Innovation of international business support: a research agenda for commercial diplomacy

Commercial diplomacy plays a crucial role in the interplay between international business and international relations, yet research regarding it is limited and focuses on a macro-level international relations perspective whereas more integrative meso- and micro-level research is needed. This article presents a short overview of the current stance of literature on commercial diplomacy and identifies: 1) the international business-government relationship; 2) the organisation of commercial diplomacy; 3) value creation as promising areas for future research. This research identifies how mainstream concepts from international business are relevant to commercial diplomacy and provides guidelines towards the use of explanatory multi-method research with three units of analysis (government, business and individual actors) featuring both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.