jibs-contribution-framing

Framing the IB Theoretical Contribution (jibs-contribution-framing)

When to trigger

• Results exist but the "so what for IB theory" is thin or implicit
• A reviewer says "the contribution is incremental" or "this could be a single-country management paper"
• You need explicit contribution sentences for the introduction and discussion
• You must connect a robust finding to JIBS's phenomenon-and-impact mission

The JIBS contribution bar

JIBS expects every manuscript to (a) address a real-world international-business phenomenon and (b) state explicitly what it contributes to IB theory. Incremental extensions are discouraged. A finding that merely replicates a known management relationship in a new country does not clear the bar; the contribution must change how the field understands cross-border activity, the MNE, internationalization, cross-cultural interaction, or the global political economy.

Build the contribution claim

1. Name the IB theory you move. Internalization/OLI, Uppsala/process, institutional distance/voids, springboard/LLL, cross-cultural value theory, or the IB political-economy lens — state which you extend, qualify, or overturn.
2. State the cross-level/cross-country insight. Make the country/culture-as-level payoff explicit: what does the field now understand about how the macro context operates on firms/individuals across borders?
3. Show non-incrementality. Contrast your claim with the prevailing IB expectation and say what is surprising or boundary-shifting. Articulate the boundary conditions you establish.
4. Generalize responsibly. Given your country set, state the scope of generalization — which contexts the claim travels to and which it does not. Over-generalizing beyond the sampled countries is a common reviewer flag.

Triple implications: theory, practice, and societal impact

JIBS frames IB research, under its current editorial vision, as research that should also "matter for a better world." Beyond theoretical and managerial implications, articulate societal/policy implications where warranted (e.g., for global value chains, labor, sustainability, or development). The journal's editorial structure includes a Societal Impact dimension, so a credible impact statement strengthens fit.

Write the contribution sentences

Place an explicit contribution statement in both the introduction (forward-looking) and the discussion (delivered). Each should answer: What did the IB field believe? What do we now know? Why could no single-country study have shown this?

Non-incrementality proof

Before accepting a contribution sentence, make it survive four JIBS objections:

Objection	Required answer
"This is domestic management in another country."	Name the cross-border, comparative, institutional-distance, MNE, or global-value-chain mechanism that no single-country design could reveal.
"The result is a boundary condition only."	Explain why the boundary changes theory rather than merely adding a moderator.
"The sample is context-bound."	State the exact contexts where the claim travels and where it should not.
"The impact claim is decorative."	Tie societal or policy implications to the IB mechanism, not to generic managerial relevance.

Use this proof to decide whether the paper needs a sharper IB theory move, a stronger comparative design, or a more modest scope statement. A narrow but honest IB contribution is stronger than a global claim unsupported by the country set.

Output format

【IB theory moved】extend / qualify / overturn ...
【Cross-level insight】country/culture-as-level payoff ...
【Non-incrementality】prevailing IB expectation vs. your claim ...
【Boundary conditions & scope】travels to / not to ...
【Implications】theory | practice | societal impact ...
【Contribution sentences】intro + discussion drafts ...
【Next step】jibs-tables-figures / jibs-writing-style

Anti-patterns

• "We confirm X in country Y" framed as a contribution (incremental replication).
• Leaving the IB theoretical contribution implicit in the data.
• Over-generalizing beyond the sampled countries.
• A purely managerial implications section with no theory or societal payoff.