IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/iburev/v34y2025i2s0969593124001306.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reconciling the tension between contextualization and generalization in qualitative international business research

Author

Listed:
  • Tsang, Eric W.K.
  • Colpan, Asli M.

Abstract

Recently there have been suggestions for qualitative international business researchers to deal with under-researched and thus unfamiliar contexts of their fieldwork through a process of contextualization. However, in-depth contextualization of a study may be so unique that it inhibits the generalization of a study beyond its context, producing results that have little scientific value. Complementing these contextualization suggestions, our paper addresses the generalization aspect of international business research through drawing examples from a sample of qualitative studies published in International Business Review, Journal of International Business Studies, and Journal of World Business from 2019 to 2023. We discuss how scholars can seek a balance between contextualization and generalization, proposing a five-step approach that helps to develop a unified (rather than fragmented) body of knowledge from qualitative empirical research. Although our discussion is international business-based, our five-step approach is applicable to qualitative management and organizational research in general.

Suggested Citation

  • Tsang, Eric W.K. & Colpan, Asli M., 2025. "Reconciling the tension between contextualization and generalization in qualitative international business research," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(2).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iburev:v:34:y:2025:i:2:s0969593124001306
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2024.102383
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593124001306
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2024.102383?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martin Hemmert, 2025. "Unpacking the role of context in East Asian innovation and entrepreneurship: insights and research implications," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(2), pages 167-186, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:iburev:v:34:y:2025:i:2:s0969593124001306. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/133/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.