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🎙️ Welcome back to Revise and Resubmit — the podcast where fresh research meets fierce curiosity, and the footnotes are just as thrilling as the headlines.

Today’s episode? A masterclass in strategy, statecraft, and ships. Or should we say: "When Great Powers Struggle: How Geopolitical Alignments of Small States Are Influenced by Their MNEs." 🌍⚓📜

📅 Published ahead of print on June 13, 2025, this powerhouse piece comes to us from Saara Matala and Christian Stutz, and it’s anchored in none other than the prestigious Journal of Management Studies — yes, that’s right, an FT50 journal 🏆📘 — published by the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

What happens when a small country like Finland finds itself in the orbit of a crumbling superpower? Do its multinational giants play along... or pivot away?

This research dives into two pivotal deglobalization eras — comparing shipbuilders who clung to a sinking Soviet alliance with paper producers who steered westward in search of calmer seas. And the twist? 🌀 It wasn’t just global economics—it was Finland’s informal institutions that either discredited or legitimized the alignments, nudging corporate diplomacy toward vastly different fates.

📖 Defensive or explorative, retreat or re-align—this tale of two industries is more than a history lesson. It’s a geopolitical thriller that forces us to ask:
Are today’s multinationals quietly rewriting tomorrow’s alliances... without ever stepping into a war room? 🤔🌐💼

Huge thanks to Saara Matala, Christian Stutz, and the incredible team behind the Journal of Management Studies for making this cutting-edge research available to all of us.

🎧 Be sure to subscribe to “Revise and Resubmit” on Spotify, and follow our YouTube home at Weekend Researcher. We’re also streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple Podcast — wherever you listen, we’re there, bringing big ideas to curious minds.

💡Now press play, and let’s rethink the power of the “small state.”

Reference

Matala, S. and Stutz, C. (2025), When Great Powers Struggle: How Geopolitical Alignments of Small States Are Influenced by Their MNEs. J. Manage. Stud.. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.13254

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