{"title":"Industry globalization: construct, measurement and variation across industries","authors":"Rakesh B. Sambharya, F. Contractor, A. Rasheed","doi":"10.1108/mbr-04-2022-0053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/mbr-04-2022-0053","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the major issues relating to the conceptualization and operationalization of industry globalization.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Globalized industries have four important characteristics: cross-border product flows, cross-border capital flows, dispersal of global value chains and global competition. However, lack of availability of data limits our ability to develop an operationalization that encompasses all these four aspects of globalization.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000The authors identify some of the most important factors driving industry globalization as well as the major impediments to globalization.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Although the term “globalization” has attained a nearly “taken for granted” status, its meaning is rather vaguely specified and is often context dependent. This paper delineates the domain of the construct and identifies many of the practical issues in operationalizing the construct.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46630,"journal":{"name":"Multinational Business Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46085816","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ettore Spadafora, Kwabena Aboah Addo, T. Kostova, Makafui Kwame Kumodzie-Dussey, E. Leo, Valentina Marano, Marc van Essen
{"title":"Board independence and firm internationalization: a meta-analysis","authors":"Ettore Spadafora, Kwabena Aboah Addo, T. Kostova, Makafui Kwame Kumodzie-Dussey, E. Leo, Valentina Marano, Marc van Essen","doi":"10.1108/mbr-04-2021-0055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/mbr-04-2021-0055","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Despite agency theory and resource dependence theory suggesting that – albeit through different mechanisms – board independence positively influences firm internationalization, empirical evidence on this relationship has been mixed and inconclusive. Based on this, the purpose of the present study is twofold: first, to analyze and synthesize the existing empirical literature and, second, to develop new theoretical insights on the effect of board independence on firm internationalization.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The authors used advanced meta-analytic techniques that allowed them, first, to synthesize the existing empirical literature on the board independence–firm internationalization relationship and, second, to examine the effect of several contingencies on such relationship. This study relies on data from 87 primary studies (published and unpublished) carried out in multiple academic fields in the period 1998–2021 and covering 49 countries.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The results confirm the established agency and resource-dependence arguments, suggesting that higher board independence is associated with greater firm internationalization. Moreover, the results show that the focal relationship is moderated by home-country formal and informal institutional factors, and in particular, the legal protection of minority shareholders and family business legitimacy. The authors do not find evidence that CEO duality and board size moderate the focal relationship or that board independence has a stronger effect on breadth than on depth of internationalization.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This study lies at the intersection of the literatures on corporate governance and firm internationalization and on comparative corporate governance of the multinational firm, shedding further light on the role played by institutional environments in determining the effectiveness of corporate governance mechanisms.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46630,"journal":{"name":"Multinational Business Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44109537","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A bibliometric analysis and future research opportunities in Multinational Business Review","authors":"R. Jain, C. Oh, Daniel Shapiro","doi":"10.1108/mbr-01-2022-0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/mbr-01-2022-0001","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to evaluate the past contributions of Multinational Business Review (MBR), identify research gaps and opportunities and provide a research agenda that addresses several sustainability-related and other contemporary challenges.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This study analyzes 400 papers published between 2003 and 2021 to map the MBR’s intellectual and conceptual structure using advanced bibliometric techniques.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The bibliographic coupling technique identifies core clusters in MBR papers, and subsequent content analysis of these clusters reveals the following five research fronts: internalization theory and the future of international business (IB) research; internationalization and firm performance; regionalization versus globalization debate; internationalization by emerging market firms; and global dynamic capabilities and firm internationalization.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive analysis of past contributions of MBR to research on IB and suggests a way for MBR to play a seminal role in addressing contemporary challenges in IB.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46630,"journal":{"name":"Multinational Business Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42212378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The impact of foreign firm ownership on local renewal activities","authors":"M. Henning, Ramsin Yakob","doi":"10.1108/mbr-03-2021-0027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/mbr-03-2021-0027","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this study is to investigate how an increasingly intertwined international geography of ownership affects renewal activities and processes, including innovation, in established local companies that have shifted into foreign ownership. The authors develop a framework for the relations between (foreign) ownership and local renewal activities and processes (including innovation). The authors focus on access to resources for renewal, the development of capabilities for innovation and change, and local mandates to pursue renewal. Based on case studies of eight formerly Swedish-owned mid-size manufacturing companies that have shifted into and remained under foreign ownership during most of the 2010s, the authors develop a framework concerned with the relations between (foreign) ownership and renewal activities and processes in local firms.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Multiple intensive case studies of eight previously Swedish-owned mid-sized manufacturing companies to gain qualitative insights into the resource, capabilities and mandates for renewal under new ownership conditions. Empirical data collected primarily through semi-structured interviews and complemented with secondary material, including annual reports (2010–2018), databases, press releases and information on company websites. Empirical data were analyzed thematically to isolate key findings pertaining to renewal. At the core of the analysis process was the gradual creation of a framework that stipulates the relations between (foreign) ownership and firm renewal activities and processes.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The companies are endowed with liberal but conditional mandates to pursue strategic innovation in their original sites and draw on a stronger resource repertoire within their ownership spheres. In comparison to the established international business (IB) literature, the authors add considerations about how local aspects interact with international ones to form global distribution of renewal activities in our time. To economic geographers and innovation scholars, consideration of the local and its importance in renewal activities and processes is certainly not new, but we show how ownership is an important aspect that conditions some of the strategic interactions that companies have with their “outsides”.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Contributes to the burgeoning conversation between IB and economic geography disciplines. Emphasizes a deeper local aspect to the IB literature, partly how companies access resources and capabilities from the ownership sphere at points that suit their renewal efforts and partly the persistence of path-dependent aspects of local companies even as they get acquired by multinationals. Emphasizes ownership and mandate aspects to the literature in Economic geography, which tends to focus on regional/non-regional assets for renewal and innovation. Findings show that the non-regional assets are, in fact, two distinct categories as ownership becomes internat","PeriodicalId":46630,"journal":{"name":"Multinational Business Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48805786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Business against violence: assessing how business impacts peace","authors":"J. Katsos, J. Forrer","doi":"10.1108/mbr-03-2021-0043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/mbr-03-2021-0043","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This study aims to advance theory on business in conflict zones (often termed “business for peace”) so as to enable the categorization of empirical work testing the field’s assertions.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000In this conceptual paper, the authors present an assessment framework for categorizing research on the peace impacts of business entities, as suggested by Oetzel et al. (2009). This framework allows researchers to make comparisons across methodologies and fields on whether particular business actions contribute to peace.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Drawing on peace and conflict research, this study proposes a three-stage process in response to the presence of violence and its level of intensity, identify applicable research methods to assess the impact of business actions on peace at each of the three stages and offer suggestions for future research.\u0000\u0000\u0000Social implications\u0000Categorizing research impacts in the business for peace field will allow societal actors to evaluate the efficacy of claimed business for peace efforts. This is particularly true for those in within international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who work with the private sector and for those in the private sector whose work attempts to enhance peace.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000As a societal actor, business has a key role to play in peacemaking. The past decade has seen a proliferation of qualitative research work surrounding this theme. In a seminal work, Oetzel et al. (2009) suggested a research framework building on the theories of Fort and Schipani (2004) and suggested five actions that businesses could take to promote peace. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first one to respond to that suggestion by proposing a means of categorizing the impacts of business actions.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46630,"journal":{"name":"Multinational Business Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49216594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Productivity gap and expatriate utilization","authors":"Sooyoung Lee, Unjung Whang, Sihoon Nahm, C. Oh","doi":"10.1108/mbr-04-2022-0051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/mbr-04-2022-0051","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to investigate how the gap between a multinational enterprise’s (MNE) productivity and that of its competitor determines the utilization of expatriate managers in its foreign subsidiaries.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The authors first develop a formal analytical model where expatriate managers are relatively more reliable and expensive while local managers are prone to job-hopping. The authors then test the predictions of the analytical model using subsidiary-level data of Korean MNEs.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings show a positive relationship between the productivity gap and the share of expatriate managers in a foreign subsidiary. The empirical findings also show that the job position (middle versus top managers) is another key determinant of the utilization of expatriate managers.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The results of this paper are consistent with the literature that finds that MNEs choose a governance structure that minimizes the hazard of opportunism in their subsidiaries, yet the paper reveals a novel aspect of the determinants of expatriate utilization.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46630,"journal":{"name":"Multinational Business Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45497932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Politics, rumors and identity: how does a domestic firm challenge an MNE in the non-market environment amidst home–host political hostility?","authors":"Cheng-Hua Tzeng","doi":"10.1108/mbr-05-2021-0059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/mbr-05-2021-0059","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Prior studies of competitive dynamics in emerging economies restricted their attention to how the multinational enterprise (MNE) initiates actions against the domestic firm in the market environment with no regard for the home-host relations. By contrast, this study aims to investigate how the domestic firm challenges the MNE in the non-market environment when there is home–host political hostility.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The authors conducted a case study of non-market rivalry between an MNE from the Taiwan region and a domestic firm on the Chinese mainland in the period 2004–2008.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Riding the home–host political hostility, the domestic firm mounted political tactics against the MNE on two fronts. It lobbied the government for identity-targeted policy changes, which demanded state-funded clients buy only from domestic suppliers. It also unethically spread identity-targeted political rumors to vilify the MNE in the local society. The MNE defended itself against the unfavorable policy by engaging in identity work of restructuring its distribution channels to conceal its “foreign” (non-domestic) identity. To fight off the rumors, it built a corporate citizen identity by identity work of aligning corporate social responsibility and research and development with local policy priorities.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The authors broaden the concept of competitive aggressiveness to include non-market actions, particularly unethical ones targeting a rival’s identity. The authors contribute to identity work scholarship by pinpointing an unrecognized phenomenon – high-effort identity work, used by the MNE as a defensive response. The emergent findings develop a moral perspective on non-market rivalry.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46630,"journal":{"name":"Multinational Business Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48758522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Foreign and domestic multinationals’ linkages in advanced, small open economies: do foreignness, regional origin and technological capability matter?","authors":"Joanna Scott-Kennel, Axèle Giroud, Iiris Saittakari","doi":"10.1108/mbr-05-2021-0062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/mbr-05-2021-0062","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\u0000<p>International business theory suggests that multinational enterprises (MNEs) seek to internalise resources embedded in local firms to complement their own through inter-organisational relationships, yet little is known about whether and how these business linkages differ between foreign (F)MNEs and domestic (D)MNEs. This paper aims to explore the linkage differential between DMNEs and FMNEs operating in the same single-country contexts and to examine whether foreignness, regional origin and technological capability make a difference.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\u0000<p>This study is based on a unique firm-level data set of 292 MNEs located in five advanced, small open economies (SMOPECs). This study analyses the benefit received – in the form of technical and organisational resources and knowledge – by DMNEs and FMNEs via backward, forward and collaborative linkages with local business partners.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Findings</h3>\u0000<p>Our research finds FMNEs benefit less from linkages than DMNEs; and FMNEs originating from outside the region especially so. However, the results also show technological capability mitigates this difference and is thus a game changer for FMNEs from outside the region.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Originality/value</h3>\u0000<p>This paper differentiates between FMNEs and DMNEs in their propensity to benefit from resources received from different local partners and explores the influence of regional origin and technological capability. Despite the advanced and internationally oriented nature of SMOPECs, DMNEs still gain more benefit, suggesting either liabilities of foreignness and outsidership persist, or FMNEs do not desire, need or nurture local linkages.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":46630,"journal":{"name":"Multinational Business Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138507793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Formal institutions, type of diversification and the diversification – performance relationship: a meta-analysis","authors":"Pete Tashman, Ettore Spadafora, Dominik Wagner","doi":"10.1108/mbr-12-2021-0175","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/mbr-12-2021-0175","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The authors meta-analyze research on the diversification–performance relationship to empirically establish the impact of home-country formal institutional quality on this relationship. Prior research assumes that a country’s formal institutional quality negatively affects the diversification–performance relationship, especially when it involves unrelated diversification. However, empirical evidence for these propositions is inconclusive because existing studies consider blocks of countries with limited institutional heterogeneity. To provide more clarity, this study aims to consider the diversification–performance relationship across developed, emerging and developing countries.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The meta-analysis relies on a sample of 293 effect sizes of the diversification–performance relationship from 76 primary studies across 15 countries between 1988 and 2019. The sample excludes effects sizes from papers that consider both product and international diversification to control for complex interactions between the strategies, as well as papers that did not consider both related and unrelated diversification.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The results confirm that stronger home-country formal institutions weaken the diversification–performance relationship by decreasing the relative efficiency of internal markets versus external ones. Further, the effect is less negative for related diversification because this strategy can better exploit market frictions in countries with stronger formal institutions and more efficient external markets than its unrelated counterpart.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The study contributes to the literatures on the diversification–performance relationship and home-country governance by providing robust evidence for how formal institutional quality impacts the efficacy of related and unrelated diversification.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46630,"journal":{"name":"Multinational Business Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45655516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"CEO polychronicity and SME internationalization","authors":"A. Agnihotri, S. Bhattacharya","doi":"10.1108/mbr-10-2021-0143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/mbr-10-2021-0143","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This study, leveraging the upper echelon and social network theories, aims to explore the association between chief executive officers (CEO’s) polychronicity and small and medium size enterprises (SMEs’) international performance under the complete mediation effect of social networks. The paper explores this relationship under the moderation effect of CEO perceived time pressure and synchrony preference.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The paper investigates a moderated mediating relationship based on a sample of 186 UK firms.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings of this study suggest that social network fully mediates the CEO polychronicity and firm international performance relationship. Furthermore, CEO perceived time pressure moderates the social network and SME international performance relationship such that it reduces the positive indirect association between CEO polychronicity and SME international performance. CEO synchrony preference, on the contrary, enhances the positive indirect association between CEO polychronicity and SME performance.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Extant research suggests SMEs having a more robust set of organizational capabilities helps them network and avail foreign market knowledge. However, research exploring antecedents of this organizational capability is scant.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46630,"journal":{"name":"Multinational Business Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48163326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}