As international business marks 50 years of its establishment as a distinct domain of academic
research, discussions on both themajor contributions of the field and its future research directions
have drawn great interest in the current literature. The arrival at a clear consensus on these issues,
however, has been set back by the lack of resolution in the search for a unifying, integrative
framework of international business. Drawing on theories of knowledge organisation and on
extant reviews of international business research, this paper proposes an emergent international
business research framework anchored around four unifying themes expressed as broad
international business research questions. A content analysis of 1689 studies in the Journal of
InternationalBusiness Studies (JIBS) fromitsmaidenissue in 1970 to 2008 and studies classified as
international business in nature done prior to 1960 confirms the trajectories of international
business research along the four themes. It is suggested that these major research themes serve
as the main research pillars that define the international business domain, framing research
done so far, and driving future research in the field. Areas of research intensity and opportunity
are identified along with implications for international business research and theory-building.