2IS3D - International Business: The role of Innovation/Sustainability, Diplomacy, Digital Transformation and other internal drivers

International business is increasingly shaped by rapid technological change, sustainability challenges, geopolitical uncertainty, and evolving institutional and competitive environments. Understanding how firms respond to these transformations is essential to explaining their internationalization strategies, international competitiveness, and performance across markets.

The 2IS3D research project examines the factors that influence firms’ internationalization, with particular attention to innovation and sustainability, diplomacy, digital transformation, and other internal drivers. Innovation and sustainability are increasingly interconnected strategic dimensions that help firms develop new products, processes, and business models, strengthen competitive advantage, and respond to stakeholder and market expectations.

Diplomacy and institutional relationships also play an important role in international business by facilitating interactions among firms, governments, institutions, and other stakeholders. Business and economic diplomacy may help reduce barriers, build international networks, access foreign markets, and navigate increasingly complex geopolitical and institutional environments.

At the same time, digital transformation, including artificial intelligence, digital platforms, data-driven technologies, and other emerging technologies, is reshaping how firms identify international opportunities, organize cross-border activities, engage with stakeholders, and develop new modes of internationalization.

Beyond these dimensions, the project also considers internal organizational drivers, including firms’ resources and capabilities, strategic orientation, leadership, human capital, organizational characteristics, and other firm-specific factors that may influence internationalization decisions and outcomes.

Overall, 2IS3D adopts an integrated, multidisciplinary perspective to investigate how innovation, sustainability, diplomacy, digital transformation, and internal organizational drivers interact to shape firms’ internationalization processes, strategies, competitiveness, and performance in an increasingly digital, sustainable, and uncertain global business environment.

Research Group: Territories and Organisations for Sustainable Development (TOSD)