Journal of World Business最新文献

This study investigates how multinational enterprises (MNEs) navigate sanctioned regimes using the Myanmar context following a 2021 military coup. We find that without formal institutional pressures, MNEs exit voluntarily due to informal stakeholder pressures. However, such exits are often considered irresponsible as MNEs transfer assets to unethical buyers or the sanctioned regime, thus potentially worsening the human rights conditions. We provide eight propositions that define a responsible exit from a sanctioned regime. This study offers insights into the multifaceted nature of strategic exits thus articulating ethical dilemmas faced when exiting from foreign markets amid sanctions-induced challenges, real or perceived. This study proposes a framework outlining the interplay between formal and informal institutional pressures placed on MNEs in sanctioned regimes, thus theoretically contributing to the institution-based view by highlighting legitimacy concerns and reputational management strategies employed by MNEs.

Foreign-born entrepreneurs are crucial for new ventures and regional growth. A key driver of their success is selection into business accelerator programs. We theorize that foreign-born founders with local residency and work experience are more likely to be selected by these programs. However, the institutional distance between an entrepreneur's host and the birth country reduces their likelihood of selection, whereas the entrepreneurial development of the host country increases it. We also examine the conditional effect of market learning capability. Evidence from 611 ventures in OECD countries supports our hypotheses, underlining the complex impact of foreignness on accelerator selection.

The impact of primary sanctions on firms has been well-documented in the literature. However, the impact of secondary sanctions on businesses in third countries and their strategic responses has been under-researched. This study explores this issue by investigating Vietnamese timber exporters in the context of US-China economic sanctions. Taking a case study approach, interviews were conducted with key government and industry officials as well as firms in Vietnam. Using the key concepts from the realism school of thought and the stakeholder theory as the analytical lenses, we found that third countries’ businesses encountered both positive and negative impacts of the sanctions and employed four strategies, namely aligning, aspiring, influencing, and insulating to respond to the challenges and opportunities these sanctions presented. This study contributes to identifying the notion of temporality and explaining how and when third-country firms intertwine both reactive and anticipatory strategies.

Multinational corporations (MNCs) adeptly manage Liabilities of Foreignness (LOF) and Assets of Foreignness (AOF) to their advantage, and central to this endeavor is the strategic management of their foreign identity. Our research identifies a critical context where foreign identity remains a liability: organizational crises. Drawing on organizational identity and legitimation process theories, we contend that foreign firms face greater legitimacy losses compared to domestic firms during crises due to magnified foreign identity and differences in legitimacy standards. Furthermore, a crisis in one foreign firm can trigger stronger negative spillover effects on other foreign firms than on domestic firms. We test our theory through an analysis of US automobile recall events, demonstrating significant legitimacy impacts for foreign firms. Our findings illuminate the complex dynamics of foreign identity management, offering new insights into the persistent challenges of LOF during times of crisis.

International entry research rarely examines strategies affecting entry performance in a target country, largely due to data limitations in the traditional multinational enterprise setting. However, the emergence of digital business with trackable international performance data helps address this gap. We utilize digital freemium products as our research context to examine the effect of two major demand-side strategies associated with freemium products, network effects and word-of-mouth (WOM), on entry performance across different institutional environments. By analyzing 1,891 freemium games, we show that lower network readiness of a target country strengthens the impact of network effects on entry performance whereas higher network readiness strengthens the impact of WOM. Our findings generate new insights by integrating the literature on foreign entry performance and digital internationalization.

The purpose of our study is to examine how the sanctions imposed on Russia influence talent management. To do so, we review the macro talent management (MTM) framework alongside the literature on sanctions. In addition, we have collected data from 419 media publications discussing the effects of sanctions and analyzed them using critical discourse analysis (CDA). Our findings highlight the predominantly negative nature of the sanctions’ impact on MTM ecosystems, theoretically yielding closer links between the sanctions and the MTM framework, and human capital more specifically.

Drawing on neo-institutional and contingency theory, we argue that firms are more likely to use and benefit from a high-potential program when it is accepted and legitimate in and fits with the cultural environment. Drawing on a sample of 1,808 firms from 23 countries, our results provide evidence that the use of high-potential programs is subject to cross-cultural variations, but the pattern is largely inconsistent with predictions derived from neo-institutional theory. We find a positive relationship between the use of high-potential programs and firm performance, but this relationship is not contingent on a firm's cultural environment.