Editorial

Welcome to the last issue of volume 23. This year has been another successful one for IMR and we are delighted with the continuing high quality of papers published.

In this issue, we begin with a rather unusual viewpoint from Roger Strange– unusual in that it takes an international business view of branding in the international context. Volume 24 will see a special issue on international brands and branding, so this viewpoint offers an interesting approach to the topic as an introduction to this issue. Strange considers the implications of developments in global brand management, outsourcing and global commodity chains in the context of the clothing industry and the so-called “bra-wars”of 2005.

There is something of a theme to the remaining papers in this issue, since two of them discuss issues related to International Strategic Alliances (ISAs),whilst a third considers joint ventures. Robson et al. offer a review of studies of ISAs, providing an integrative analysis of those studies which have investigated behavioural attributes' performance outcomes. The conceptual framework they develop includes two categories of these attributes –relationship capital and exchange climate – and precedes a methodological analysis of the research studies identified. Their review suggests that there are links between behavioural aspects and the performance of ISAs, but that these vary across the two categories of attributes. The second paper on ISAs by Voss et al. develops a new model of relational exchange in non-equity ISAs and tests this model in the US-Japanese context. Their findings suggest that high levels of marketing performance in such ISAs can be linked, at least in part, to the exchange of timely, relevant, important information between the members of the alliance. This information exchange itself depends on the development of trust and cultural sensitivity in the relationship.

The third paper by Chen et al. presents findings from a sample of Sino-foreign joint ventures on the influence of liability of foreignness (LOF)in market entiy strategies. Griffith argues that LOF is a major factor influencing expansion by MNEs and provides specific findings relating to that influence. For example, MNEs from low LOF countries adopt resource-seeking strategies and strategies to utilize their competitive advantages in labour-intensive industries more than MNEs from high LOF countries.

Finally, Gabrielsson et al. research the problem of how international information and communication technology (ICT) manufacturers from small and open economies can meet the challenge of international product development and management. This is a welcome contribution as papers on international product issues are scarce. Here, the authors present a theoretical framework and propositions and examine these using a multiple case study approach. The findings indicate that so-called globalizinginternationals develop towards standardized product strategy, wide product assortment and advanced product categories.

All the papers above address important issues in international marketing management and we are pleased to have been given the opportunity to publish them. As this is the final issue of this volume, may we record our thanks to all members of the Editorial Advisory Board, the Editorial Review Panel, Special Issue Editors and their reviewers, without whom IMR could not function. We are very grateful to them all.

Jeryl Whitelock