Journal of World Business最新文献

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.

This inductive study explores on the basis of 134 semi-structured interviews for the case of Germany, the impact of cultural identity on highly qualified migrants’ cultural and language bridging skills. A particular focus is put on the differentiation between first and second generation migrants. We find that cultural identity impacts migrants’ cultural and language bridging skills, prompting differences not only between generations but also within them. On this basis, we establish two sub-groups of first generation migrants: those with a separated identity (heritage culture is dominant) and those with an ambiguous identity (often unclear which culture dominates); similarly, we find two sub-groups of second generation migrants: those with an integrated identity (well-balanced combination of heritage and mainstream culture) and those with an assimilated identity (mainstream culture is dominant). We further ascertain that migrants with an integrated identity possess the highest degree of cultural and language bridging skills and, thus, constitute the best bridging agents in comparison to the other sub-groups. Our study provides a more nuanced understanding of migrants’ cultural identity formation and their impact on skilled migrants’ cultural and language bridging skills. In addition, it demonstrates the need to consider inter- but also intragenerational differences, when studying the impact of highly qualified migrants in organizational contexts.

Economic sanctions can adversely affect target countries. We study how regions withstand these sanctions amid the US-China trade war. Adopting a geographic relational perspective, we posit that regional resilience hinges on global connections and local networks. Analyzing nightlight data, we find that regional resilience is closely tied to the nature of global connections: cities prioritizing high-value-adding exports perform better, while those reliant on foreign firms for exports and focused on processing trade are more vulnerable. Furthermore, cities with economic development zones exhibit greater resilience to the trade war, underscoring the importance of networks within these zones in mitigating adverse effects.

Freeloading, a challenge faced by all workgroups but particularly acute in global virtual teams (GVTs), is an increasing concern as GVTs become increasingly ubiquitous in international business settings. This study employed a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of different strategies grounded in equity theory for mitigating freeloading behavior in GVTs. The study used a sample of 2,022 GVTs comprising 12,536 business students from 43 countries who, for two months, worked on international business consulting projects. The results indicate that freeloading could be significantly reduced if the performance management system promotes a sense of equity and fairness by visible monitoring of individual effort coupled with the threat of reciprocations for insufficient contributions. Importantly, making a lack of individual effort visible through regular peer evaluations but taking no immediate punitive action could reduce perceived fairness and actually increase freeloading. The implications of these findings for practice and future research are discussed.

Using a historical lens to investigate sanctions against Apartheid South Africa, we found foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) lost out repeatedly during sanctions, almost always to the local economic elite. When MNEs departed, they often sold their assets to the local economic elite to salvage some value. To ensure continued operations (and thus payments to them), MNE continued supporting buyers during the sanctions era. If MNEs repurchased their assets once sanctions ended, the local elite again benefited. Personal ties matter in institutionally weak contexts, and we make a contribution by using elite theory to interrogate with whom such ties are forged.

The development of an entrepreneurial strategic orientation is of growing concern for global corporations. Through a human capital lens, we probe how and when firms can develop and cultivate managerial entrepreneurial resources; by explicitly encouraging cross-cultural experiences that stimulate systematic shifts in mindset and behavior. Drawing on paradox theory and intercultural psychology, we put forth a model positing that cross-cultural experience (an endowment firms can either hire for or facilitate themselves) develops managerial entrepreneurialism—consisting of (a) venture ideation, (b) opportunity recognition, and (c) entrepreneurial behavior—through the intervening mechanism of a paradox mindset. As a boundary condition we uncover that paradox mindset formation partially hinges on home cultural tightness-looseness. We employ three distinct experiments on multinational samples of individual professionals (n = 506), active entrepreneurs (n = 370), and current managers in global firms (n = 288) to test our theorizing. Finding general support for our model, with analyses yielding important theoretical and practical implications from non-findings too, we conclude that a paradox mindset is a necessary, but not de facto, mediating step between cross-cultural experience and the cultivation of entrepreneurial managers. We also find that paradox mindset formation is conditional and related to home cultural tightness-looseness.

A strong critique of the international business field is that it has been “running out of steam” because IB scholars have failed to engage with emerging paradigm shifts in IB practice and management theory. IB research requires rejuvenation with timely, unique, controversial, and challenging new research questions. IB scholars need to move beyond incremental improvements to existing research agendas and focus on questions that are fundamentally new to the field. With this essay, we address four pressing topics (Buckley, Doh, & Benischke, 2017), namely: (1) the resurgence of populism, decoupling, and globalization; (2) disruptive technologies and digitalization; (3) sustainable development goals; and (4) the changing power relationships between firms, and between firms and governments. Our aim is to provide direct avenues for relevant new research that challenges the existing orthodoxy across the IB field. As part of this process, we introduce the papers in this special issue.

Criminal syndicates have been around for millennia. While some were founded to undertake cross-border activities, others have expanded internationally, evolving into sophisticated organizations that mimic multinational enterprises. The growing prevalence of criminal multinational enterprises (CMNEs) provides an opportunity to revisit international business theory, particularly internalization theory. We start by defining the CMNE, explaining its rise and interface with legitimate multinationals, and establishing similarities and differences with legitimate multinational enterprises. Then, we use the CMNE to “stress-test” the internalization theory of the multinational enterprise, set its boundaries, and offer theoretical development by way of extension, qualification, and refinement.