Journal of World Business最新文献

This study examines how large family firms react to a macroeconomic shock in terms of their internationalization depth and breadth. Building on new internalization theory and acknowledging the dysfunctional manifestations of bifurcation bias in large family-owned MNEs, we argue that an unexpected shock induces family firms to recombine their family firm-specific resources with their thus far underutilized or unequally treated nonfamily resources. This recombination allows most family firms to economize on bifurcation bias and leverage their resources as firm-specific advantages (FSAs) resulting in an increased depth and breadth of internationalization post shock (while some of them may continue to suffer from bifurcation bias). Testing our theory on a panel dataset incorporating large family-owned (compared to nonfamily-owned) MNEs headquartered in Germany before and after the global financial crisis lends support to our theory. We discuss how our study contributes to new internalization theory, to the broader IB literature on MNEs’ unexpected shock response, and to family firm internationalization research.

We generate new knowledge about financial crises and their consequences for MNC technological development, thereby addressing a largely uncharted issue at the crossroads of the organization, strategy and international business literatures. Drawing on threat-rigidity theory, we argue that financial crises have an overall negative effect on MNC technological exploration and that the strength of the effect differs across greenfield and acquired subsidiaries. Results from an empirical investigation of 21 MNCs over the 1890–2008 period suggest that the dampening effect of financial crises on technological exploration is confined to home-country units and greenfield subsidiaries, whereas it is found to be of less significance among acquired foreign subsidiaries. We suggest that such differentiation within the MNC is indicative of a previously unobserved advantage from multinationality, which allows it to smoothen the effects of financial crises on long-term technological development and corporate growth.

While research on the cross-cultural experience of entrepreneurs has demonstrated that exposure to diverse cultures is beneficial for new venture growth, it has neglected the performance implications of entrepreneurs’ cross-cultural experience at the ecosystem level. This study endeavors to explore the micro-macro link between cross-cultural entrepreneurs and the performance of entrepreneurial ecosystems in which they are embedded. Building on the dynamic capability perspective, we argue that entrepreneurial ecosystem orchestrators can leverage entrepreneurs’ cross-cultural experiences to develop ecosystem dynamic capabilities and consequently improve entrepreneurial ecosystem performance. Based on multi-wave survey data of 2,981 business incubators in China, our findings show that cross-cultural entrepreneurs are positively associated with entrepreneurial ecosystem performance via increased ecosystem innovation. Moreover, the integrative capability of ecosystem orchestrators moderates the relationship between cross-cultural entrepreneurs and ecosystem innovation. Our findings contribute to the literature on cross-cultural experience by extending it to the ecosystem level and inject fresh insights into the dynamic capability literature by uncovering the formation process of ecosystem dynamic capabilities.

Natural disasters pose significant threats to MNEs and their subsidiaries. We evaluate the impact and temporal significance of unsystematic disasters on MNE governance decisions. Focusing on JVs and drawing upon new internalization theory, we assess the significance of parent-subsidiary characteristics and experience after a disaster. Our dataset encompasses 7,938 disaster events across 132 countries affecting 5,375 Japanese MNEs and 20,053 subsidiaries over 26 years. We demonstrate the negative impact of disasters on JV survival and observe acquisition (exit) following a disaster based on higher (lower) levels of asset specificity, relative importance, and country and disaster specific experience.

This study examines the process and mechanisms of realized international scaling of born-digital firms through the business model lens. In an explorative multiple-case study of Finnish firms in cultural industries, it finds that born-digital firms adapt their business models through an iterative process to achieve practically scaled operations. The research unpacks the mechanisms guiding the process of business model adaptation and highlights the role of dynamic capabilities in their employment. The findings extend existing theorizing on scaling by offering a conceptualization of realized international digital scaling and the role of the business model in its implementation.

This paper extends our theoretical understanding of how international opportunities trigger the knowledge-commitment cycle and lead to growth. Longitudinal data from seven international firms was analysed to build a deep, processual understanding of the opportunities developed by the case study firms. Utilizing an abductive approach, the complexities and contextual dynamics of internationalisation processes were explored as they evolved, revealing that path-breaking opportunities are major events that disrupt the ongoing process of regular opportunity development and provide new knowledge that triggers a greater commitment to internationalisation. While firms may discover path-breaking opportunities at different points in their trajectory over hermeneutic and chronological time, key commitments to international markets are made when such opportunities are in hand or clearly in sight. Our use of an abductive process illustrates its intricacies and suitability for explaining temporal phenomena.

Increasing internationalisation in organisations demands further research on acculturation within international business (IB). Based on triangulated qualitative data on South Asian diasporas’ food consumption in the UK and Bahraini contexts, we introduce two acculturative orientations: essentialism and boundary spanning. We contribute to literature by linking acculturative orientations with relevant drivers and resulting adoption and adaptation of cultures to offer a new perspective towards analysing (im)migrants’ appropriation of culture in personal and work settings. We push the boundary of IB research by highlighting and enriching the understanding of, and reciprocity between, social and occupational contexts that shape (im)migrants’ acculturation.

We conduct a quasi-replication to re-examine the theoretical arguments and empirical findings in Surroca, Tribo, and Zahra (2013). These authors argued that MNEs transfer socially irresponsible (CSiR) practices from their headquarters to their foreign subsidiaries. Recently, however, dramatic changes in institutional environments, multinationals, and their practices have raised concerns about the validity and generalizability of the original arguments. The replication results show weaker evidence than what was presented in the original study and offer a different view of MNEs from emerging markets based on an updated sample. Thus, our replication contributes to a cumulative body of knowledge in the cross-discipline field of international business, CSiR, and sustainability.

Family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face both general bounded rationality challenges and a unique expression of bounded rationality in their internationalization process: the bifurcation bias, a concept aligned with modern transaction cost theory (TCT). We argue that efficient governance in family SMEs, and especially features of the Board of Directors’ composition, can help alleviate bounded rationality. Complementing TCT with upper echelons theory (UET), we investigate which Board characteristics in family SMEs contribute to efficient governance and the ensuing strategy decisions. We focus specifically on strategy decisions in the internationalization sphere. Our empirical analysis of survey data from 328 Belgian family SMEs, operating out of a small open economy, reveals that family SMEs internationalize more if their Boards are ‘open’, ‘inclusive’, ‘experienced’ and ‘active’. These Board characteristics, all reflective of efficient governance, i.e., providing the Board with the capacity to alleviate bounded rationality constraints, positively contribute to internationalization, especially (and perhaps paradoxically) when the family SME is managed by a CEO who is also a family member.