Institutional effect on born global firms in China: the role of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War strategies

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Man Zhang ◽  
Qian Gao ◽  
Jane V. Wheeler ◽  
Jungsook Kwon

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the role of Sun Tzu’s significant strategies on the relationship between the institutional environment and international performance of Chinese born global firms, a type of small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) characterized by the company’s limited resources and its early efforts to internationalize. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on a multi-case analysis of interviews conducted with four chosen born global firms, coupled with public database and Web site searches. Through the use of qualitative methods, propositions were developed. Findings – This paper provides insights regarding how the institutional environment, both formal and informal, has a strong positive relationship with born global firm’s international performance. Moreover, Sun Tzu’s significant strategies play a critical role in the internationalization process of born global firms in emerging markets. Originality/value – Although existing studies discuss the application of Eastern philosophical strategies adopted by firms in emerging markets, to the best of our knowledge, this is one of the earliest studies which evaluates the moderation effect of Sun Tzu’s significant strategies on the relationship between institutional environment and business performance. The paper contributes to scholarly discourse on the influencing factors of born global firm’s internationalization process. It also has practical relevance to international entrepreneurs and SMEs from emerging markets.

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yipeng Liu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of transnational entrepreneurs in growing born global firms, with a focus on the growth process facilitated by collaborative entry mode. Design/methodology/approach The author chose the solar photovoltaic industry as the empirical setting. This industry is a particularly good context for the study because many firms in this industry sell knowledge-intensive products internationally from their inception. The primary data consist of 32 in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs, industry association representatives, research institute scholars, and professional service firms. Findings The study highlights the importance of transnational entrepreneurs who develop born global firms to maturity by using their technological knowledge, international connections, and bicultural advantages to navigate and leverage institutional complexity. Collaborative entry mode with distributors enables born global firms’ high growth rapidly, whereas transnational entrepreneurs play a central role in building and expanding international network. Initial public offering in overseas stock exchange accelerates the high growth trajectory of born global firm by signalling its maturity. Research limitations/implications The author took a process perspective by examining the growth and maturity of born global firms by collaborative partnership; the author’s focus on the role of transnational entrepreneurs highlighted entrepreneurs’ sensitivity to institutional complexity along the growth trajectory. Practical implications The author recommends both incumbent and entrepreneurial firms in developed economies collaborate with transnational entrepreneurs in various business areas. Industry firms may be able to cooperate on product and marketing development, and professional service firms can offer services to expand born global firms further, because transnational entrepreneurs follow the global “rules of the game”. Originality/value The author shed important light on the role of transnational entrepreneurs throughout the growth of born global firms via collaborative entry mode. Furthermore, the author develops a multilevel framework for analysing the combined influence of transnational entrepreneur and institutional complexity on the growth of born global firm.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  

Purpose The authors wanted to find out the most important mechanisms for encouraging innovative behavior in the Indian manufacturing sector. Design/methodology/approach The researchers collected data from Indian manufacturing organizations. They distributed questionnaires and received 288 complete ones. Items measured critical concepts. For OJ one example was “I have been fairly rewarded for the effort I put forth”. For KS, one sample was, “When I have learned something new, I tell my colleagues about it” and, “When they have learned something new, my colleagues tell me about it”. Meanwhile, IB was measured using items such as “I generate original solutions for problems”. Findings It highlighted the pivotal role of OJ in bolstering employees’ IB. When companies treat employees fairly, it encourages positive social interactions that lead to perceptions of supportiveness and trustworthiness. Employees reciprocate these sentiments with positive behavior. The study also showed the positive predictive influence of KS on IB. Finally, the results showed that the relationship between OJ and IB is complex, but KS is a pivotal mediator. Promotion of OJ, KS and IM is “vital” to spark innovation. Originality/value The authors felt their most important finding was to highlight the critical role of the underlying mechanism of KS, which is where individuals exchange implicit and explicit knowledge to create new knowledge. In addition, previous researchers have looked at the role of organizational justice in encouraging innovative behavior, but evidence from non-Western countries is scarce.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Choukri Menidjel ◽  
Abderrezzak Benhabib ◽  
Anil Bilgihan ◽  
Melih Madanoglu

Purpose Product category involvement and relationship proneness are crucial in explaining relationship outcomes. Nevertheless, the authors know little about their roles in the formation of loyalty, especially in the retail industry. Individual consumer traits and preferences are likely to play a critical role in the success of relationship marketing. Yet, relationship marketing studies have fallen short of considering such individual differences. The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effects of product category involvement and relationship proneness on the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty in retail clothing stores. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained using a survey of 220 consumers. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed theoretical model. Findings The results show that satisfaction significantly affects product category involvement and relationship proneness, which, in turn, significantly affect purchase intention and word-of-mouth (WOM). The results also show that product category involvement and relationship proneness partially mediate the impact of satisfaction on purchase intention and WOM. Research limitations/implications Product category involvement and relationship proneness play a critical role in explaining the satisfaction–loyalty link. Future research could consider the role of potential moderating variables. Practical implications Retail managers should not only focus on improving customer satisfaction to achieve customer loyalty, but should also consider the importance of product category involvement and relationship proneness, and their role in the formation of customer loyalty both in traditional and online environments. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore the mediating effects of product category involvement and relationship proneness on the relationship between satisfaction, purchase intention and WOM in the retail industry.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 4313-4337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minwoo Lee ◽  
Seonjeong (Ally) Lee ◽  
Yoon Koh

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effect of customers’ multisensory service experience on customer satisfaction with cognitive effort and affective evaluations using big data and business intelligence techniques. Design/methodology/approach Online customer reviews for all New York City hotels were collected from Tripadvisor.com and analyzed through business intelligence and big data analytics techniques including data mining, text analytics, sentiment analysis and regression analysis. Findings The current study identifies the relationship between affective evaluations (i.e. positive affect and negative affect) and customer satisfaction. Research findings also find the negative effect of reviewer’s cognitive effort on satisfaction rating. More importantly, this study demonstrates the moderating role of multisensory experience as an innovative marketing tool on the relationship between affect/cognitive evaluation and customer satisfaction in the hospitality setting. Originality/value This study is the first study to explore the critical role of sensory marketing on hotel guest experience in the context of hotel customer experience and service innovation, based on big data and business intelligence techniques.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashna Ashwini Chandra ◽  
Justin Paul ◽  
Meena Chavan

Purpose The paper aims to examine new research on the internationalization of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Pacific Island Nation country Fiji. Design/methodology/approach A multiple case qualitative method was used which adopted a purposeful sampling methodology through semi-structured interviews to test propositions and present preliminary findings. Findings The authors find that, SME internationalization in Fiji is driven by management competence (MC) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and is hindered by the unfavourable institutional environment. The authors then develop a conceptual model and propositions to further explore these enablers and the inhibitors of Fiji SME internationalization. The authors’ findings have important implications for managers in improving their firms’ international performance. Originality/value This is a pioneering effort to evaluate the relationship between the factors of EO, MC and institutional distance and their impact on the international performance of SMEs. This paper contributes to the existing literature on international entrepreneurship through the examination of SMEs’ internationalization activities in Fiji.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Effiezal Aswadi Abdul Wahab ◽  
Mazlina Mat Zain ◽  
Rashidah Abdul Rahman

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether political connections further impair auditor independence by investigating the relationship between non-audit fees and audit fees and as to whether political connections moderate such relationship. Design/methodology/approach – This study employs panel regression analysis. The panel data set consists of 379 firm-year observations for three years from year 2001 to 2003. Findings – Based on 379 firm-year observations for the period of 2001-2003, grounded on two proxies of political connections namely politically connected firms and the proportion of Bumiputras directors, the authors find a positive and significant relationship between non-audit fees and audit fees, and the relationship becomes weaker, only for Bumiputra-dominated firms connected firms. Originality/value – This study contributes to the extant literature by examining the role of political connections in the context of auditor independence. In addition, this study is conducted in Malaysia, which provides a unique institutional environment with the existence of political connections that is built on ethnic grounds.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Jing Huang ◽  
Linyu Liu ◽  
Ren Lu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between industry risk taking and risk-taking strategy of born-global firms (BGs), and how industry-related variety moderates that relationship. Design/methodology/approach The authors apply fixed effect model to analyze 26,499 observations on 10,508 BGs in 276 Chinese cities. Findings The authors find that industry risk taking positively influences risk-taking strategy of BGs, and industry-related variety positively moderates such relationship. Originality/value The findings reveal how BGs formulate their risk-taking strategy given the dilemma of risk nature and hurdles in firm establishment and rapid internationalization. This paper extends understanding on BGs’ strategy making, supplements the theoretical framework on BGs with an integrated viewpoint containing “regional–industry–firm” levels and contributes to the industry variety argument.


2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-268
Author(s):  
Renata Turola Takamatsu ◽  
Luiz Paulo Lopes Fávero

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of the informational environment on the relevance of accounting information in companies traded in stock exchanges of emerging markets. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, the authors calculated indicators based on figures derived from the financial statements and variables that sought to capture the influence of the economic and institutional environment. The sample consisted of publicly traded companies from 20 countries classified as emerging by Standard & Poors. Macroeconomic information was obtained through the International Country Risk Guide database. The analysis period ranged from 2004 to 2013, excluding missing data, variables considered as outliers, besides the exclusion of data from companies that presented negative equity. Findings It was observed that the financial variables presented signs consistent with the literature, except for the price-to-book variable and the asset change variable. The inclusion of variables related to the accounting informational environment offered evidence that the more opaque the accounting environment in the country, the lesser the ability of the profits to portray the variations of stock returns. The variable that captured the adoption of international standards was consistent with expectations, i.e. the adoption of international standards would increase the quality of accounting information, showing a positive signal. Moreover, the variable aggressiveness of the earnings was statistically significant and negative, consistent with the literature. Research limitations/implications The variables earnings smoothing and aversion to losses did not show the expected behaviour though, highlighting the possible limitations of these proxies used to capture the opacity of the earnings. Originality/value When institutional moderators were included, it was observed that the adoption of the IFRS standards positively affected the relationship, which is more relevant when the accounting figures were under its aegis. Recently, countless nations’ transition to international accounting standards has been justified by the need to use high-quality reporting standards. The research sought to contribute to strengthen this dimension, presenting evidence that the dummy variable included to capture the adoption of international standards had a positive effect on the relationship.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ma Ga (Mark) Yang ◽  
James Jungbae Roh ◽  
Mingu Kang

PurposeThe current study aims to investigate the role of strategic environmental orientation (SEO) in implementing environmental design practices (EDPs).Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of survey data collected from 212 US manufacturing firms, structural equation modeling and regression analysis are used to test the proposed research model.FindingsThe findings of the present study suggest that SEO not only drives firms' design of environmental products but also moderates the relationship between EDPs and environmental performance. However, SEO turns out not to moderate the relationship between EDPs and operational performance. This study also highlights that firms' EDPs play a critical role in enhancing environmental performance as well as operational performance.Originality/valueBy examining the important role of SEO, this research unpacks the moderating role of SEO between EDPs and firm performance, thus shedding light on how SEO promotes EDPs and the effectiveness of EDPs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 521-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjari Singh ◽  
Anita Sarkar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the relationship between the empowering structure and the employees’ innovative behavior and the role of psychological empowerment in mediating this link. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data from 401 female primary school teachers in India. Prior to the main study, the scales were tested on a sample of 288 teachers. While psychological empowerment and structural empowerment were based on the self-reporting by the teachers, the innovative behavior of the teacher was assessed by two to three colleagues for each teacher. Findings The results confirmed that structural empowerment leads to innovative behavior and psychological empowerment and partially mediates the relationship between structural empowerment and innovative behavior. Practical implications Promising ideas die down because of lack of proper resource support and a free flow of information exchange despite employees’ willingness to carry out innovative tasks. Psychological empowerment affects creative intention in the workplace and can play a critical role for employees at their workplace. Social implications In the context of development at the teacher and school levels, it is imperative to address both the psyche of the individual and the existing structure in schools. Originality/value This study makes two critical contributions. One, it emphasizes the importance of structural empowerment in ensuring innovative behavior of employees. Two, it also brings forward the importance of psychological empowerment in the relationship between structural empowerment and innovative behavior.


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