustainable technologies, digitalisation, globalisation, multi-criteria-decision-making approaches, and their use in quantitative research. He believes that most of Iran’s industries look at domestic customers, and at this time, it seems Iran is passing through very dark economic and political conditions. Therefore, all Iranian industries should consider the dimensions of sustainability and globalisation in their corporate decision-making strategy to achieve a better future. Moreover, researchers can assist Iranian industries during the period of historic transition.

Book description

Decision-Making in International Entrepreneurship: Unveiling Cognitive Implications Towards Entrepreneurial Internationalisation provides a comprehensive insight into what drives small and medium firms to internationalise entrepreneurially. This is a collection of prominent chapters that gives an understanding of the types of processes, methods, and approaches towards decision-making in international entrepreneurship. In particular, this book stresses multidisciplinary methods that help entrepreneurs in their internationalisation decision. Chapters will analyse international entrepreneurial decision-making through a broad range of statistical methods (e.g. regressions, panel data, and structural equational modelling) as well as decision-making and optimisation models in certain and uncertain circumstances. Indeed, this research book is essential reading for researchers, scholars, and practitioners who are looking to synthesise the process of decision-making towards exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities across national borders.