Jianqing Lin

Supervisors: Prof Slavo Radosevic and Prof Julia Korosteleva

Present status: Mphil Candidate

Working title of thesis: Has digitalisation challenged internalisation theory’s assumptions about the nature of firm-specific advantages (FSAs)?

Research: My research aims to conduct empirical studies to examine the real impact of digitalisation to DSMNCs and evaluate internalisation theory through the rigours empirical studies. Digital service multinational corporates (DSMNCs) significantly contribute to the rapid economy-development in developing and developed countries in recent decades. Digitalisation might change the nature of their firm-specific advantages (FSAs). And the cross-bounder context in host markets, which contains different factors (e.g., cross-culture, the divergent laws, the consumers’ preferences), affects DSMNCs’ internalisation. Moreover, DSMNCs expanded their international business depending on the advanced IT networks and other innovative technologies, such as edge-computing in 5G. These novel factors led to DSMNCs’ quick business development in host countries. Thus, internalisation theory really need to be evaluated through rigours empirical studies. My study will review and synthesise internalisation theory along with DSMNCs digitalisation strategies. Meanwhile, my research will adopt the dynamic capability theory to analyse the dependent variable and independent variables through qualitative methods, such as interviews, and quantitative survey by DSMNCs’ staff. Consequently, the evidenced findings are supposed to discussed with DSMNCs’ strategies in the digital context and reevaluate the validation of internalisation theory.

Research interests: Digitalisation, International Business, Technological Innovations, Strategy and entrepreneurship

Research Centre Affiliation: UCL Centre for Comparative Studies of Emerging Economies, Research Student Seminar Series