Labor market integration of refugees: An institutional country-comparative perspective

To examine variations in refugee labor market integration from country to country we first conceptualize integration success as an attribute and outcome of a two-way process involving multiple actors whose roles and activities are enabled and restricted by the institutional environment in the host country. We then develop a framework that specifies macro factors influencing successful refugee labor market integration. In particular, our framework elucidates how regulative, cognitive, and normative aspects of the national institutional environment in the host country create different conditions for refugee employment, thereby shaping three stages of the integration process: (1) arrival and asylum procedure; (2) finding employment; and (3) workplace inclusion. Finally, we discuss theoretical and practical implications of this research.     

Countering Overseas Power in Global Value Chains: Information Asymmetries and Subcontracting in the Plastics Industry

Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) and Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis have been deployed in the strategic and international management literatures to address questions of power in dyadic relationships and global production networks, respectively. This paper integrates the two theoretical approaches in order to expand RDT, using insights from Hirschman's exit/voice model to show the options available to some firms but not others. Using the relationship between buyers and contract manufacturers from GVC analysis, we find a correlation between firm size and choice of strategic action in response to contract manufacturers' dependence on buyers. Large firms follow an acquiescence strategy while small manufacturers follow an avoidance strategy, able to use both exit and voice strategies. Enabled by scale or control over information, both of these approaches successfully reduce uncertainty and provide a source of sustained competitive advantage. Using a study of the production chain in consumer plastics manufacturing in China, we show how dependent firms respond to GVC induced pressure. We find that based on the size of the contract manufacturer, the range of strategic responses to power is constrained by the nature of the dependency in global value chains. This opens important insights into the role that structural characteristics of organizations (like size) play in determining strategic freedom.     

全球价值链视角下我国对外依存程度分析

嵌入全球价值链可促进我国经济发展，却也使我国更加依赖于外国市场，从而增加了国家风险。本文以全球价值链为视角，基于世界投入产出模型构建了增加值对外依存程度的测算方法，对当前的不同测算方法进行了比较，提出了传统贸易、全球价值链的简单和复杂参与下的对外依存程度。最后，利用2000-2014年的世界投入产出表进行测算。结果表明：我国的对外依存程度呈现先升后降的态势；传统贸易下对外依存程度的变化是我国对外依存度变化的主要原因。这意味着：平衡全球价值链嵌入和国家风险的关键是提高全球价值链的参与程度。本文的方法和结论可以为我国政府管理国家风险和贸易谈判提供支持。     

Sustaining competence creation in the multinational enterprise: The role of piloting in subsidiaries

While competence-creating subsidiaries have been widely acknowledged as a source of new capabilities for the multinational enterprise (MNE), less is known about how such subsidiaries continually renew their capabilities to sustain their competence-creating role over time. In this paper, we bring together theories of capability lifecycles and subsidiary capability to explore multiple case studies of competence-creating subsidiaries in the information and communications technologies (ICT) sector. We find that to sustain their competence creation over time, subsidiaries engage in what we call piloting: a fast-moving cycle of practices recognising opportunities and trends, innovating competences in response, and surrendering those competences that are expected to become ‘commoditised’ and obsolete to enable subsidiary repositioning and renewal. Our main contribution is to advance theory on competence-creating subsidiaries by revealing piloting as a mechanism for MNE strategic renewal. We also build on theories of subsidiary evolution by identifying how subsidiaries voluntarily surrender commoditising activities to allow resource flexibility for competence creation.     

The international training of expatriates in Western subsidiaries of emerging multinational enterprises: A knowledge-based perspective

There is a considerable gap in academic theoretical literature about the international training of expatriates in multinational enterprises (MNEs). While the majority of research has focused on developed (Western) multinationals operating in developing countries, very limited research has been conducted on emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs) operating in developed countries and the expatriates who work in them. In this study, we explore the international training of expatriates in Indian MNEs from the information technology industry operating in Australia to examine how they provide training to their expatriate staff who are sent on international assignments. We collected qualitative data in the form of multiple case studies via interviews with senior executives based in the Australian subsidiaries. Our findings reveal that Indian IT MNEs provide a variety of centralised training programmes for their managerial and technical expatriates and use training as a key instrument to leverage and transfer home country knowledge to their Australian subsidiaries. We also found that each stakeholder involved in the training process plays a distinct role in the knowledge transfer process, which allows Indian EMNEs to integrate the training with their people-centred business model to deliver IT services in host countries.     

The influence of national culture and institutional voids on family ownership of large firms: A country level empirical study

There is considerable variation across countries in both the extent to which large publicly listed firms are family-owned and the dominance of such family-owned firms in stock markets. The literature presents competing theoretical viewpoints on what influences such country-level variation. On one hand, institutional economists suggest that institutional voids can have a strong influence. On the other hand, cultural sociologists suggest that a country's culture can have a strong influence. One type of institutional void is a lack of institutional norms and regulations needed for monitoring contracts (which can discourage owners from hiring professional agents for top management positions in their firms) and another type of institutional void is a lack of financial credit availability in the country. Cultural dimensions include collectivism (i.e. cohesion within in-groups/families) and power distance (i.e. inequalities in society). This country-level empirical study suggests that both national culture and institutional voids influence family ownership patterns around the world, and that institutional voids moderate the influence of national culture. National culture has a stronger influence when a country has institutional voids; however, the influence of national culture weakens when institutional voids are overcome.     

Global Surveillance and the Value of Information: The Case of the Global Polio Laboratory Network

Effective control and eradication of diseases requires reliable information from surveillance activities, including laboratories, which typically incur real financial costs. This article presents data from a survey we conducted to estimate the costs of the Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN), which currently supports aggressive global surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) to detect circulating polioviruses. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) of the World Health Organization (WHO) provides resources for some of the laboratory network costs, but the total cost of the network remains relatively poorly characterized given the limited documentation of national contributions. We surveyed network laboratories to quantify AFP surveillance support costs and provide data for cost estimates of potential posteradication surveillance policies related to the laboratories. We estimate that the GPLN currently requires millions (US dollars 2002) in total support annually, and that half of the support for national and regional reference laboratories comes from external donors through the WHO or bilateral agreements and half from within nations that host those laboratories. The article also presents the framework for considering the value of information from this global surveillance network and suggests that the expected value of surveillance information from the GPLN currently exceeds its costs. We also provided important insights about how the value of information may change after successful eradication of wild polioviruses.     

The impact of corporate sustainability performance on information asymmetry: the role of institutional differences

This paper empirically investigates whether corporate sustainability performance (CSP) affects information asymmetry (IA) for European firms listed in the STOXX Europe 600 from 2002 to 2013. We find a significantly negative effect of CSP on IA. By exploiting institutional differences between the European countries, we determine that the negative effect of CSP on IA is more pronounced in liberal market economies compared to coordinated market economies, thus pointing to a substitutive effect of CSP and economic coordination. Further, the impact is greater in countries with stricter disclosure requirements. In such countries, there is generally a greater appetite for company-specific information. However, disclosure requirements fulfil this need only partially because they concentrate on the corporate governance dimension of corporate sustainability. Hence, information on the social pillar especially matters to investors in a complementary manner and drives the overall effect. Our study contributes to the literature on the positive capital market effects of CSP by showing the proposed effect in European capital markets and the institutional determinants of its strength.     

Subsidiary role development: The effect of micro-political headquarters–subsidiary negotiations on the product,market and value-added scope of foreign-owned subsidiaries

This paper focuses on subsidiary role development in terms of changes in the market, product and value-added scope of foreign subsidiaries within multinational corporations (MNC). In its theoretical part, it identifies three interrelated reasons to explain such role changes: (1) subsidiary capabilities, (2) host-country localization advantages and (3) headquarters' realized strategies—that is, headquarters' intended strategies and the outcomes of micro-political headquarter–subsidiary negotiations. Based on the results of interviews with 65 managers in 11 German headquarters and their 13 Hungarian subsidiaries, the paper reveals the interrelated effects of the three factors on subsidiary role development and shows that headquarters' intended strategies are decisive to explain role development in peripheral host countries, though micro-political headquarter–subsidiary negotiations being an integral part of subsidiary role development.     

Greenfield or M&A? An institutional and learning perspective on the establishment mode choice of Chinese outward investments

We develop and test a model of Chinese greenfield investments using institutional and learning theories. Both the host country institutional context and the firm's international characteristics affect the establishment mode. Using 152 Chinese emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) with 401 subsidiaries distributed in 26 countries from 2003 to 2013, we build a database of 284 pairs of host country/Chinese firms to test two hypotheses. We find that, first, governance environment affects the establishment mode: greenfield investments are preferred over acquisitions in relation-based host markets, and M&As are preferred in rule-based countries. Second, the depth of Chinese EMNEs' international experience (i.e. the amount of previous investments in the same host market) moderates the effect of the governance environment on the establishment mode. Firms with greater international depth use more M&As in relation-based markets and more greenfield investments in rule-based markets, suggesting that previous investments in the same host country provide a type of learning that reduces acquisition uncertainty in the former case and increases the self-confidence of Chinese EMNEs in the latter.     

Planning and Scheduling in Supply Chains: An Overview of Issues in Practice

This paper gives an overview of the theory and practice of planning and scheduling in supply chains. It first gives an overview of the various planning and scheduling models that have been studied in the literature, including lot sizing models and machine scheduling models. It subsequently categorizes the various industrial sectors in which planning and scheduling in the supply chains are important; these industries include continuous manufacturing as well as discrete manufacturing. We then describe how planning and scheduling models can be used in the design and the development of decision support systems for planning and scheduling in supply chains and discuss in detail the implementation of such a system at the Carlsberg A/S beerbrewer in Denmark. We conclude with a discussion on the current trends in the design and the implementation of planning and scheduling systems in practice.     

The role of tourism in national human resource development: a Jamaican perspective

Research in the national human resource development (NHRD) field is increasingly considering unique cultural and economic conditions and the influence this may have on a number of employment-related indicators. To date, the NHRD literature has largely ignored issues related to skills training and workforce development in the tourism industry, despite the expanding nature of this dynamic service sector in many nations. This literature review study of NHRD in Jamaica examined ongoing national-level human resource development (HRD) initiatives with specific attention to the current and future impact of NHRD on the tourism industry. The results showed that governmental development plans clearly identified tourism as a key sector for economic growth to support larger economic and social development goals. Furthermore, the development of human resources in the tourism sector was seen as being of vital importance for tourism organizations and for the continued development of Jamaica. The existing NHRD literature has largely overlooked the potential influence and future role of the tourism industry to assist in education, training and development goals at the national level. Recommendations are made for additional research exploring connections between NHRD and tourism employment.     

The role of organismic integration theory in marketing science: A systematic review and research agenda

Researchers have repeatedly applied the same models/theories to predict consumer behaviour, whereas theories that have been extensively used to promote motivation are disregarded in marketing science. For instance, organismic integration theory (OIT) is a prominent theory of human motivation that provides a framework for categorizing customers’ regulatory styles into different forms of motivational regulations, which could be used in marketing as customers can be motivated to engage in behaviour for a diverse array of reasons. Therefore, we aim to enrich the field of marketing by reviewing extant knowledge on OIT, noting tensions and inconsistencies, and identifying important gaps with reference to how the constructs underpinned by OIT have been applied and what research themes, contexts, and methodologies have been carried out. With this aim in mind, we reviewed three decades of research between 1991 and 2020, outlined underdeveloped and emerging marketing issues, and set comprehensive research agendas (presented as testable propositions).     

Putting the Global in Global Work: An Intercultural Lens on the Practice of Cross-National Collaboration

Collaboration across national boundaries has become increasingly prevalent over the last decade, yet the management literature remains remarkably unhelpful in answering questions about what happens when people across nations and cultures work closely together. We review the management literature that reports empirical studies of global work and conclude that few of these studies, despite their explicit focus on globally distributed work, meaningfully examine the intercultural aspects of these collaborations. We assume an intercultural lens to understand what gets lost by not examining the global in global work and conclude that the very process by which workers who reside in different countries confront, explore, and resolve cultural differences begs for more clarity. Further, we conclude that a more contextual and dynamic view of culture is necessary to shed light on these processes. We use two examples—social networks and technology use—to illustrate how cultural differences might generate different patterns of behavior, and consider the effect of these potential incompatibilities on global work and workers as they collaborate across national boundaries.     

R&D alliance portfolio and innovation in an emerging market: The role of business group affiliation and institutional reforms

The role of institutional factors in shaping the outcomes of research and development (R&D) alliance portfolios (APs) is underexplored in the extant literature. This study examines how institutional contingencies in an emerging market context affect the relationship between R&D AP composition (i.e., size and diversity) and firm innovation performance. This study draws on institutional perspective to suggest that business group affiliation (BGA) and institutional reforms positively moderate the relationship between R&D AP composition and innovation performance. A longitudinal empirical investigation conducted on a sample of 185 firms from Indian high-tech sectors, for the period 2003–2015, broadly supports our arguments. This study contributes to the AP and emerging markets literature by highlighting the effects of institutional contingencies of emerging markets on the outcomes of R&D APs.     

The Role of Internal and External Complexity in Global Factory Performance: An NKC Application

The global factory literature suggests that MNCs can take advantage of global operations by extensively offshoring and outsourcing activities. However, the added difficulty for the lead firm to coordinate the resulting complex structure is often underestimated. Evidence could be found in Boeing's 787 Dreamliner project, in which the external complexity disrupted MNC performance. Motivated by the gap between theory and practice, this study focuses on systems of MNCs connected with each other with supplier-client relationships and/or outsourcing. In particular it investigates the interplay of the internal and external complexity in such systems and how their balance affects the system performance. The study models the internal and external complexity by using the NKC-simulation methodology and adjusting it to the specific MNC context. The NKC methodology is widely used in organization theory to study complex systems. Simulations comparing the performance of MNCs that use outsourcing to different degrees indicate that a balanced level of internal and external complexity is beneficial in the context of global factory.