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Integrating external actors into the microfoundations of practice transfer in MNEs: a research agenda

Ahmed A.F.M. Hassan (King’s Business School, King’s College London, London, UK)
Johann Fortwengel (King’s Business School, King’s College London, London, UK)

Multinational Business Review

ISSN: 1525-383X

Article publication date: 25 October 2022

Issue publication date: 20 March 2023

768

Abstract

Purpose

The transfer of organizational practices in multinational enterprises (MNEs), typically from the headquarters to foreign subsidiaries, has been a key theme in international business (IB) literature. Research on this topic increasingly acknowledges the important role of organizational actors external to the focal MNE. Furthermore, there is a growing interest in the microfoundational underpinnings of practice transfer as an important phenomenon in IB. This paper aims to bring together these two emerging research trends to outline an exciting and important avenue for further research.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper. This paper builds on prior empirical research to theorize different types of involvement of external organizational actors in the transfer process. This study further identifies specific mechanisms that lead to transfer outcomes in terms of practice adaptation.

Findings

The authors develop conceptual arguments regarding the role of external actors in the microfoundations of transfer. The involvement of external organizational actors can be either direct or indirect, and it can occur in the initiation stage at headquarters level and/or in the implementation stage at subsidiary level. The authors theorize how the involvement of external organizational actors in the transfer process shapes practice adaptation as a key outcome. This study summarizes the theorization with the help of propositions, and this study also identifies a set of research questions that can guide future research on this increasingly important topic.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature by developing a research agenda to open up the black box regarding the role of external actors in the microfoundations of practice transfer in MNEs.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Juliane Reinecke for having provided feedback on an earlier version of this paper, and André Sammartino for his editorial guidance and the two anonymous Multinational Business Review (MBR) reviewers for developmental comments, which helped the authors to improve the paper. The paper has also benefited from feedback received during a presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of International Business in 2021.

Citation

Hassan, A.A.F.M. and Fortwengel, J. (2023), "Integrating external actors into the microfoundations of practice transfer in MNEs: a research agenda", Multinational Business Review, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 19-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/MBR-08-2021-0114

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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