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Context:
The sharing economy (SE) is growing rapidly around the globe, but SE firms often encounter
challenges and even failures when entering some countries. For example, Uber has expanded to
nearly 80 countries, and Airbnb is operating in 191 countries (Kerr, 2016; Zook, 2017). However, SE
firms also encounter varying degrees of expansion success across different countries. For instance, in
addition to its well-publicized struggles in Germany (Richter, 2014), Uber has, after 2 years and $2
billion in losses, ‘‘given up on its ambition to conquer the Chinese ridesharing market … an incredibly
complex market that differs culturally, politically, and economically from the United States’’ (Salomon,
2016), a situation that also might explain Airbnb’s struggles in Japan (The Economist, 2018). SE firms
are often unsure of how to internationalise their business models successfully as ‘‘digital firms will
encounter host country barriers’’ that differ from those they encountered in their own home country and
in various host countries (Coviello, Kano, & Liesch, 2017 p.1154)
Task:
Your task in this assignment is to present a 1500-word essay (+/-10%) that addresses the following
statement:
In line with current academic literature, present a discussion on the challenges / barriers faced by
organisations specifically engaged with international expansion in the sharing economy. You may take
into consideration for example the cultural norms versus other more global-level norms e.g. the global
norms of homogenous groups such as millennials may conflict with the cultural norms of any given
country.
Therefore, please critically review relevant literature to present a coherent, authoritative argument
presented in a logical form on one industry of your choice which is directly related to the sharing
economy.
Your review of literature should be current (no older than 5 years – 2017 to 2023) and should provide a
balanced understanding of the challenges / barriers faced.
Format & style:
The emphasis of this assignment is on the critical analysis and synthesis of existing research on entry
modes of internationalisation within the sharing economy with particular attention to challenges /
barriers. In order to successfully complete this assignment, you would need to:
(1) search for and identify relevant academic journal articles around the sharing economy and
internationalisation, challenges / barriers to entry, using academic databases and appropriate
keywords. Note that more recent papers are likely to incorporate the most up-to-date
understanding about the model and to also discuss key past developments around the topic.
(2) examine in-depth existing research, i.e. identifying classic/most-cited pieces of work, critically
reviewing relevant papers (taking notes on their strengths and weaknesses, critiquing the
methods used, distinguishing between findings and opinions), comparing and contrasting
previous studies to identify similarities and differences between them and the key themes in
previous work (e.g. multiple studies might have focused on a certain aspect or challenge).
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(3) synthesize the conceptual and empirical literature on this issue, to provide a critical overview of
how the sharing economy has internationalised and what challenges / barriers they have
encountered. Your essay should NOT resemble an annotated bibliography in which you
summarize briefly each article that you have reviewed. While a summary of what you have
read is a part of it, your essay should go well beyond that and should provide a synthesis of
different pieces of research that focus on this specific topic. So, you must critique and
synthesise the relevant literature, not describe or simply summarise it.
(4) illustrate your arguments, using examples from a sharing economy industry (of your choice)
that has internationalised and has faced these challenges / barriers. Note however that your
examples should be brief; the focus of this assignment is on existing research around the
challenges / barriers to internationalisation for the sharing economy.
This essay requires that you widely cite previous work, and in this sense, it should resemble the style
of the literature review sections that we typically come across in top-quality journal papers in Marketing
& International Business (e.g. Journal of International Business Studies, International Business
Review, Journal of International Management, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research,
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Marketing Science, European Journal of Marketing,
International Marketing Review, Journal of International Marketing).
This assignment will be very helpful in the development of key skills: searching for relevant information,
critically reviewing and meaningfully organising previous research on a certain issue, synthesising and
analysing such information, etc. In this sense, this assignment will prepare you for similar tasks in the
short-term (e.g. the literature review as part of your dissertation in your Honours year) and long-term
(i.e. employment) future.
Guidelines:
You need to make sure that the following guidelines are carefully and thoroughly met:
Your assignment should be presented as an individual essay (14-point Arial for titles and
subtitles, and 12-point Arial, double-spaced, justified alignment, for main body) with a word limit
of 1,500 words (plus or minus 10%, and excluding references). DO NOT use appendices.
To provide a rigorous review and critique, you are expected to read widely and reference a
minimum of ten journal articles throughout the assignment but this should be seen as a
minimum, not a benchmark. You will be expected to conduct your own independent literature
searches using the electronic databases, especially Business Source Complete and Emerald.
Use quotes taken directly by a journal paper sparingly, only when key meaning would be lost if
you did not use the original wording. If you decide to quote directly, make sure that you cite the
page number from the original document as well e.g. (Kano, & Liesch, 2017 p.1154)
The essay should be presented in an appropriate academic style with section headings and sub
headings. Your work must have the following:
Title page:
This is the typical cover page that you include in all your assignments. Note that you must
state the name of the class, the class organiser, the tutor’s name, the tutorial group, the title
of the assignment, the date of the submission and the word count (excl. references) of your
essay in the title page.
Introduction:
You should smoothly introduce your work to the reader by telling them what is in this essay
and how it is structured. Do not use long introductions filled with irrelevant and general
discussions (e.g., globalisation, etc.). Keep this section simple and remain focused on what
your assignment is about and what structure it follows; one small paragraph will suffice.
Main Body:
Do NOT use ‘Main Body’ as a heading. Use appropriate headings and sub-headings to
systematically organise your assignment, and present a critique of theoretical arguments
and empirical findings relating to the assignment topic.
Conclusion:
Wrap up your work by briefly highlighting the key issues you addressed in your essay.
Conclusion is NOT summary; it should be authoritative and should give a strong indication
of your in-depth understanding of the topic. One-two paragraphs will suffice.
References:
All data must be sourced and relevant references cited. THOROUGHLY follow the Harvard
Referencing System (HRS). Neglecting established HRS conventions – citations in main
text as well as the end references – will impact negatively on your mark. Wikipedia is NOT
an acceptable source of reference and citing Wikipedia will attract a penalty of 5 marks.
Assessment:
The quality of your work will be assessed based on the breadth and depth of analytical discussions
developed in the light of solid academic journal articles. Your assignment must demonstrate a high
degree of analytical thinking. Therefore avoid presenting a descriptive piece of work which is less likely
to produce satisfactory results.
Your assignment will be assessed using the following criteria:
your ability to summarise the key definitions and critically evaluate the theories and concepts
that appear in the body of research relevant to the topic, highlighting any inconsistencies;
your ability to critically evaluate previous research by questioning the theoretical assumptions
and research methods used therefore identifying the limitations of the research;
your ability to provide a coherent, authoritative argument and present it in a logical form.
Detailed information on the marking criteria has also been uploaded on Myplace.
Support prior to submission:
The assignment will be extensively discussed during Lecture 2 where guidance about how to access
relevant sources will also be provided. You will have the chance to ask questions about your individual
assignment during your tutorials. An individual assignment Q&A will also take place during Lecture 6.
You will also have the chance to discuss with the class co-ordinator during her student hours in order
to any questions you may have. An online discussion forum has also been set up on Myplace so that
students can ask questions about the assignment. The class coordinator will aim to respond within 24
hours to all queries. To ensure fairness and transparency for all students, no individual email replies
will be provided.
Submission Information:
Deadline: 12noon, Tuesday 21 February 2023
You are required to upload one full copy of the assignment (including references) on to MyPlace.
Students must NOT submit a hard copy to the UG Office. You must use the plagiarism software
‘Turnitin’ in advance of the submission of your assignment.
There are significant penalties for late submission of work. Detail of the late penalties can be found in
the University Late Submission Policy:
https://www.strath.ac.uk/sees/studentpolicies/
Receipt of feedback following submission:
Your assignment will be marked and returned by: 14 March 2023, on Myplace. You will have the
chance to discuss overall feedback with your tutors during Tutorial 3, or visit the class co-ordinator or
your tutor, in order to discuss any concerns, in their weekly student hours.