基于行业环境风险感知维度的中国企业国际扩张与绩效关系研究——兼论企业所有制形式的调节作用

企业的国际扩张与国际化绩效一直是国际商务研究关注的重要问题。然而,中国企业与西方企业在国际化扩张中最大差异之一则在于其所有制形式。本研究从中国企业所有制独特特性出发,实证检验了中国企业所有制形式对企业在国际扩张中行业环境风险感知、进入模式选择的影响,并进一步分析不同进入模式的绩效差异。研究发现,中国企业在国际化扩张进程中:(1)行业环境风险感知对国际进入模式选择具有显著负向影响;(2)所有制形式对企业的行业环境风险感知与国际进入模式产生重要的调节作用;(3)不同进入模式对企业的国际化绩效也会产生重要影响。     

企业国际化经营中关键风险的识别研究

风险识别是企业从事国际化经营时进行风险管理采取的首要步骤,也是进一步实施风险防范与规避的前提和基础.本文以中国企业的国际化经营为研究背景,在对国际风险分类与识别进行理论推导的基础上,通过实证研究,对企业在采取不同国际市场进入模式时所面临的各类风险加以识别,并对关键风险进行聚焦探析.     

Regional Integration,Multinational Enterprise Strategy and the Impact of Country‐level Risk: The Case of the EMU

The European Monetary Union (EMU) provides a new macro‐level, institutional setting for multinational enterprises (MNEs). The authors investigate the impact of regional integration on MNE strategy by analysing Belgian firms’ entry‐mode choices in foreign markets, both EMU and non‐EMU ones, with a focus on what impact remains of country‐level risk. They demonstrate that regional integration has altered the impact of country‐level institutional risk on MNE entry‐mode choices inside the EMU. The conventional predictions of international business theory have been reversed, with higher country‐level risk inside the EMU driving a preference for wholly owned subsidiaries. Within the integrated region, insider firms now view higher country‐level risk as the equivalent of higher, micro‐level contracting risk. Such risk can best be mitigated through full internalization, combined with arm's length contracts, rather than through equity joint ventures.     

International governance mode choice: Evidence from Brazilian franchisors

The purpose of this article is to test a novel, integrative theory of governance mode selection in the context of international franchising from Brazil. Given the Brazilian emerging market context, we added and tested another variable in the model relating to environmental distance between the home (Brazil) and host countries. To test the theory, we employed two logistic regression models and representative data from the Brazilian Franchising Association in addition to the World Bank's Doing Business index, and the CEPII (Centre d'études prospectives et d'informations internationales). Findings show that three factors influence Brazilian franchisors' choices regarding international governance modes: the environmental uncertainty of the host countries, their behavioral uncertainty, and the franchisors' financial capacity. However, the environmental distance does not influence internationalization strategies of Brazilian firms. Emerging markets firms' governance modes of entry can be adequately explained with the existing model despite contextual differences.     

The influence of industry structure on the entry mode choice of overseas entrants in manufacturing industries

This study examines the impact of industry structure on the foreign direct investment (FDI) entry mode decisions by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in manufacturing industries. We explore the notion that firms would seek to balance the risks due to industry structural barriers and liabilities of foreignness while seeking entry in international markets. A multinomial logistic regression model is used to test 336 entry decisions from 18 countries entering the United States over the period 1989–1994. Empirical evidence shows that underlying industries' structural characteristics influence a firm's preference for entry mode alternatives such as greenfield investments, acquisitions, and joint ventures. In concentrated and high-growth industries, foreign firms prefer entry by setting up greenfield operations rather than pursuing acquisitions or joint ventures. However, in industries characterized by high gross profits or higher plant scale, the preference is for joint ventures or acquisitions as an entry mode over greenfield operations.     

Agency conflict in diversified business groups and performance of affiliated firms in India: Contingent effect of external constraint and internal governance

This study examines how diversification in Indian business groups creates multiple forms of agency problems and has performance implications for group-affiliated firms. Departing from prior literature which emphasizes the principal–principal agency conflict in business groups, we argue that business group diversification leads to dual agency problems between controlling and minority shareholders (principal–principal) and shareholders and managers (principal–agent) in affiliated firms. Both these agency problems arise in diversified business groups through cross-subsidization of affiliated firms by inefficient capital investment, continuing presence of affiliated firms in declining industries, tunneling of resources from profitable affiliated firms, lack of attention by business group headquarters to affiliated firms, and affiliated firm managers' sense of perceived security, which negatively impacts affiliated firms’ performance. These agency issues are reduced with the increase in product market competition from exposure to international markets and through concentrated promoter ownership in the affiliated firms. Our hypothesized model finds empirical support in a sample of 828 business group–affiliated firms in India.     

Directors’ human capital,firm strategy,and firm performance

Ideally, corporations are directed by boards whose directors provide valuable human capital that match the firms’ strategy. We investigate how directors’ human capital (international experience, industrial know-how, CEO experience, and financial know-how) affects firm performance including the firm’s strategy (diversification and internationalization) and how human capital is related to acquisition strategies (non-diversifying and international acquisitions). Our sample consists of 560 firm-year observations in Switzerland. We find empirical evidence that directors’ human capital affects firm performance and that this relationship depends on the firm’s strategy. Furthermore, human capital is also correlated with acquisition strategy. The study shows that focusing on board independence and compliance issues may be unrewarding in board research and practice.     

Employee performance management across borders: A review of relevant academic literature

The purpose of this paper is to survey the emerging academic literature on employee performance management (PM) from an international perspective. The primary information source was a search of electronic databases. Two criteria were used to determine which studies to include in the literature survey: (1) those published in an English-language blind refereed academic journal, and (2) those focused on employee PM or performance appraisal (PA) from an international/global perspective. Sixty-four articles, published between 1985 and 2005, met the criteria. A preliminary scheme was developed for classifying the existing academic research into conceptual and empirical articles. The empirical articles were further classified by their foci and themes. In addition to classifying the articles, the paper presents a summary of what can be learned from the major findings of the empirical studies. The major conclusion is that the academic literature on cross-border PM is relatively atheoretical and exploratory in nature and that the design and substance of the research studies are weak. With regard to themes, there are a number of foci in the literature with only scant attention paid to the central concern with the PM of expatriates as expressed by firms. The empirical articles look at the disparate components of PA and are interested mainly in cultural differences as an intervening variable. Several recommendations are presented for researchers to help focus future research on cross-border PM.     

The effect of service intangibility on revenue from foreign markets

Drawing on the Eclectic Theory, this empirical study reports a test of the influence of intangibility on the receipt of revenues from foreign markets, and the moderating influence of management international experience. To insure sufficient variance in service intangibility while also controlling for extraneous sectoral and national variables, this study obtained extensive cross-sectional data from U.S.-based manufacturing and services firms in the environmental control industry. For this sample, the findings indicate that tangibility is positively related to the receipt of foreign revenues and to the use of higher control entry mode, supporting the view that intangibility is an important variable for understanding internationalization and value creation.     

Does International Economic Integration Lead to a Cleaner Production in China?

In contrast to the Pollution Haven Hypothesis, the Trade‐Up Hypothesis holds that international integration helps improve firms' environmental performance in developing countries. Using firm‐level data from Shanghai, this article examines how international linkages, in the form of foreign direct investment or international trade, affect firms' environmental compliance and performance. We find that firms with international linkage via ownership exhibit better compliance with environmental regulation and emit less pollution than firms with no international linkage. We also find that firms with international linkage via market exposure are more likely to exhibit better compliance with environmental regulation than firms with no international linkage, but find no evidence that the former emit less pollution than the latter. This provides a piece of empirical evidence for the Trade‐Up Hypothesis.     

Foreign market knowledge,entry mode choice and SME international performance in an emerging market

This paper examines the mediating role of equity entry mode choice in the relationship between foreign market knowledge (FMK) and international performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) originating from emerging markets. In addition, this paper investigates when FMK enhances firms' equity mode choice by considering financial slack as a moderating variable. Using data obtained from 205 SMEs engaged in cross-border activities in Ghana, the results reveal that FMK and international performance relationship is mediated by foreign market equity entry mode choice. The results also suggest that FMK positively relates to SMEs' preference for equity mode for foreign market entry and this relationship is amplified when slack resource is greater. These findings offer theoretical as well as practical implications for SME managers in developing and emerging markets in terms of entry mode decisions.     

International offshoring of services: A parity study

Conventional wisdom suggests that firms engage in international offshoring of services primarily to reduce wage costs associated with a given service activity. Drawing on international business research on the costs of doing business abroad (CODBA), liability of foreignness (LOF), and institutional theory, we investigate the factors that contribute to the location choices for services offshoring activity, including wage differentials between the home and host countries. We find that consistent with a parity perspective but contrary to conventional expectations, a country is more likely to be a destination of services offshoring as the average wage of a country increases. We also find that education level and cultural similarity are significant drivers of offshoring location choices, again consistent with a parity perspective. This study contributes to debates about the economic impact of services offshoring by showing that firms locate offshoring facilities in destinations that are closer in wages to the home country and those with higher education levels and cultural similarity.     

Experiential learning,M&A performance,and post-acquisition integration strategy: A meta-analysis

While research on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) capabilities is accelerating, our understanding of their antecedents and performance implications still remains rather fragmented. Previous research has outlined the importance of learning for building M&A capabilities, but no work has attempted to summarize previous empirical findings regarding different learning mechanisms and their impacts on M&A performance. Mainly drawing upon organizational learning theory and the dynamic capabilities perspective, this study consolidates research on the relationship between different learning mechanisms, post-acquisition integration strategies, and M&A performance. Using meta-analytical techniques, our study shows that the capability-building mechanism relying on deliberate investments in learning tends to be more effective than the capability mechanism based on mere experience accumulation. In addition, our findings indicate that a higher degree of integration is associated with enhanced M&A performance among firms with more developed experiential learning, highlighting the need to explore mediating effects of integration strategy choices on the experiential learning-performance relationship.     

Foreign direct investment through partial acquisitions: hostage effect or conflicts enhancement

Basing on Internalization Theory (IT) and Knowledge Based Theories of the firm (KBTF), as well as on the recent Hostage Theory of Partial Acquisitions, the different performances of foreign direct investments (FDIs) made through joint ventures, total and partial acquisitions are analyzed. The study includes an analysis of the impact that the experience related to the host country accrued by the investing firm has upon each entry mode’s performance. By focusing on recent international expansion through FDIs of listed Spanish firms, an empirical analysis is carried out. The stock market reaction to FDIs is used as a measure of performance. Our results confirm the role of accrued experience as a factor conditioning the costs inherent to each entry mode.

Corporate Political Activity and Firm Performance: The Moderating Effects of International and Product Diversification

Prior research has found that corporate political activity (CPA) can both positively and negatively impact firm performance. Combining agency theory with the resource-based view, we examine the relationship between domestic lobbying (a key form of CPA) and firm performance by explicating the moderating effects of international and product diversification. We argue that expansion into international and product markets increases a firm's resources and reduces agency costs in domestic lobbying. Our results, based on a sample of 737 firms, show that lobbying is positively associated with performance for firms that are diversified in both international markets and along product-lines; whereas lobbying is counter-productive for purely domestic and undiversified firms. Our results contribute to the literature on the firm performance implications of corporate political activity by highlighting the roles of international and product diversification.     

Enhancing the learning advantages of newness: The role of internal social capital in the international performance of young entrepreneurial firms

In this paper, we draw on social capital theory to explore the role of internal social exchanges in contributing to the international performance of young entrepreneurial firms. We argue that internal social capital embedded within young ventures helps them cultivate international learning effort pertaining to the effective alignment of resources and activities related to their international growth. The empirical analysis, based on a sample of 150 young internationalizing SMEs from India, demonstrates both direct and indirect effects of internal social capital on international performance. Whereas previous research focuses on the importance of social networks with external actors, our study emphasizes internal social capital linked to the underlying learning advantages of newness and opportunity capture and contributes to the literature on early and rapid internationalization.     

The Implementation of an International Market Servicing Strategy in UK Manufacturing Firms

This paper presents results from an empirical investigation into the impact of foreign market servicing strategies on the competitiveness of UK manufacturing firms in five industry sectors. Competitiveness is defined by performance, competitive potential and management process. Although the choice of foreign market servicing mode is highly constrained, there is a range of choice available to firms, although this choice is often reactive rather than proactive. The impact of market servicing switches on competitiveness is often profound, although it is not always positive. Moreover, these effects may be in different directions on the three components of competitiveness. Attention to foreign market servicing policies is crucial for achieving international competitiveness.     

Diaspora Ownership and Homeland Firms' Internationalization

Although the contribution of diaspora to international business is becoming more evident, little is known about the channels used by individual firms to benefit from diaspora. In this paper, we propose equity ownership as a form of connection between the homeland firms and diasporans (i.e. diaspora members). Specifically, we draw on the literature on diaspora combined with an owners-as-resources perspective to theorize about how diaspora owners can affect the homeland firm's internationalization. We suggest that the anticipated entry costs deriving from the liability of foreignness faced by homeland firms explain how the impact of diaspora owners varies depending on entry mode. Finally, we compare diaspora owners to other types of foreign owner which we argue have lower levels of motivation and ability to help homeland firms to internationalize, and contribute relatively less to their internationalization than diaspora owners. We test and confirm our predictions using data on 2608 domestically controlled Indian firms and their internationalization in 2006–2012.     

International experience and CEO selection: An empirical study

This paper extends the upper-echelons theory by examining if observable demographic characteristics can be used to predict CEO selections. Based on an empirical analysis of recent successions at USA Fortune 200 companies, it identifies international experience as an important construct associated with accession to the CEO position of large corporations. The study also finds that CEO international experience is higher in firms that are highly international in terms of sales and assets. Firm and individual control variables are discussed and included in the empirical analysis. Managerial implications and suggestions for related future research are provided.     

Internationaler Joint Venture Erfolg: Eine Meta-Analyse

To analyze the success factors of international joint ventures (IJVs), this study meta-analytically integrates 106 studies of 32.318 firms. The results show that the success factors from the partner level (e.g., operational and strategic fit, partner experience) and IJV level (e.g., commitment, trust, control, interdependence, conflicts, conflict management, and organizational learning) determine IJV performance. Further, results reveal that IJV type, industry, and geographical distance moderate the relationships between success factors and IJV performance. Thus, this study contributes to extant knowledge by synthesizing and contextualizing quantitative empirical IJV research.