In the current business and political climate, deliberations concerning international trading agreements and their importance to B2B firms are increasing. Although the volume and value of international exchanges are growing, this study reveals that literature exploring issues concerning B2B international business, and particularly the role technological advancements play supporting B2B cross-border trade, is limited. This paper provides an overview of research contributions published in the Industrial Marketing Management (IMM) journal in order to reveal the current state of knowledge, identify research gaps, and propose further research directions. Following a twostage approach, we reveal that although ‘trade’ is at the heart of IMM research, there is a scarcity of empirical studies examining technological advancements and B2B international, as well as local, trade; some attention, however, has been placed on the exploration of B2B international trade issues. Building on our findings, we propose future research directions.

Introduction

According to the International Trade Centre (www.intracen.org), the value of B2B international exchanges is growing. This growth is directly related to opportunities deriving from international trade initiatives such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as well as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As Lacka, Chan, and Wang (2019) point out, however, ‘in order for the initiatives, such as NAFTA, CPTPP, BRI, among others, to have a meaningful impact on 21st century global economy, effective and efficient cooperation of businesses of all types and sizes in regional as well as international trade is required’. This has not been fully explored thus far, and Lacka et al. (2019) therefore call for research to examine issues concerning B2B international trade, particularly explorations of the role of technological advancements in B2B cross-border trade, as previous research points out that technological innovations can support businesses and international trade growth (Gregory, Ngo, & Karavdic, 2019; Weerawarden, Sullivan, & Liesch, 2019). Responding to Lacka et al. (2019)’s call, this study sets out to provide an overview of research contributions concerning B2B international trade, and the role technological innovations play supporting businesses in those efforts. By doing so this paper aims to contribute to the literature at two levels. First, it aims to provide a holistic overview of research contributions to technologies in B2B international trade published in Industrial Marketing Management (IMM) journal. Second, it aims to identify research gaps and proposes future research directions to advance knowledge and understanding of the role of technological innovations in B2B international trade. To fulfil this aim a two-stage approach is adopted, consisting of a bibliometric overview of research contributions published in IMM, which then informs a systematic literature review based on which key publications are discussed and future avenues of research are suggested.