Strategic Responses to Institutional Voids (Rationalization, Aggression, and Defensiveness): Institutional Complementarity and Why the Home Country Matters

We seek to understand how the strategic responses of firms to institutional voids are affected by their home countries’ institutional contexts. It adopts an exploratory, multiple case studies approach examining the responses of advanced and emerging multinational enterprises, and local firms in two African countries which are characterized by such voids, namely the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe. Our research suggests that firms’ strategic responses to institutional voids in emerging or developing markets are affected by the home country’s institutional environment and firms’ experiences and advantages arising from that home context. Firms adopt strategic responses which reflect their respective advantages and this results in diverse approaches based on the interplay between capitalizing upon internal resources and institutional know-how. For some firms this may result in a defensive strategic response, whilst for others opportunistic and aggressive agility, or rationalization and reconciliation may manifest. We demonstrate differences between advanced and emerging multinational enterprises and domestic firms covering the spectrum between institutional outsiders and insiders. We emphasize the contextual nature of these strategic responses and argue that this requires integrating both a resource and institution-based analysis of firms’ underlying advantages and how they are able to leverage off these advantages in institutionally voided environments. Practical implications arise for doing business in emerging and developing markets.

Emerging Economy Inward and Outward Foreign Direct Investment: A Bibliometric and Thematic Content Analysis

Research examining emerging economy inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) flows is on a significant upward trajectory. In this bibliometric analysis covering 806 articles published between 1994 and 2019, we map key aspects of its contours. Our analysis proceeds in two sequential phases involving a performance analysis, followed by a thematic analysis. Our performance analysis unveils fundamental elements of the structure of the knowledge base. Our subsequent thematic analysis identifies three focal topics arising from identifiable shared qualities characterizing this literature. Firstly, we distinguish scholarship focused on inward FDI into emerging economies formed by two particular classes, namely ‘innovative FDI’ and ‘capital flows’. Our second theme covers outward FDI from these emerging economies and also comprises two specific classes referring to the ‘institutional environment’ and the ‘theoretical framework deployed’. Our final theme relates to an integrated body of knowledge explicating aspects of the location choice decision. Building on this analysis, we isolate a number of opportunities for future research.

Endorsement of Global Product Brands by Global Corporate Brands – A Consumer Perspective Across Nations

Many multinational corporations use their corporate brand to endorse their products but thereby attract international consumers differently. Therefore, it is important to analyze whether corporations profit from endorsed branding strategies across nations or whether they must rely on country-specific factors. The authors propose a theory-based framework and apply multilevel mediation structural equation modeling with cross-level interactions to analyze the typical direct and indirect effects of global corporate brand image and global product brand image on product purchase intention across nations. The authors rely on hierarchical data from 7660 consumer evaluations of a multinational corporation’s global corporate and product brands in 35 countries. Importantly, the results provide insights into country-specific moderators, i.e., the degree of country development and national culture, and the respective country portfolio. They further contribute to the application of theory and show a positive indirect effect of global corporate brand image on product purchase intention via global product brand image across nations. Additionally, a positive, although weaker, direct effect of global corporate brand image on product purchase intention is found. However, the degree of country development and national culture moderate both effects differently. This study provides new theoretical implications and shows that a country portfolio offers concrete hints for managers.

Is Internationalization Beneficial to Innovation? Evidence from a Meta-analysis

This paper conducts a meta-analytical review to examine the impact of internationalization on innovation, with particular attention to the role of research design factors that may confound causal inferences. The existing literature is examined (1) to determine the average effect of internationalization on innovation and (2) to assess how variations in key aspects of research design has affected results. Analysis of 99 studies reveals that the effects of internationalization on innovation are diverse but are generally positive, albeit the effect sizes are mostly small to moderate. The inferred magnitude of such effects is influenced by research design factors and that country-context matters. The results suggest that internationalization measurements, data characteristics and statistical artifacts affect the variations in effect sizes. We conclude with a discussion of opportunities and challenges in future research on the internationalization-innovation nexus.

CEOs’ International Work Experience and Compensation

In this paper, we study the effect a CEO’s international work experience has on his or her compensation. By combining human capital theory with a resource dependence and a resource-based perspective, we argue that international work experience translates into higher pay. We also suggest that international work experience comprises several dimensions that affect CEO compensation: duration, timing and breadth of stays abroad. With data from Europe’s largest stock market firms, we provide evidence that the longer the international work experiences and the more numerous they are, the higher a CEO’s compensation. While, based on our theoretical arguments, we expect to find that later international work experiences pay off for CEOs, our empirical analysis shows that earlier international work experiences are particularly valuable in terms of compensation. In addition, our data support the argument that maturity allows a CEO to take advantage of the skills, knowledge and competencies obtained via international experience—and to receive a higher payoff. With our study, we improve the understanding of how different facets of a CEO’s background shape executive remuneration.

Achieving the Paradox of Concurrent Internationalization Speed: Internationalizing Rapidly in Both Breadth and Depth

In this paper, we draw on the notions of breadth and depth of internationalization speed in an attempt to examine the performance implications for multinational enterprises (MNEs) that rapidly and concurrently internationalize in new and existing foreign markets. Specifically, we examine the organizational paradox which suggests that firms which grow internationally by concurrently expanding rapidly in both new foreign markets (breadth) and in foreign markets they currently operate (depth), are better off than firms which do not adopt such an approach. Since past research has not examined the interaction between the breadth and depth of MNE internationalization speed on firm performance, we contribute to the temporal dimension of the internationalization process by developing a novel, yet paradoxical approach. Our analysis is based on a longitudinal sample of the world’s largest retail MNEs covering the period 2003–2012, which includes the 2008 financial crisis that had a significant effect on the global economy. We find that concurrent internationalization speed positively relates to firm performance during periods of stability. Further, we draw from the upper-echelons theory and find that the aforementioned relationship can be strengthened by the level of CEO international experience and CEO education.