JIBS-2014-Buckley-Adam Smith’s theory of knowledge and international business theory and practice

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PERSPECTIVE

Adam Smith ’s theory of knowledge and international business theory and practice

Peter J Buckley 1,2

Centre for International Business,Leeds University Business School,UK;2University of International Business and Economics (UIBE),Beijing,P .R.China

Correspondence:

PJ Buckley,Centre for International Business,Leeds University Business School,University of Leeds,Maurice Keyworth Building,Leeds LS29JT,UK.

Tel:+44(0)1133434646,Fax:+44(0)1133434754.

Received:9December 2011Revised:20May 2013Accepted:22July 2013

Online publication date:12September 2013

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that Adam Smith ’s insights and reasoning can improve the theory of international business,and shed light on its academic practices.Smith was a system builder;his theory of knowledge underpinned his entire oeuvre,and understanding his systematic approach can help current international business to achieve a similarly coherent body of theory.Smith ’s approach sheds direct light on decision-making in multinational enterprises,and on cultural distance (the “liability of foreignness ”).Combining these two areas yields new Smithian insights into multinational enterprises from emerging countries.

Journal of International Business Studies (2014)45,102–109.doi:10.1057/jibs.2013.44

Keywords:history of thought;integration of pre-existing theoretical approaches;deci-sion-making;cultural distance;emerging-market multinationals;Adam Smith

INTRODUCTION

This paper sets out to demonstrate how some applications of Adam Smith ’s insights and reasoning can signi ﬁcantly improve the current analysis of international business.In particular,it builds on Smith ’s underlying theory of knowledge,which is antecedent to his two great works –An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776)(hereafter,WN)and The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)(hereafter,TMS).Smith ’s theory of knowledge provides a foundation for understanding the problematic nature of current theories of business,and this paper shows that the system that Smith built can help to deal with these dif ﬁculties.

Smith ’s theory of knowledge may be a fundamental source in understanding complex adaptive systems (Kennedy,2008).The global economy is one such system,and the academic milieu in which this system is analysed is another.This paper therefore applies Smith ’s theory of knowledge both to international business practice and to international business academia.

There are many other profound thinkers from whom we can also learn (Shakespeare,Mill,Aristotle,Plato,Marx),and indeed many other innovative Scottish enlightenment “economists ”(Rutherford,2012),but none of them built a system that includes economics and business theories predicated on a fundamental theory of knowledge.Uniquely,Smith ’s theory of knowledge led to applications in eco-nomics (WN)morality (TMS)and legal rights (Smith,1762–1763,1766,Lectures on Jurisprudence (hereafter,LJ)).Understanding the

Journal of International Business Studies (2014)45,102–109

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