1. ¹Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
2. ²Auburn University, Auburn, USA
3. ³University of Tulsa, Tulsa, USA

Correspondence: GTM Hult, Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1121, USA. Tel: +1 517 353 4336; Fax: +1 517 432 1009; E-mail: hult@msu.edu

Received 21 May 2005; Revised 29 July 2007; Accepted 24 September 2007; Published online 22 May 2008.

Abstract

A sizeable body of international business (IB) research is devoted to building knowledge about the determinants of organizational performance. A key precursor to accurately diagnosing why some organizations succeed in the international marketplace while others struggle is operationalizing performance appropriately. Yet, to date, no systematic investigation has considered how well IB research measures performance. We examine the measurement of performance in 96 articles published in the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of International Business Studies, Management Science, Organization Science, and the Strategic Management Journal between 1995 and 2005. The findings reveal that most studies do not measure performance in a manner that captures the multifaceted nature of the construct. We describe the implications of these results, and offer suggestions for improving future practice.