Characterizing international services: an interdisciplinary framework for research and policy

Abstract International services present a challenge for policy work. Their nature resists straightforward characterization, making it difficult to design effective and targeted policies. Research across international business, economic geography, and service management has also grappled with this complexity for years; yet a cohesive, unified, and actionable understanding of international service characteristics remains missing. We examine these complexities with the aim of identifying the central characteristics of international services and how they can be utilized in research and policy. Using three recognized core challenges in international services research as a point of departure, we develop an integrative framework that enables the characterization of all international services for research and policy purposes. The framework consists of four interconnected components: the connectivity of international services to their environment, the configuration of service activities within international organizational setups, the collaborative international interaction between global service actors, and the value creation of international services. We demonstrate how the framework serves as a conceptual tool for research and a practical guide for policy work. We advance international service management research with an interdisciplinary, cohesive, and actionable framework that enables the characterization of international services and policy by providing ways to shape effective global service policies.