Tatarinov Katherine, Ambos Tina C, Tschang Feichin Ted
Geneva School of Economics and Management (GSEM), University of Geneva, 40 Blvd. du Pont-d'Arve, CH-1211, 3233 Geneva Bureau, Switzerland.
Singapore Management University, 81 Victoria St, Singapore, 188065 Singapore.
J Int Bus Stud. 2023;54(4):631-656. doi: 10.1057/s41267-022-00526-6. Epub 2022 Jun 7.
Digital solutions are increasingly used to address "wicked problems" that are locally embedded but require global approaches. Scaling these solutions internationally is imperative for their success, but to date we know little about this process. Using a qualitative case study methodology, our paper analyzes how four digital solutions driven by the United Nations are built and how they scale internationally. These solutions address wicked problems through artificial intelligence, blockchain, and geospatial mapping, and are embedded in networks of partners which evolve during scaling to create unique ecosystem roles and configurations. We identify different ecosystem roles and find that the specific properties of digital solutions - modularity, generativity and affordances - enable either adaptation or replication during scaling. Building on these insights, we derive a typology of four different types of international scaling, which vary in their ecosystem versatility (how the ecosystem changes across locations) and the local adaptation of the application (the problems the solution addresses). This study presents a new way to examine the replication and adaptation dilemma for ecosystems and extends internationalization theory to the digital world.
数字解决方案越来越多地用于解决那些虽根植于本地但需要全球方法应对的“棘手问题”。在国际上推广这些解决方案对其成功至关重要，但迄今为止我们对这一过程了解甚少。通过定性案例研究方法，我们的论文分析了由联合国推动的四个数字解决方案是如何构建的以及它们如何在国际上推广。这些解决方案通过人工智能、区块链和地理空间映射来解决棘手问题，并嵌入合作伙伴网络，这些网络在推广过程中不断演变，以创造独特的生态系统角色和配置。我们识别出不同的生态系统角色，并发现数字解决方案的特定属性——模块化、生成性和可供性——在推广过程中能够实现适应或复制。基于这些见解，我们得出了四种不同类型国际推广的类型学，它们在生态系统通用性（生态系统如何随地点变化）和应用的本地适应性（解决方案所解决的问题）方面各不相同。本研究提出了一种新的方式来审视生态系统的复制与适应困境，并将国际化理论扩展到数字世界。
