Pre-Entry Experience, Postentry Adaptations, and Internationalization in the African Mobile Telecommunications Industry

We study the evolution of the African mobile telecommunications industry from its effective beginning and explore the sources of ownership advantages among indigenous firms, by assembling historical qualitative and quantitative firm-level data. Our historical qualitative findings suggest that a few start-ups gained industry-specific knowledge through their pre-entry experience, directed their postentry development of capabilities toward adaptations to challenging market and operational conditions, and leveraged their adaptive capabilities to enter and compete in other African countries. Using our quantitative panel data, we show that these firms successfully internationalized across the continent. In particular, compared with other start-ups, they had higher rates of foreign entry in African countries that had relatively weaker rule of law, and greater market reach in African countries that had relatively larger low-income consumer segments. These patterns corroborate that their capabilities for overcoming the industry’s challenging market and operational conditions were their key ownership advantages. Through our triangulated analysis, we show that inherited industry knowledge provides a foundation for postentry capability development, and entrepreneurial leadership guides this process to create ownership advantages for regional internationalization.

Birds of a feather flock together: ownership in cross-border acquisitions by emerging multinationals

PurposeDespite prior studies on cross-border acquisitions (CBAs) have analyzed the determinants of ownership strategies; there is still a quest for evidence on how the differences between home and host market characteristics affect the ownership percentage. Prior studies have acknowledged that entering host countries with greater uncertainty makes multinationals reluctant to acquire high levels of ownership. Nevertheless, emerging multinationals (EMNEs) are usually used to operating under greater levels of uncertainty than multinationals from advanced countries (AMNEs), which can imply different ownership strategies. The purpose of this study is to analyze the ownership percentage acquired by MNEs when designing a CBA in emerging or in advanced countries, and to analyze the extent to which the ownership strategy in emerging countries differs between EMNEs and AMNEs.Design/methodology/approachMobile telecommunications industry is used as research setting to provide empirical evidence of the interaction effect of the advanced versus emerging nature of the host and home countries on the ownership acquired in CBAs.FindingsResults confirm that both home and host countries' characteristics are relevant in explaining the ownership strategies of MNEs.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to the strategy and IB literatures by providing empirical evidence on the recent debate on whether the internationalization strategies followed by EMNEs are similar to the traditional patterns of AMNEs, and analyze how EMNEs differ from AMNEs in their ownership strategies in emerging countries. Focusing in the mobile telecommunications industry, the authors also contribute by extending the analysis to an international and cross-cultural setting that includes 48 mobile groups that come from 35 home and 81 host countries.

Employee voice and silence in multinational corporations in the mobile telecommunications industry in Nigeria

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore employee voice and silence in the mobile telecommunication industry in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory qualitative case study methodology was employed in this study. Participant selection was done through a purposeful intensity sampling technique, which resulted in 30 employees from two different multinational organizations and an indigenous organization taking part in in-depth interviews.FindingsFindings show the presence of fear of victimization in the Nigerian workplace embellished by the Sub-Saharan culture and the state of the labor market, which resulted in employee silence. The study revealed that the implementation of culturally adapted employee voice mechanisms within organizations in the mobile telecommunication industry in Nigeria promotes employee voice and organizational performance, whereas a lack thereof results in organizational failure.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation is that the purposive sample of employees from three organizations in the mobile telecommunications industry only permits theoretical and analytic generalization.Practical implicationsA focus on the co-creation of a high-performance work environment and the development of a powerful employee value proposition would foster employee voice.Social implicationsIt will enable multinationals operating in Nigeria understand better how to operate employee voice in order to obtain optimal performance from workers in Sub-Sahara Africa.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on employee/industrial relations by showing that a high-power-distance national culture and a high unemployment rate affect employee voice and silence, which brings to the fore the importance of adequate employee voice mechanisms through which employees express their voice in order to arrive at beneficial individual and organizational outcomes.

ANALISIS EFISIENSI INDUSTRI TELEKOMUNIKASI SELULER DI INDONESIA 2008 - 2014

This research aims to analyze the level of technical efficiency level and its determinants in Indonesian mobile telecommunications industry during the period of 2008-2014. To measure efficiency level, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is applied. The objects of research are the cellular operator companies in Indonesia. They are PT Telkomsel Tbk, PT XL Axiata Tbk, PT Indosat Tbk, PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk, and PT Bakrie Telecom Tbk. Variable inputs used are the number of employees and total assets, while the output variables used is total revenues. In this research, Technical efficiency level is a performance indicator used as dependent variable, while the independent variables such as: company size (Size), Tangibility, Liquidity, and Leverage. To estimate the determinant of Indonesian mobile telecommunications industry, the regression with Tobit model is applied. Tobit regression shows that company Size and Leverage has negative influence on efficiency. However, Tangibility and Liquidity has positive influence to efficiency.