Purpose

Firm internalization is a central concept within the business strategy literature, as part of the broader social sciences. The purpose of this paper is to show how and where MNE internalization theory can benefit from a social identity theory (SIT) perspective to better understand 21st-century multinational enterprises (MNEs).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper provides a review and future research agenda for the use of SIT related to MNE internalization theory. The authors complement an evolutionary review of SIT literature with a systematic bibliometric analysis identifying specific thematic gaps. Extending Buckley and Casson’s review of and future research agenda for MNE internalization theory, the authors propose three specific future research directions along with eight guiding research questions.

Findings

International business (IB) scholars are familiar with limited aspects of SIT and apply it only in certain research areas, mainly connected to human resource management and leadership, organizational identity and work-related outcomes or international marketing. Strategic management and strategy-oriented IB scholars are less familiar with SIT, despite growing interest in MNE micro-foundations and decision-making under uncertainty.

Originality/value

The authors position SIT as a natural meta-theoretical fit to MNE internalization theory. By providing a future research agenda along with eight supporting research questions, the authors help to advance the MNE internalization theory by linking individual, group and intergroup perspectives against a more socially nuanced, interactionist and dynamic view of MNEs and their decision-making.

中文翻译：

---

（重新）发现社会认同理论：跨国企业内部化理论的议程

目的

公司内部化是业务战略文献中的核心概念，是更广泛的社会科学的一部分。本文的目的是说明跨国企业内部化理论如何以及在何处可以从社会认同理论（SIT）的角度受益，以便更好地理解21世纪的跨国企业（MNE）。

设计/方法/方法

本文为与跨国公司内部化理论相关的SIT的使用提供了一个回顾和未来的研究议程。作者通过系统的文献计量分析来补充SIT文献的进化论，以鉴定特定的主题空白。在扩展Buckley和Casson对MNE内部化理论的回顾和未来研究议程的过程中，作者提出了三个具体的未来研究方向以及八个指导性研究问题。

发现

国际商务（IB）学者熟悉SIT的有限方面，并且仅将其应用于某些研究领域，主要涉及人力资源管理和领导力，组织认同和与工作相关的成果或国际营销。尽管对不确定性下的MNE微观基础和决策越来越感兴趣，但战略管理和以战略为导向的IB学者对SIT的了解较少。

创意/价值

作者将SIT定位为MNE内部化理论的自然元理论拟合。通过提供未来的研究议程以及八个支持的研究问题，作者通过将个人，群体和群体间的观点与对跨国企业及其决策更具社会影响力，互动性和动态性的观点联系起来，来帮助推动跨国企业内部化理论。