Ushering a new era of Global Business and Organizational Excellence: Taking a leaf out of recent trends in the new normal

Abstract

Global business has been and continues to be omnipresent. The digital economy and new-age technologies of the latest industrial revolution have enabled more firms to automate, identify, target, attract, serve, and sell to more customers around the world today than in the past. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of global business, enabling firms to not only survive but also thrive in times of adversity while supporting the effective functioning of business, economy, and society at large. Technology adoption has also accelerated rapidly and its usage is arguably at its highest point today than at any time in history. Though the narrative of survival during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be a familiar voice that resonates with global crises in the past (e.g., global economic crisis), the speed in which firms today have moved from needing to survive to wanting to thrive has been astounding (e.g., cleaning, delivery, and tech services). The unprecedented changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic has, therefore, led to a new normal, thereby necessitating the exploration of new ideas and the re-examination of existing ones in order to forge profound ways forward to advance global business and achieve organizational excellence. Global Business and Organizational Excellence has contributed several noteworthy studies in the new normal. The previous issues have highlighted the importance of embracing technology (e.g., remote solutions such as live streaming and telemedicine; Quévat & Heinze, 2020; Wulandari & Zoubir, 2021), collaboration, and flexibility (Bretas & Alon, 2020) as well as employee engagement (Sahoo et al., 2022) in times of global crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic in order to navigate and weather through turbulent challenges (e.g., employees’ work-life conflict, negative attitudes and self-confidence, and desire to leave work; Al-Abrrow et al., 2021; Mattar, 2021; Mello & Tomei, 2021) for business survival and continued operation. In the present issue, Sutarto et al. (2022) found that work from home challenges (e.g., lack of equipment, and information and communication technology support; ineffective communication; work-home interference), which were prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic, negatively affected job satisfaction, and in turn, work performance. To contribute potential solutions, two purposefully selected studies were included in the present issue to accompany Sutarto et al. (2022). In particular, Mohammed et al. (2022) emphasized the mediating role of mindfulness in enabling leadership dimensions to positively influence work outcomes, whereas Rahman et al. (2022) highlighted that cyberloafing (e.g., browsing on social media and websites) has no direct effect on employee performance and that innovative work behavior could play a mediating role in enhancing the relationship between cyberloafing and employee performance. These studies show that employers do not need to worry about cyberloafing, provided that this is not a compulsive behavior, and that the focus should be on cultivating mindfulness among organizational leaders and innovative work behavior among employees in order to safeguard and strengthen work performance in the new normal. In conjunction with the new editorial leadership at Global Business and Organizational Excellence, this paper endeavors to build on the aforementioned studies and more broadly explore the recent trends of global business and organizational excellence in the new normal. To do so, this paper conducts a multi-study bibliometric analysis of scientific research, whereby the first study concentrates on global business and the second study focuses on organizational excellence. In doing so, this paper unpacks a collection of recent trends that can be used by academic scholars, industry professionals, and policymakers to explain the current state of global business and organizational excellence from numerous perspectives (themes) in order to justify and set the tone for future endeavors. The goal of the first study was to explore the recent trends in global business. To do so, a bibliometric approach was adopted by using science mapping to uncover the trends in global business based on scientific research published since the COVID-19 pandemic, which represents a major world event that ushered in a new era popularly known as “the new normal” (Lim, 2021, 2022). The bibliometric approach is suitable for identifying trends in scientific research (Donthu et al., 2021) and the science mapping technique is suitable for this purpose from a nomological perspective (Mukherjee et al., 2022). To keep the study sharp and succinct, the next sections report the essence of the methods and findings of this study. In terms of corpus curation, a document search for “final” (publication stage) “journal” (source type) “article” and “review” (document type) published in “2020” and “2021” (year) using the keyword string “('global business' or 'international business')” was conducted within the “article title, abstract, keywords” (search field) and the subject areas of “business, management and accounting” and “economics, econometrics and finance” in Scopus (database) on May 8, 2022, which returned a result of 782 documents. The rationales for these review decisions were guided by Donthu et al. (2021) and Paul et al. (2021). In terms of corpus analysis, the author keywords with a minimum of five occurrences (i.e., default value) in the 782 documents (i.e., 82 out of 2812 keywords) were analyzed in VOSviewer using a co-occurrence analysis that relied on full counting and association strength normalization methods. The reporting of the results of this analysis was guided by Donthu et al. (2021) and Mukherjee et al. (2022) to establish the nomological network of recent trends in global business. This study found 11 themes that characterize the recent trends in global business (Figure 1). The first theme (red cluster) relates to global business operations in times of global crisis. In this theme, the “COVID-19” pandemic takes center stage as a global crisis in the era of mass “globalization.” Noteworthily, this global crisis has affected “business cycles,” most prominently the “international business cycle.” Many firms are affected by “institutional distance” due to the different measures taken by different countries (e.g., “Africa” and “China”) in handling this global crisis. Firms also have to be adept in “risk management” in order to manage challenges such as “supply chain management” during the global crisis whilst keeping up with contemporary “culture” that includes the use of “social media” to engage and manage stakeholders. The second theme (green cluster) relates to global production networks and value chains. This theme highlights that “multinational enterprises” continue to engage in “foreign direct investment” (e.g., “India”) and “international trade” to expand “global production networks” and “global value chains” in the era of “Industry 4.0,” though they may also encounter the age-old challenge of “corruption.” “Bibliometric analysis” is a prominent analytical technique to consolidate existing knowledge and chart the ways forward for these areas and the larger field of “international business.” The third theme (blue cluster) relates to global business in emerging economies and markets. This theme highlights that “MNEs” continue to remain steadfast in their “internationalization” (e.g., “cross-border mergers and acquisitions”) pursuits across “emerging economies” and “emerging markets.” Given the rising trend of “international business cycles” (e.g., internationalization, de-internationalization, re-internationalization), “organizational learning” and “strategic management” of “networks” across these economies and markets are essential to maintain the “performance” of global business in the contemporary marketplace. The fourth theme (yellow cluster) relates to leadership and strategy in global business. This theme indicates ongoing appetite for “internationalization” and “international market entry.” The theme also highlights the continuing importance and relevance of “international business theory” (e.g., “distance,” “diversity”) in shaping the “leadership” and “strategy” (e.g., “international business strategy,” “international strategy”) of global business in the modern era. The fifth theme (purple cluster) relates to innovation and sustainability in global business. In this theme, “innovation” and “sustainability” assume center stage. The theme highlights the growing concern of “climate change” and the increasing need for “multinationals” to assume “corporate social responsibility” and have their “business” innovate for “sustainable development.” “Australia” seems to have a prominent presence in this space. The sixth theme (aqua cluster) relates to cross-cultural management in global business. In this theme, “cross-cultural management” takes center stage. The theme highlights that “cultural intelligence” and a “global mindset” are both crucial for global business, especially in the era of “digitalization,” where firms today can interact and trade with other firms instantaneously (real-time) without having to be physically present. The theme also emphasizes the importance of “international business education” in “higher education” curricula to cultivate these attributes, which have important implications for gaining and maintaining “trust” in global business. This form of management is highly important in recent times, especially in light of the recent conflict (war) ignited by “Russia” that has severely impacted MNEs’ business interest in and trade with this nation (Lim et al., 2022). The seventh theme (orange cluster) relates to small and medium enterprises in global business. This theme highlights that “SMEs” are actively engaging in “international entrepreneurship” (e.g., “international assignments”) and “international marketing” (e.g., “value creation”) to improve their “export performance” (e.g., “value”), wherein “dynamic capabilities” have been flagged as an important enabler and leverage for these endeavors. The eighth theme (brown cluster) relates to institutional environment in global business. This theme highlights the importance of understanding the institutional environment, which may be informed through “institutional theory.” This theory can help “multinational enterprise” to detect, understand, and evaluate the “risk” and “uncertainty” that may arise in the institutional environment when making decisions in the “internationalization process” (e.g., “export,” “location choice,” “trade”). The ninth theme (pink cluster) relates to entrepreneurship in global business. In this theme, “entrepreneurship” assumes center stage. The theme highlights the influence of “institutions” in enabling “FDI” and maintaining “governance” as well as the importance of “knowledge management” for entrepreneurial activities in global business. The tenth theme (peach cluster) relates to cultural distance and family firms in global business. This theme indicates that “cultural distance” and “family firms” often emerge in “systematic reviews” of global business phenomenon, thereby highlighting the centrality of these two concepts in understanding global business in the modern era. Noteworthily, this theme highlights the trajectory of family firms, which have gradually transitioned from local to global players in the international marketplace, wherein the extant and progress of the latter may be understood from a cultural distance perspective (e.g., closer to furthest distance in the short to long run). The eleventh theme (apple green cluster) relates to globalization in global business. Noteworthily, this theme highlights and reaffirms the point that global business exists because of “globalisation.” This finding is significant to alleviate concerns and misguided thoughts about the potential of de-globalization (i.e., regional level), which is unlikely to occur; instead, what is more likely to occur is de-internationalization and re-internationalization (i.e., firm-level) in accordance with the cycles and waves of internationalization among firms (Kafouros et al., 2022; Mandrinos et al., 2022). Further scrutiny of the trajectory of recent trends indicates several interesting observations (Figure 2). The early work (2020.2–2020.4) at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was concentrated on the “risk” and “uncertainty” in “trade,” highlighting the importance of “digitalization,” “leadership,” and “governance” in maintaining “globalization” and steering “MNEs” through the unprecedented crisis, which included “cross-border mergers and acquisitions” for business consolidation, efficiency, and survival. The next period (2020.4–2020.6) was focused on revisiting extant understanding of “international business” and existing “internationalization” theories (e.g., “institutional theory”) using methods such as “bibliometric analysis” and “systematic review.” This is understandable as the COVID-19 pandemic has ignited a rethink in the way global business is conducted, which make retrospective techniques highly popular. While initial interest began with traditional “international business strategy,” the field quickly moved on to advanced issues such as “dynamic capabilities” and “strategic management” and contemporary issues such as “climate change” and “Industry 4.0.” The recent period (2020.6–present) shows that efforts to support the recovery of global business following the COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly gaining momentum. This can be seen in the rise of studies around “internationalisation,” “institutional distance,” “internationalization process,” and “international business cycles,” especially among “family firms” and “emerging economies,” which have been highly impacted by “COVID-19.” The goal of the second study was to explore the recent trends in organizational excellence. This study adopted the same approach (i.e., bibliometric) with the previous study, wherein science mapping is employed to uncover the trends in organizational excellence based on scientific research published since the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, the next sections report the essence of the methods and findings of this study in a sharp and succinct manner. The corpus for this study was curated in the same manner as the previous study, with the only difference being the keyword string that was used: “('business excellence' or 'firm excellence' or 'organizational excellence' or 'business success' or 'firm success' or 'organizational success').” The search returned a result of 385 documents, signaling that the corpus of scientific research on organizational excellence is smaller than that of global business. The corpus of this study was analyzed in the same manner as the previous study, wherein the author keywords with a minimum of five occurrences (i.e., default value) in the 385 documents (i.e., 30 out of 1465 keywords) were analyzed in VOSviewer using a co-occurrence analysis that relied on full counting and association strength normalization methods. Similarly, the reporting of the results of this analysis was guided by Donthu et al. (2021) and Mukherjee et al. (2022) to establish the nomological network of recent trends in organizational excellence. This study found six themes that characterize the recent trends in organizational excellence (Figure 3). The first theme (red cluster) relates to organizational excellence through organizational competitiveness. This theme emphasizes the importance of organizational “competitiveness” in enhancing “firm performance” in order to achieve “organizational excellence.” Among the “critical success factors” highlighted by this theme include developing an “entrepreneurial orientation,” engaging in “talent management,” and implementing “total quality management.” The second theme (green cluster) relates to organizational excellence through knowledge and quality management. This theme highlights the importance of engaging in “knowledge management,” including “knowledge sharing,” and “quality management” as a “strategy” to improve “performance,” especially among “SMEs,” in order to establish “business excellence.” The third theme (blue cluster) relates to organizational excellence through job satisfaction. This theme emphasizes the importance of “job satisfaction” in the pursuit of “organizational success,” which could be fostered through “leadership” and “employee engagement” that instill “motivation” among employees of the organization. The fourth theme (yellow cluster) relates to organizational excellence through sustainability. This theme highlights the importance of “sustainability,” especially in the “manufacturing” industry, in gaining a “competitive advantage,” which could be achieved using total quality management techniques such as “Six Sigma.” “India” seems to have a prominent presence in this space. The fifth theme (purple cluster) relates to organizational excellence through entrepreneurship. This theme emphasizes the importance of “entrepreneurship,” though “business success” in entrepreneurial endeavors is not a given due to “uncertainty” in ensuing results. “South Africa” seems to have a prominent presence in this space. The sixth theme (aqua cluster) relates to organizational excellence through innovation. The theme of “innovation” is well connected to the other themes, as indicated through “literature review” studies in the field, thereby highlighting the critical role of innovation in building and implementing knowledge and quality management, cultivating job satisfaction, addressing sustainability challenges, and empowering entrepreneurship. Further scrutiny of the trajectory of recent trends indicates several interesting observations (Figure 4). The early work (2020.3–2020.5) at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was concentrated on ensuring “firm performance” for business survival, which was considered as a measure of “organizational success.” The “critical success factors” in this period include fostering an “entrepreneurial orientation,” as well as “employee engagement” and “talent management” as employees had to embrace remote work due to the lockdowns and movement controls imposed to curb the pandemic. The next period (2020.5–2020.7) was focused on “innovation” and “strategy” to enable firms, especially those in the “manufacturing” sector, to gain “competitive advantage” and improve their “performance” in the pursuit of regaining “business excellence” and “organizational excellence.” Among the trending mechanisms include “entrepreneurship,” “knowledge sharing,” and “total quality management,” indicating a rapid shift in efforts to move from business survival to success amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent period (2020.7–present) continues to demonstrate extended efforts to strengthen “competitiveness,” which includes “leadership,” “knowledge management,” and specific total quality management techniques such as “Six Sigma.” This shows the scaling of organizational drive to return to normalcy and compete in the marketplace with greater intensity following the acceptance of a new normal in living with COVID-19. Globalization has enabled business to go global, resulting in new opportunities and shapers of excellence. In conjunction with the new editorial leadership at Global Business and Organizational Excellence, this paper endeavored to take stock of recent trends in (1) global business and (2) organizational excellence. Using a multi-study bibliometric analysis of recent trends in the new normal, this paper highlighted that globalization, not de-globalization, continues to be the mainstay of current business. Noteworthily, firms, including small and medium enterprises in emerging economies and markets, continue to operate across global production networks and value chains in times of global crisis (COVID-19). Furthermo

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 102 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.