Amsterdam School of International Business
Research lines
Within CEDIS our research can be divided into three separate research lines.
Companies find it increasingly difficult to reach their customer target groups. The most urgent challenges encountered in contemporary business are the paradox of choice (consumers have so much choice that they actually don’t choose anymore), the complexity of the online and offline environments (multi-channeling), increasing competition, demand for market transparency, brand parity, and fast paced technological innovation. All these issues are amplified by increasing internationalization and localization of markets, which is also reflected in the changing demands of successful business communication.
All of the above leads to the need for new business models, strategies, and tactics in both marketing and communication domains. Creative, yet accountable, strategies are necessary to retain customers and convert them to brand advocates. What is more, the relevance of cross-cultural customized communication policies should be integrated into strategies.
Thus, successful brand positioning and interaction with customers require both strategic and tactical approaches, including reputation management and online service recovery strategies. Similarly, the technical requirements of digital platforms and channels need continuous critical evaluation.
Companies operate increasingly in international networks of organizations. Cross-border interactions introduce a myriad of management complexities, not only internally within the company but also externally in the value chain.
In this context, we focus on international organization and strategic inter-organizational relations, where geographic and cultural distance has impact on business performance. In international organization managing intercultural communication and diversity is paramount and our focus is on how the multinational corporation manages and benefits from diversity.
Additionally, as companies in various industries increasingly procure, manufacture or sell internationally, international supply chain management is a crucial strategic concern. Here, we focus on understanding how firms in the supply chain cooperate, adopt new practices and technology (e.g., e-commerce), and learn from each other to improve their capabilities.
The dynamic nature of today's global economy requires entrepreneurialism. Our research focuses on understanding entrepreneurship in various contexts -- across international boundaries, in emerging economies, in local, regional, national or international ecosystems and in knowledge-intensive, high technology, and innovative industries.
It focuses on how entrepreneurs identify and create opportunities, how they assemble resources to build capabilities to exploit those opportunities and how they manage firm growth and evolve. Understanding the financing of new ventures is essential; we focus not only on how new ventures are financed but also on how entrepreneurs learn to manage their financial resources as their ventures evolve. An example of a project in this line is the Sustainable Entrepreneurship Research Platform.