Book 19

Volume 19 of "Advances in International Marketing" is quite unique. It features essays in marketing and international business, written by doctoral alumni of Michigan State University. Based on the 2008 symposium held at Michigan State University (MSU), the authors offer personal reflections of the contributions their mentors, peers, and the larger academic community have made to their professional development. These deliberations serve to illustrate how individual research streams, whose foundations were established during the doctoral program, took off and became primary areas of specialization for individual alumni. The collective contribution of MSU doctoral alumni to the fields of international business and innovation/new products is truly remarkable. Such high visibility of MSU alumni in the international business literature undoubtedly is a major reason why MSU continues to receive high marks and rankings in academic circles.

Book 20

Volume 20 of "Advances in International Marketing" guest-edited by Professors Sinkovics and Ghauri, addresses the impact on international marketing of major trends in the external and internal environment of the firm: technology-enabled international marketing research, global account management, procurement and international supplier networks, internationalization of small and entrepreneurial firms, outsourcing and offshoring, and reliability and validity issues for construct measurement. The volume is organized in four part. Part one presents a selection of papers that focus on the internationalization process of the firm. Part two combines studies with a small firm perspective and a focus on entrepreneurship. In the Part 3 on collaborative relationships, three studies examine value creation in strategic alliances, investigate reasons for international joint venture dissolution and offer a conceptual contribution on diversification - whether diversification results in a firm's value premium or a firm's value discount. Part 4 is devoted to methodological advancements. This section provides excellent examples of methodological challenges faced by today's scholars and managers alike.