Rising powers from emerging markets ? The changing face of international business

There is recognition that some emerging economies, in particular China, India and Brazil and their economic dynamism have the potential to change the face of international business (IB). Both in terms of theory but also in terms of the amount of empirical evidence that is currently generated in the domain. Terminology and acronyms such as BRICs, MINTs and ?rising powers? are used to highlight the importance of the discourse taking place. However, what is meant by these terms, who is ?in? and who is ?out? is less clear. This introduction to the special issue theme ?Rising powers from emerging markets ? The changing face of international business? attempts to explore the phenomenon of ?rising?, what we actually mean by ?rising powers? and provides an overview of IB contributions to emerging country multinationals. We conclude by asking whether emerging country multinationals are actually ?rising powers? and pose the question whether they are indeed challenging the ?rules of the game?.