| Summary: | China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious global infrastructure development
strategy that covers 152 countries around the world. Despite strong support from the Chinese
government, public response to BRI has been quite mixed in Europe, because people are still
not sure about how this would benefit or harm their individual and national interests. We
address this uncertainty about the potential outcomes of BRI by exploring how it is perceived
by the managers working in professional services firms in the partner countries in Europe. We
also introduce a new construct, ‘BRI-Readiness’, the ability of managers and organizations to
face the challenges and tap the opportunities offered by BRI. We also plan to develop a scale
to operationalize BRI-Readiness. Finally, we explore the impact of psychic distance (in terms
of their cultural values and business practices) and cultural familiarity on the acceptance of
BRI by the managers in professional services firms in Europe.
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