From LLL to IOL³: Moving dragon multinationals research forward

In the past decade, there has been a large number of studies on how firms from the fast developing Asia-Pacific region initiate and manage their international business expansions, leading to an emerging area of research which could be labeled as dragon multinationals research. To illustrate how we can move dragon multinationals research forward, in this editorial we first expand John Mathews’ linkage-leverage-learning (LLL) model to an extended framework of inward linkages-outward linkages-leverage-learning (IOL³) framework that aims to help us better analyze what makes dragon multinationals’ international expansion unique. We then introduce the papers selected for this Special Issue and highlight their contributions in line with our proposed new analytical framework. Finally, we use the framework to explore opportunities and directions for future research on dragon multinationals.