Founder-key leaders, group-level decision teams, and the international expansion of business groups

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Ting Lin
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Business Groups ◽  
Adjustment Costs ◽  
Business Group ◽  
Foreign Direct Investments ◽  
Group Level ◽  
International Expansion ◽  
Dynamic Adjustment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Top Managers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw the perspective of dynamic adjustment costs, the author developed hypotheses regarding the relationships between the internationalization of business groups and first, key leaders of business groups who helped found the groups (i.e. founder-key leaders); second, business groups’ group-level decision teams where the majority of positions are held by members of the founding family (i.e. family-dominated decision teams); and third, business groups’ group-level decision teams where strong ties exist among these teams (i.e. strong-tie decision teams) because group-level top managers are simultaneously top managers of group affiliates. Design/methodology/approach – This study used generalized least squares fixed-effects models to test its arguments about longitudinal data pertaining to 173 Taiwanese business groups’ foreign direct investments over a period of five years (2004-2008). Findings – The results show that the presence of a founder-key leader and strong-tie group-level decision teams in a business group can positively affect the internationalization of business groups. However, family-dominated group-level decision teams in a business group can adversely affect the internationalization of business groups. Research limitations/implications – Using a dynamic managerial-capacities perspective, this study provides alternative explanations regarding the degree of business groups’ internationalization to demonstrate the links among business groups’ key leaders, group-level decision teams, and internationalization. Practical implications – When deciding whether to expand abroad, managers at a given business group should carefully consider the characteristics of the group's management team because business groups engaging in such expansion are likely to incur dynamic adjustment costs. In this case, the dynamic managerial capacities of a business group play an important role in enabling the group to decrease dynamic adjustment costs. The differences among a group-level key leader's traits, a family-dominated group-level decision team's traits, and a strong-tie group-level decision team's traits will lead to distinct levels of dynamic managerial capacities within the group. Originality/value – Given the increasing number of business groups entering international markets, this paper rests on the perspective of dynamic managerial capabilities and uses group-level evidence to clarify how the characteristics of key leaders and the characteristics of group-level decision teams in business groups affect the groups’ international expansion.

Does international expansion constrain growth? Business groups, internationalization, institutional distance, and the Penrose effect

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Ting Lin ◽  
Ying-Yu Chen ◽  
David Ahlstrom ◽  
Linda C. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Firm Growth ◽  
Business Groups ◽  
Adjustment Costs ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Institutional Distance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Managerial Resources ◽  
Penrose Effect ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper aims to use the institutional and information-processing perspectives to explore their association with between internationalization and the Penrose effect phenomenon for business groups (BGs). Design/methodology/approach The authors use ordinary least squares regression models to test arguments about data pertaining to 101 Taiwanese BGs’ foreign direct investments. Findings The results indicate that greater levels of depth and scope in the process of internationalization during one period may negatively affect rates of growth in the following period. The results further demonstrate that institutional distance moderates the relationship. Research limitations/implications Using the perspective of information-processing demands, the authors provide alternate explanations regarding the relationship between the process of internationalization (depth, scope and rhythm) and the Penrose effect. Originality/value Owners and managers should focus on both the depth and the scope of internationalization. BGs are likely to incur high dynamic adjustment costs, which then limit the rate of BGs’ growth. Managers should balance international market uncertainty with current managerial resources when determining how deeply and broadly to expand internationally and where to enter. In addition, as recent major panel studies suggest, management capabilities and practices can improve significantly, which has a positive effect on firm growth and performance. This does require the careful development and acquisition of the managerial resources needed for internationalization.

Market distance and insider-ownership strategies: a resource-dependence perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 2958-2977
Author(s):  
Wen-Ting Lin
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Resource Dependence ◽  
International Market ◽  
Resource Dependence Theory ◽  
Business Group ◽  
Foreign Direct Investments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Market Distance ◽  
Managerial Level

Purpose Ownership issues are an important feature of corporate governance when firms focus on global expansion in multiple and diverse regions. Drawing on resource dependence theory (RDT), the purpose of this paper is to address the phenomenon regarding the extent to which international market distance affects equity stakes in group-affiliated firms held by business group headquarters. Design/methodology/approach This study uses longitudinal data on foreign direct investments by 106 business groups (BGs), including 561 group-affiliated firms, from Taiwan over a five-year period from 2006 to 2010. Findings The results show that the equity stakes of the BG headquarters in the group-affiliated firms in foreign markets were positively associated with the geographic distance between the country of the BG headquarters and the host country of the foreign group-affiliated firms, the cultural distance between the country of the BG headquarters and the host country of the foreign group-affiliated firms and institutional distance between the country of the BG headquarters and the host country of the foreign group-affiliated firms. Research limitations/implications Most studies of corporate governance and international business are based on a transaction cost economics approach, a resource-based perspective and agency and institutional theories. In contrast, this study, by using RDT, provides an alternative explanation regarding the factors that affect the equity stakes of parent firms in group-affiliated firms. Practical implications This study presents two basic pieces of advice for consideration. First, at the managerial level, group-affiliated firms should develop their own resources and capabilities in order to become more autonomous in pursuing advantageous international activities that the parent firms may not foresee. Second, and again at the managerial level, business group headquarters should adopt a strategy to balance the dependency relationship between group-affiliated firms and business group headquarters. Originality/value This study provides the most finely grained analysis, to date, regarding how international market distance affects business group headquarters from newly industrialized economies in terms of diverse equity stakes in foreign affiliates, the unique attributes of BGs and international market distances’ relationship with both the operations and the expansion opportunities of BGs.

scholarly journals The Competitiveness of Business Groups and Their Affiliates in International Operations

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-262
Author(s):  
Roderick Caballero Bugador
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Business Groups ◽  
Business Group ◽  
Emerging Economy ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
International Expansion ◽  
Vast Literature ◽  
International Operations ◽  
Managerial Capabilities

AbstractThe discourse on the competitiveness of emerging economy firms continues with globalization. This paper joins the dialogue by providing a framework of the competitiveness of business groups and their affiliates in international operations. The goal is to address the vast literature on emerging economies that remains short in providing the theoretical background on the competitiveness of emerging and transitioning economy firms. To do this, this study used a critical review and analysis of the literature. It offers some propositions to illustrate the applicability of the framework in analyzing the international expansion of business group affiliates across borders. Ultimately, the paper contributes to the literature on managerial capabilities and competitiveness of firms to sustain their operations as the new emerging economy multinationals.

Role of resource slack in rapid international expansion of restaurant companies

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-20
Author(s):  
Yue Vaughan ◽  
Yoon Koh
Keyword(s):  
Firm Value ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Firm Growth ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
International Expansion ◽  
Slack Resources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between rapid internationalization and firm value in US restaurant companies. This study also identified the moderating role of available slack, potential slack and recoverable slack on the relationship of rapid internationalization and the firm’s value.Design/methodology/approachA hierarchical regression analysis with panel fixed effects was used in this study. Samples were drawn from publicly traded US restaurant companies, and span from 1993 to 2016 with 264 firm-year observations was used for the study’s analysis.FindingsDrawing on Penrose’s seminal theory of firm-growth that a firm needs excess resources to grow and that the amount of slack resources directly influences a firm’s international growth, this study found that available slack alleviates the negative impact of rapid international expansion in achieving higher firm value.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few analyses that examined thespeedof rapid international expansion in the service context. In addition, this study contributes to existing literature by examining three different slack resources with regards to the speed of international expansion. The findings of this study shed light on restaurant companies whose financial resources are critical for value-adding international expansion.

A comparative study of corporate governance practices of Indian firms affiliated to business groups and industries

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pitabas Mohanty ◽  
Supriti Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Business Groups ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Business Group ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Group Affiliation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Governance Index ◽  
Governance Practices

Purpose This paper aims to study the corporate governance practices followed by the listed companies in India to find out if industry and business group affiliation of firms influence their corporate governance practices. Design/methodology/approach The authors have created a corporate governance index for India using 15 of the variables used in past research. Hierarchical regression has been used in the study to control for possible inter-firm correlation in governance scores. Findings Using principal component analysis, the authors derive five factors for the corporate governance index – board composition, shareholder responsibility, ownership, responsible board behavior and fair executive compensation. Using the random intercept mixed-effects model, the authors find that corporate governance behaviors of firms affiliated to business groups are more similar within business groups than within industries. Practical implications Regulatory authorities generally target individual firms to enforce good corporate governance practices. As companies affiliated with the same business group exhibit similar governance practices, regulators can also set norms for business groups in addition to individual firms. Originality/value Scant research has studied the corporate governance behavior of firms affiliated with business groups. By making business groups (and industries) the unit of analysis, the authors have studied the corporate governance behavior of firms as a cluster in the context of an emerging country, India.

Chairpersons’ hubris and internationalization: evidence from emerging market’s family business groups

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arpita Agnihotri ◽  
Saurabh Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Business Groups ◽  
Business Group ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Firm Internationalization ◽  
Family Business Groups ◽  
Micro Foundations

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the association between chairperson hubris and the internationalization of firms belonging to business groups in an emerging market, India, under the boundary conditions of business group internationalization and the tenure of independent board members. Design/methodology/approachArchival data of 163 Indian family firms over a five-year period were used. FindingsThe study highlights the significance of chairperson hubris in determining the internationalization of family firms in India and the influence that business group internationalization and the tenure of independent board members have on the chairperson hubris and firm internationalization relationships. Originality/valueAlthough literature exists on drivers of internationalization, micro-foundations theories such as chairperson hubris have been less explored in the international business literature, especially in the context of emerging markets. Contribution to Impact

The intra business group effects of alliance network extensions

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1420-1442 ◽  
Author(s):  
I-Fen Chen ◽  
Shao-Chi Chang
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Alliances ◽  
Business Groups ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
Business Group ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Network Effect ◽  
Share Price ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to better understand the influence of business group membership by exploring how actions by a member firm influence other firms in the business group. Specifically, the authors ask two questions in this study: when a member firm forms strategic alliances with partners outside of the business group, how does the alliance influence other members in the business group? Moreover, which types of member firms are more affected than others? Design/methodology/approach – The authors employ standard event-study methodology to examine the stock price responses for the focal and member firms on the announcement of an alliance. Moreover, the authors employ the cross-sectional regression analyses to test hypotheses concerning the impact of alliance, group, and firm characteristics on the cumulative abnormal returns of non-announcing members. All regressions are estimated using ordinary least squares. Findings – The results show that, on average, alliance-announcing member firms experience significantly positive share price responses to announcements of strategic alliances. Moreover, the impact of alliance formation spillover to other non-announcing members in the business group. The authors also find that the influences on the non-announcing members are dissimilar. The non-announcing members are more strongly affected when they are in different industries from the non-member partner, and when the ownership of the business group is more concentrated. Originality/value – This study is to extend the resource complementarities perspective, which may help firms to more effectively configure their network portfolios in order to develop synergies among related network resources. The study thus extends the alliance portfolio literature to the literature on business groups. Since the inter-firm networks within business groups are more complex than those in alliance portfolios, the authors are able to study how the structure of a business, such as ownership concentration, can influence the intra-network effect.

Strategy, capabilities, and business group performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-97
Author(s):  
Shan-Huei Wang ◽  
Chung-Jen Chen ◽  
Andy Ruey-Shan Guo ◽  
Ya-Hui Lin
Keyword(s):  
Group Performance ◽  
Business Groups ◽  
Business Group ◽  
Organizational Capabilities ◽  
Diversification Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Endogenous Role ◽  
Industry Diversification ◽  
Two Step Estimation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among choice of industry diversification, capabilities and business group performance, as well as to point out the potential concern about endogenous role of industry diversification. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the top 100 business groups in Taiwan from TEJ database. This study uses Heckman’s two-step estimation procedure and contingency model to achieve unbiased results and examine our hypotheses. Findings The results of this study find that if business groups’ marketing or operational capabilities are strong they should adopt a high level of diversification strategy and if business groups’ R&D capability is strong they should adopt a low level one. The results of this study also show that the endogenous problem of industry diversification exists, and needs to be considered. Moreover, our finding confirms the importance of capability–strategy fit, which, in turn, can achieve better performance. Practical implications On average, high industry diversification groups perform better than low industry diversification groups after controlling for endogeneity issues. Business groups can achieve better performance if their strategy choices match the capabilities they encounter. Managers should pay attention to strategy-capability fit issues. Specifically, they should review their organizational capabilities as well as check their strategies within firms. Originality/value This study is one of the first that attempts to explore the endogenous role of diversification strategy choices, and empirical examine strategy-capability fit on business group performance.

Business group characteristics and firm operating performance: evidence from Chile

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Farías
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Operating Performance ◽  
Business Groups ◽  
Business Group ◽  
Multiple Regression Model ◽  
Publicly Traded ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Group Characteristics ◽  
Latin American Countries

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of business group characteristics on firm‐operating performance in Chile. Design/methodology/approach Using a multiple regression model, this study examines the effect of business group characteristics (interlocking of directors, management concentration, and business group specialization) on operating performance (ROA growth) in a sample of 104 publicly traded Chilean firms. Findings It is documented that, except for interlocking of directors, the two other business group characteristics (management concentration and business group specialization) are significantly related to the operating performance of firms belonging to Chilean business groups. These findings suggest that Chilean business groups would improve or deteriorate the performance of their affiliated firms modifying its characteristics. Originality/value Too little is known about the effect of business group characteristics on firm‐operating performance in Latin American countries such as Chile because there is no research that analyses its impact on firm‐operating performance in the region.

To wait or not to wait: pacing international expansion in China for best results

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruihua Joy Jiang ◽  
Jie Xiong ◽  
Yuan Ding ◽  
Ravi Parameswaran
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Foreign Market ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
International Expansion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Expansion Strategy ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Top Managers

Purpose How to enter and expand in a newly emerged foreign market is less understood. Should multinational enterprises move fast or slowly? In this study, the authors take China as the context to investigate what factors will lead to a fast expansion strategy in a foreign market. The purpose of this paper is to understand whether fast expansion benefits firms’ performance in a rapidly emerging market. Design/methodology/approach Based on insights from field interviews, the authors developed a theoretical framework. Then, the authors collected data from surveys of managers of multinational enterprises from Western countries to test their hypothesis. This research context is based on the experience of multinational enterprises in China which opened up to foreign direct investment in 1979. Findings This study shows that internally, strategic long-term investment goals, top management team commitment and externally switching costs and the growth in the demand market which will push firms to expand fast in the newly emerged China market. Faster pace of expansion benefits the performance of multinational enterprises in a newly emerged market. Originality/value Based on the onsite interviews followed by the survey of top managers of multinational enterprises located in China, this study provides a fine-grained analysis of the importance of pace and its key antecedents. Thus, the results provide new insights to decision-makers of multinational enterprises when considering expanding in an emerging market at its early stages of growth.

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