竞争驱动战略转型的人力资本视线研究——以天津中小制造业企业为例

转型升级阵痛中的中国制造业企业，唯有基于人力资本"视线"实施差异化战略、推进激进式创新，才能变革成功，进而在激烈市场竞争中存活下来并形成核心竞争力。以天津市各大工业园区154家中小制造业企业的问卷调查数据为样本，采用结构方程模型对制造业企业创新逆驱战略转型的人力资本"视线"进行统计检验。结果显示，战略层面的"视线"有一个：外部环境竞争性、差异化战略、激进式创新与企业绩效。资源层面"视线"有两个：差异化战略、HRM系统、人力资本、渐进式创新、激进式创新与企业绩效；差异化战略、HRM系统、知识共享与企业绩效。这三条"视线"为中国制造业企业指明了战略转型、创新变革的具体方向。     

Strengthening the technological capabilities of domestic industries: Pressures,deterrents and policy alternatives

After calling attention to some misleading conceptions of the industrial sectors facing increasing challenges from abroad, the analysis highlights the primary sources of recent shortcomings in the competitiveness of major industries in the US and in some other long industrialized economies. Suggestions are then offered concerning potential corrective policies available to national governments, to managements, to trade unions and to universities as well. Finally, the need for long term perspectives in formulating and implementing such constructive programs is emphasized along with the need to integrate them with other major programs for promoting the national welfare.     

Why do Emerging Market Firms Engage in Voluntary Environmental Management Practices? A Strategic Choice Perspective

In this paper, we investigate firms’ decisions to engage in voluntary environmental management (VEM) practices within an emerging market context. Drawing on the strategic choice and the resource‐based view perspectives, we report results from a survey of VEM practices – a specific form of self‐governance – drawing on a sample of 519 Turkish firms from various industries to identify important strategic antecedents of firms’ decisions to engage in such practices. We find that as firms become more customer focused, more inclined to pursue a differentiation strategy and subject to a higher level of strategy‐oriented stakeholder focus, they tend to implement higher levels of VEM practices, with important implications for research, policy and practice for both emerging and developed markets.     

How do CEOs matter? The moderating effects of CEO compensation and tenure on equity ownership in international joint ventures

We propose that CEO compensation and tenure moderate the relationship between multinational corporations' (MNCs) R&D intensities and their percentages of equity ownership in international joint ventures (IJVs). Transaction cost economics (TCE) suggests a positive relationship between MNC R&D intensity and IJV equity ownership, but this relationship has not been confirmed consistently in prior research. We examine the moderating effects of CEO compensation and tenure on the relationship between MNC R&D intensity and IJV equity ownership, thereby bringing more nuanced explanations from agency theory and upper echelons theory into the discussion. Our proposed relationships were tested using a sample of 202 IJVs formed between U.S. MNCs and foreign partners in high-tech industries for the period 1993 to 2003. We found an overall positive relationship between MNC R&D intensity and the percentage of equity ownership in IJVs. Moreover, CEO tenure and bonus compensation each weaken the positive R&D intensity-equity ownership relationship in our sample, while CEO stock options compensation amplifies it. These findings indicate that CEO compensation and tenure influence decision making about equity ownership in IJVs, suggesting that scholars and boards of directors should consider these CEO-related factors when evaluating strategic decisions regarding IJVs.     

Competitive Capabilities among Manufacturing Plants in Developing,Emerging, and Industrialized Countries: A Comparative Analysis

Competitive capabilities have been defined as a plant's actual performance relative to its competitors, with the most commonly investigated capabilities being quality, delivery, flexibility, and cost. However, most research in this realm has investigated capabilities within developed countries, and neglected the context of developing and emerging nations, which are increasingly becoming viable economic entities in global supply chains in their own right. The present study fills this gap and carries out a comparative analysis of competitive capabilities among plants in developing, emerging, and industrialized countries. Basing our arguments on the resource‐based view of the firm, we suggest that the influence of competitive capabilities on each other varies among plants in differentially industrialized regions. Specifically, we suggest that, on average, competitive capabilities tend to influence each other to a greater degree in plants in emerging and developing countries compared to industrialized countries. Along similar lines, we suggest that the influence of the four competitive capabilities on performance improvement is manifested more strongly among plants in emerging and developing countries than among plants in industrialized nations. We investigate these contentions with data from 1,211 plants in 21 countries. The results are particularly important for decision makers as they decide on the increasingly global location of their manufacturing operations or the configuration of their global supply chains.     

Gaining from the global ambitions of emerging economy enterprises: An analysis of the decision to sell a German firm to a Chinese acquirer

This paper examines the issue of cross-border acquisitions by companies from emerging economies in industrialised countries: an important phenomenon that has recently found increasing emphasis in international business research. In analysing Chinese acquisitions of German firms in the machinery and equipment industry, the paper addresses the question of why firms from industrialised countries are sold to companies from emerging economies. Several real and imagined reasons may induce the German side not to sell; nevertheless, this type of acquisition occurs with increasing frequency. Using case study evidence and interview data, the study finds explanations for the decision to sell to a Chinese company. The results show that German firms can gain substantially from the global ambitions of the Chinese firms for advancement of their own business objectives. This is due to complementarities in the motivations for engaging in the deals, as well as the underlying strategic needs of both firms. In addition, the specific nature of the cooperation between both firms instils in the German managers a sense of control and security—either real or merely perceived—creating conditions that are favourable to the selling decision. Most importantly, in the context of emerging economy enterprises acquiring advanced economy firms, motivations on both sides of the acquisitions appear to go beyond the commonly known goals such as capital transfer and additional market access, as the acquisitions provide the companies involved with conditions favourable to expansion into previously inaccessible market segments. The findings of this study provide useful guidance for the development of future strategic relationships between firms from industrialised and emerging economies.     

Internationalization,Innovation and Institutions: The 3 I's Underpinning the Competitiveness of Emerging Market Firms

The past decade has seen an increase in the extent of research focused on and around emerging market firms (EMFs) and their rising levels of competitiveness in both their home markets and more importantly in the global market place. At the same time, the practitioner-oriented literature has been documenting a growing number of corporate success stories that originate in emerging market economies. We posit that the growing prominence of EMFs is a result of three interrelated phenomena: the fast-paced internationalization of EMFs into both developing and developed market economies; the rapidly increasing extent to which business enterprises in emerging economies are focusing on knowledge-intensive processes and innovation; and the continuous evolution of institutions in these markets, particularly in terms of economic liberalization.     

The Applicability of Porter’s Generic Strategies in the Digital Age: Assumptions, Conjectures, and Suggestions

Because current management theories evolved in the context of brick-and-mortar firms, this paper examines three key questions raised by the advent of e-business: (1) Will the strategy types found among e-business firms resemble Porter’s (1980) generic strategies? (2) Will we find performance differences among e-business firms pursuing different types of strategies? (3) Will we find differences in the strategy-performance relationships of pure online firms (pure plays) and firms with both online and offline operations (clicks-and-bricks)? We conclude that integrated strategies that combine elements of cost leadership and differentiation will outperform cost leadership or differentiation strategies. We also argue that, regardless of business strategy type, clicks-and-bricks firms that closely integrate their on- and offline operations will enjoy performance advantages over their pure play counterparts.     

Internationalization paths of Indian pharmaceutical firms — A strategic group analysis

This paper is an attempt to throw light on the internationalization paths of emerging economy firms through a strategic group analysis of internationalizing firms in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Strategic group analysis of a proprietary data set of strategic variables from forty firms revealed significant variation in their internationalization strategies. The distinct strategies exhibited different value creation potential, but led to similar levels of performance in terms of return on assets, thus indicating equifinality of different paths to multinationality. Inductively drawing from in-depth analysis of firms from each of the strategic groups, the paper proposes a conceptual model of internationalization for emerging economy firms through a combination of exploitation and exploration strategies along the dimensions of products and markets. Firms that are able to supplement the conventional exploitation strategies with exploration through new products and new markets, by taking advantage of increasingly liberalized economies, could emerge as Third-world multinationals with capabilities that could potentially challenge even MNCs from the developed world.     

战略维度间的匹配关系与企业战略定位选择——基于战略群组理论视角

基于战略群组理论视角,分析了企业战略定位中不同战略维度的匹配问题。以境内外交易所上市的中国互联网企业为样本,选取移动互联业务比重和IT投入强度这两个关键战略维度,采用面板数据回归模型检验了研究假设。研究发现,当企业的移动互联业务比重和IT投入强度同时处于较高水平时,这一战略组合能为企业带来高绩效,是一种合理的战略位置;另一合理的战略位置则是较低的移动互联业务比重配以较低的IT投入强度,它也明显好于一者较高、另一者较低的战略组合。以上结果表明,战略定位的关键是实现不同战略维度决策之间的合理匹配,从战略组合的角度理解行业中的战略位置。研究结论不仅有助于理解移动互联市场的竞争战略与绩效,也验证了战略群组理论在战略定位研究中的重要意义,对战略组合的分析不可简化为对各战略维度的单独分析。     

Negotiating control and achieving performance in international joint ventures: A conceptual model

Adapting well-established organization theories to international joint ventures (IJVs), this paper develops an overarching theoretical model of the determinants and effects of parent control of IJVs from an interpartner bargaining power perspective. Drawing upon power dependence, transaction costs, and agency theories, we argue that the relative bargaining power between IJV partners serves as the key determinant of control structure, and that control exerts a direct effect on the venture's performance. In addition, government influence and interpartner working relationship are critical factors that complicate the linkage between control and performance but may help to explain past conflicting results. Propositions regarding these relationships are formed for future empirical test, and implications and directions for future research are provided.     

Market Penetration and Acquisition Strategies for Emerging Economies

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are expanding their global reach, carrying their products and brands to new and diverse markets in emerging economies. As they tailor their strategies to the local context, they have to create product and brand portfolios that match their competences with local needs. A multi-tier strategy with local and/or global brands may provide MNEs with the widest reach into the market and the potential for market leadership. However, it has to be supported with an appropriate combination of global and local resources. Foreign entrants therefore have to develop operational capabilities for the specific context, which requires complementary resources that are typically controlled by local firms. As institutional obstacles and weaknesses of local firms often inhibit the direct acquisitions, foreign investors may pursue unconventional strategies to acquire local resources.We outline the strategies for penetrating local markets through multi-tier branding and the acquisition of local firms, and offer new typologies that describe staged, multiple, indirect, or brownfield acquisitions. We illustrate them by analysing the entry and growth of Carlsberg Breweries in four very different emerging economies: Poland, Lithuania, Vietnam and China.     

Customer Learning Processes,Strategy Selection,and Performance in Business‐to‐Business Service Firms*

Learning about customers takes place through relevant dialogues with those customers, also known as customer relationship management (CRM). As relationships develop, information about the customer is gathered in the firm's customer information systems (CIS): the content, processes, and assets associated with gathering and moving customer information throughout the firm. This research develops a measure of CIS management capabilities based on learning organization theory and measured by the ability to get, store, move, and use information throughout the business unit. This measure is then used to analyze customer learning processes and associated performance in the context of marketing strategic decision making. This study of 209 business services firms finds that generic marketing strategy positioning (low‐cost and differentiation) and the marketing tactics of personalization and customization are related to CIS development. Customer information systems development in turn is associated with higher levels of customer‐based performance, which in turn is associated with increased business growth. Since the strongest association with customer‐based performance is strategy selection, the long‐term benefits of the knowledge gained from the CIS may be in the ability to assist in measuring customer‐based performance, rather than in the ability to immediately contribute to performance. Finally, for these firms, customization and personalization are not directly associated with performance and thus may not be necessary to support every firm's marketing strategy.     

Diversification and Performance in Developed and Emerging Market Contexts: A Review of the Literature*

The link between diversification and performance has become an important topic for research in diverse fields such as strategic management, industrial organization and financial management. However, a synthesis of the research done in developed and emerging markets is missing. This paper attempts such a synthesis by comparing and contrasting the past cumulative empirical research evidence on the relationship between diversification and firm performance in the context of developed economies to the more recent work in the emerging economies. The empirical literature has been divided into three broad perspectives, and the paper highlights the considerable diversity in its findings in developed and emerging markets across each of these perspectives. Based on this study, it is proposed that related diversification is preferable in developed economies and should be based on specific resources, whereas unrelated diversification is appropriate in emerging economies and should be based on generic resources. Although agency problems exist in both contexts, it is argued that the type of problem differs in developed and emerging markets. The paper concludes by identifying three directions for future research. First, the relationship between diversification and performance should be examined across each industry separately and not in aggregate. Secondly, future research needs to examine the organizational mechanisms required to make diversification successful. Finally, the relationship needs to be examined under unstable and dynamic situations such as the current global economic downturn.     

A Meta-analysis of Factors Leading to Management Control in International Joint Ventures

In international joint ventures (IJVs), management control exerted by parent firms is fundamental since it can direct employees' activities to strive for the overall goals, to safeguard parent firms' idiosyncratic investments and to decrease opportunistic behaviors. Using a meta-analytic approach, we investigate the main factors influencing management control in IJVs. A search of the published and unpublished literature uncovered 45 articles that yielded 329 reported correlations between the factors and management control with a total sample size of 15,252 IJVs. Results indicate that the factors can be ordered in the following way in terms of the average size of their association with management control: resource contribution; equity share; trust; and strategic importance to the IJVs. Three moderators including operating country (China versus other countries), industry type (manufacturing versus service) and management control type (formal control versus informal control) were proposed to examine the heterogeneity issue. Our meta-analysis suggests that there is a bias of the empirical studies given that a majority of the samples are IJVs operating in the Chinese manufacturing industry, which indicates that results of this meta-analysis may not be representative of all IJVs and that future empirical research should include IJVs in other countries and in other industries.     

Equity sharing in international joint ventures: an empirical analysis of strategic and environmental determinants

Equity sharing in international joint ventures (IJVs) is a critical issue with implications for risk sharing, resource allocation, knowledge commitment, and organizational control. As a departure from previous research, this study aims to explore strategic antecedents and environmental dimensions underlying sharing arrangements. It argues that the structure of equity sharing controls the ex post degree of economic exposure or risk propensity, and boosts risk-adjusted returns earned from strategic resources or global integration. Analysis of data collected from IJVs in China suggests that strategic orientation, resource dependence, knowledge protection, and global integration as sought by MNEs are important antecedents of equity sharing. Equity sharing is an inverse function of host-country environmental complexity and hostility as perceived by MNE managers.     

The role of cognitive load in effective strategic issue management

Firms have different ways of addressing issues emerging from outside their regular calendar-driven strategy processes. These practices tend to be unstructured, organization specific, and highly dependent on the characteristics of the strategic issues themselves. Building on three dimensions of cognitive load—intrinsic, germane, and extraneous cognitive load—we extend existing research on strategic issue management by showing how different team-level choices in strategic issue processing and organizational congestion interact in their effects on a firm's strategic issue management performance. Based on an in-depth analysis of all 92 strategic issue decisions in a large multinational firm during a three-year period, we find that organizational disturbances influence strategic issue initiation by top management, which in turn influences the quality of strategic issue management practices and subsequent performance outcomes. We conclude by providing recommendations for managers on how they can decrease the sensitivity of their companies' strategic issue systems to external disturbances.     

The wisdom and madness of crowds: How information networks and board cognition help or hinder firm performance across the business cycle

We know little of why a minority of firms pursue counter-cyclical strategies and consequently outperform competitors during recessions. Based on the theory of institutional isomorphism, we hypothesize that these firms avoid the mimetic and normative pressures that promote strategic convergence during uncertainty. We demonstrate these effects at the board-level in a sample of 1,615 U.S. firms. Mimetic processes are evident, with firms' connectedness in board interlock networks attenuating profitability and decreasing firm value during recessions—a reversal of the positive effects during expansions. Normative pressures arise from homogeneity in directors’ educational and professional experience, with greater consequences for long-term performance. Overall, recessionary performance is improved when firms occupy relatively isolated positions in informational networks and appoint directors from a range of backgrounds.     

Supply Chain Strategy,Product Characteristics,and Performance Impact: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturers*

Supply chain management has become one of the most popular approaches to enhance the global competitiveness of business corporations today. Firms must have clear strategic thinking in order to effectively organize such complicated activities, resources, communications, and processes. An emerging body of literature offers a framework that identifies three kinds of supply chain strategies: lean strategy, agile strategy, and lean/agile strategy based on in‐depth case studies. Extant research also suggests that supply chain strategies must be matched with product characteristics in order for firms to achieve better performance. This article investigates supply chain strategies and empirically tests the supply chain strategy model that posits lean, agile, and lean/agile approaches using data collected from 604 manufacturing firms in China. Cluster analyses of the data indicate that Chinese firms are adopting a variation of lean, agile, and lean/agile supply chain strategies identified in the western literature. However, the data reveal that some firms have a traditional strategy that does not emphasize either lean or agile principles. These firms perform worse than firms that have a strategy focused on lean, agile, or lean/agile supply chain. The strategies are examined with respect to product characteristics and financial and operational performance. The article makes significant contributions to the supply chain management literature by examining the supply chain strategies used by Chinese firms. In addition, this work empirically tests the applicability of supply chain strategy models that have not been rigorously tested empirically or in the fast‐growing Chinese economy.     

A motivation and ability perspective on engagement in emerging digital technologies: The case of Internet of Things solutions

In this study, we advance two mechanisms that lead firms to engage in emerging digital technologies, namely, the dominant coalition's motivation and its ability to deploy the resources needed to pursue such motivation. Building on the performance and strategic development, and on board capital literature streams, we construe prior economic performance as a proxy of the firm's motivation, and human and social board capital as proxies of the firm's ability, analyzing their effect on adding emerging digital technologies, such as Internet of Things solutions, to the firm's resource base. Longitudinal analyses on a panel of Fortune 500 manufacturing firms between 2002 and 2012 reveal that these mechanisms highlight two important aspects of firm influence that can shape its digital technology behavior, explaining the heterogeneity and variability in firms engaging in emerging digital technologies.