Institute for International Management and Entrepreneurship

The Institute for International Management and Entrepreneurship (IIME) is an interdisciplinary community of scholars at Loughborough University London. We explore the intersections of international management, entrepreneurship, political economy, employment relations, and economic sociology, examining how management, entrepreneurialism, labour, and employment relations evolve amid technological, political, and economic change — and how these transformations shape work, governance, and innovation globally. Located within the interdisciplinary environment of Loughborough University London, IIME collaborates with colleagues in Institutes studying design, media, digital technologies, development, diplomacy and governance, and sport business.

This unique setting enables us to bring fresh perspectives to the pressing challenges facing organisations and societies in the 21st-century global economy. Our research is not siloed in abstract theory but grounded in global, political, and practical contexts. IMEG researchers publish in leading journals across international management (e.g.

Journal of International Business Studies, Strategic Management Journal ), entrepreneurship (e.g. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Business Venturing ), political economy (e.g. Review of International Political Economy, Socio-Economic Review, New Political Economy ), sociology (e.g.

Sociology, Theory and Society, Work, Employment and Society ) and organization theory (e.g. Organization Studies ). Our work spans themes such as: 1.

Global Production, Internationalisation & Institutional Change We explore how institutions vary across national contexts and affect multinational enterprise (MNE) strategies and practices – including human resource management practices – but also how the latter affect national contexts. For example, we investigate how outward investment from emerging economies is shaped by institutional determinants, and in turn shape home and host country institutions. We also research how the global division of labour along Global Value Chains has changed the way in which companies are managed and governed and the impact this is having not just on workers and other stakeholders, but the geopolitical order in general.

2. Corporate Governance & Business–State Relations We examine how different governance regimes — from authoritarian and state capitalism to democratic systems — affect firm strategy, performance, and risk. Within this theme, we ask: how do MNEs engage with emerging market institutions, regulatory frameworks, and government actors?

We also have an interest how governments as owners of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) affect the global economy. This includes a research interest in how governments use industrial policy – notably through SOEs – try and implement economic change, including green transition to a low carbon economy. This also involves research on “just transition,” i.e. the impact of green transition on different socio-economi