Resilience is an adaptive capability to prepare and respond to a disruption in order to achieve an effective recovery, which realizes a return to a normal state of operation after the disruption ( Tukamuhabwa et al., 2015 ). Consequently, resilient trade networks ensure the sustainability of their activities, such as exports and imports, for a successful long-term operation. They have the ability to recover from shocks and are robust and adaptive to crisis, external influences and change. Success factors for a decreasing vulnerability are considered diversity instead of dependency, spatial dispersion, regionalisation to a certain degree ( Javorcik, 2020 ), adaption of products and design of the value chain as well as resilience monitoring ( Miroudot, 2020 ).
Published in Chapter:
Internationalization in Times of Uncertainty: Expanding From Europe Towards Asia
Hannes Thees (Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany)
Copyright: © 2022
|Pages: 27
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-8339-5.ch010
Abstract
This chapter aims to explore the uncertainties that the COVID-19 pandemic induced in internationalization. In this regard, the COVID-19 pandemic challenges companies worldwide as global value chains were interrupted and business models were contested. The theoretical background describes the internationalization processes and the specific role of foreign direct investments (FDI), but also the basics of uncertainty in doing business. Because of the scope of internationalization and the peculiarities of the COVID-19 pandemic, a descriptive analysis of secondary data from global databases was conducted. This includes macroeconomic data and also global research reports. With a focus on European-Asian relations, the results reveal an interruption in the flows of goods and services in Eurasia, but more importantly, also in FDI. Further on, there is a correlation between uncertainty and FDI flows. Finally, this chapter discusses future directions in internationalization, including resilience, regionalization, and the rise of China in global economics.