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The purpose of this paper is to develop initial conceptualizations on two types of Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs), that is, state‐ and privated‐owned MNCs, in terms of internationalization motivation, entry strategy, and managerial capabilities.

This is a conceptual paper. Existing case studies are cited as illustrations.

Compared to Chinese private MNCs, state MNCs are more likely to be driven by internationalization motives that are not based on economic rationality, to adopt an integrated entry strategy, but less likely to contain dynamic capabilities necessary for competing internationally. In the short run, Chinese private MNCs should outperform their state counterparts, which however does not necessarily translate into better survival rate.

The conceptualizations advanced in this paper should be tested empirically in future studies.

Given the differences between state and private Chinese MNCs, it would be a mistake for Western governments and the private sector to treat all Chinese MNCs as equals. Particularly, the concern about the private Chinese firms should place more emphasis on their capabilities to compete and collaborate as autonomous economic entities.

While much research attention has been given to “Chinese MNCs,” the author makes a distinction between state versus private MNCs from China and compares the two types with regards to internationalization motives, entry strategy, managerial capabilities, and performance potentials.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance implications of internationalization strategies for Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs). Specifically, the authors examine the individual and joint effects of speed of internationalization in developed and developing countries and age on Chinese MNCs’ performance.

The authors constructed a unique and comprehensive database on the internationalization strategies of 206 Chinese firms over 14 years and deployed random-effect regressions to assess the effects of age, speed of expansion in terms of number of subsidiaries and countries, and the types of destination (developed vs developing country) on firm performance.

The analyses show that age is negatively related to performance but rapid expansion of subsidiaries in developing countries and geographic scope in developed countries are positively related to performance. In addition, the impacts of young age and two types of expansion, fast expansion of subsidiaries in developing countries and fast expansion of geographic scope in developed countries, are cumulative.

The authors combine the arguments of the learning advantages of newness and fast movers and model the simultaneous effects of age and speed of two types of international expansion (in terms of number of subsidiaries and countries) in both developed and developing countries on performance. The strong empirical support for the hypotheses based on analyses of a unique data set of Chinese MNCs’ internationalization patterns lends credence to the proposed model.

This chapter aims to answer whether foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) operating within the Chinese context differ from indigenous firms on several essential labor standards indicators: white- and blue-collar salaries, pension insurance, and working hours. In drawing upon neo-institutional and organizational imprinting theories and applying these to the Chinese context, the study addresses competing arguments regarding the expected effects of ownership type on these indicators. We employ seemingly unrelated regressions (SURs) to empirically examine a novel national survey of 1,268 firms in 12 Chinese cities. The regression results show that foreign MNCs do not provide uniquely beneficial labor practice packages to workers when compared with various indigenous firm types, including state-owned enterprises (SOEs), affiliate businesses of Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, and domestic private enterprises (DPEs). Specifically, although MNCs provide relatively higher wage rates, they underperform relative to SOEs concerning social insurance. However, DPEs consistently underperform relative to MNCs across most indicators. The mixture of the results contributes important nuances to the application of neo-institutional and organizational imprinting theories to the Chinese context.

Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) often causes negative public responses, particularly in western industrialized countries. An important instrument of Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) to overcome these concerns is the use of political strategies. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Based on institutionalist theory, the author formulates research hypotheses and tests them with a sample of 611 subsidiaries of Chinese MNCs in Germany.

The study shows that CEO political connection is positively associated with the use of the information and financial incentives strategies, while state ownership influences the use of the financial incentives and reputation-building strategies. Also, moderating effects of subsidiary age on these three political strategies are revealed.

The author derives implications for the literature on corporate political strategies as well as for research on Chinese OFDI, institutional theory and international management theory.

This study examines the impact of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) of Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) and formal and informal institutional distances between the home and host countries on the innovation performance of parent company.

This study uses panel data to conduct an empirical analysis on the data of 59 mature Chinese MNCs and their 872 overseas subsidiaries over the past 11 years and draws interesting results.

Results show that OFDI and formal and informal institutional distances between countries exert a significant positive impact on the innovation performance of the parent company and formal and informal institutional distances negatively moderate the impact between OFDI and the parent company's innovation performance.

Although international business research pays increasing attention to transnational differences in institutions and cultures, research on the relationship between technology spillover and distance is relatively limited. In addition, few studies consider the impact of FID and IFID on transnational reverse knowledge spillovers. This research fills these research gaps, and the conclusions have certain practical significance for multinational companies.

Since most literature on international performance appraisal is derived from Western MNCs, it is questionable whether the Western theories are equally powerful when applied to other national contexts. This study develops the Chinese international performance appraisal model by exploring performance appraisal policies and practices and the associated factors in Chinese MNCs. It reveals that Chinese MNCs adopt different approaches towards different groups, particularly different nationalities and managerial status. The Chinese international performance appraisals are a mix of home and local appraisal systems, and a mix of traditional Chinese personnel management and modern Western HRM concepts. Moreover, Chinese international performance appraisal policies and practices are affected by various host‐contextual and firm‐specific factors, and there is also an interplay between international performance and other international human resource management activities.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of foreign direct investment location – specifically whether firms enter a particular market or not. Drawing from the ecology and institutional theories, the paper identifies firms' own past (behavioral inertia) and rivals' past choices (behavioral mimicry) as key determinants of location selection. The paper identifies the differences between developing country multinationals (MNCs) and developed country MNCs and their (differences)' implications for the relative influence of mimetic versus inertial forces.

A unique and comprehensive database about the location choices of 204 Chinese firms between 1992 and 2005 was constructed and conditional logistic regressions were deployed to assess the direct effects of behavioral inertia/mimicry, and the moderating effect of host country environment, on the location choices of the sampled firms.

The paper finds that behavioral inertia has a stronger impact on the location decisions of Chinese MNCs than behavioral mimicry. It also finds that the host country's institutions, openness, and policy stability moderate the relationship between behavioral mimicry and inertia, on one hand, and location choice, on the other hand, possibly because of these factors' influence on the level of perceived uncertainty.

This is the first paper modeling the simultaneous effects of behavioral inertia and mimicry on location choice and the moderating effect of host country environment on these relationships. The strong empirical support for all the predictions lends credence to the conceptual foundations of the hypothesized relationships. The focus on developing country MNCs, which possess several distinctive characteristics, and the unique dataset, should also enhance the paper's appeal.

The purpose of this study is to explore the competitive source of Chinese firms in an industrial sector of complex product systems. It helps to reveal the organizational innovation developed by Chinese firms in coping with international competition and technological challenges.

The study uses a qualitative method of research. The evidences are mainly collected through interviews, field observation and document analysis.

A pattern of engineer-centered organization is the source of competitiveness of Nanrui (NR) Electric (NREC) in this study. The firm equips its front project teams, and now its overseas branches with developmental human resources and authorizes them the power of decision-making to leverage R&D projects. It is an emerging challenge to the traditional multi-national companies (MNC) pattern, and enables the Chinese firms to build their capabilities on context-based knowledge.

As a single-case study paper, there are limitations about the external validity of its argument. Through the in-depth discussion of the NREC case, this paper aims to generate some clues for future study in the relevant academic community, which can be a useful step to formal theorizing and modeling. That is why the authors develop the paper on a single case. As future directions of research, comparative studies covering more cases not only within the power system control and protection industry but also among different complex technology products industrial sectors are really needed.

For innovative firms from developing countries like China, they need to develop institutional arrangements to incentivize engineers in the frontline, which may help them to build competence upon successful interaction with customers. During the era of globalization, such a pattern may generate special competitiveness over giant multi-nationals or global production networks (GPNs).

The research provides an instructive case on the Chinese rise in industrial sectors of complex product systems. Its findings can not only provide enlightenment for industrial catch-up in developing countries through organizational innovation but also help to initiate a reconsideration of the traditional theorizing of MNC and GPN.

This paper aims to explore how the establishment modes used by emerging economy multinational corporations (EE-MNCs) influence their subsequent experiences of liability of origin (LOO) in developed economies based on the causal-model theory of categorization.

Taking Chinese listed firms' direct investments in developed economies as the sample, this paper utilizes Heckman (1979)'s self-selection model to examine the effect of establishment modes. Besides, when checking the robustness, subsample analyses and 2SLS regressions are used to rule out the alternative explanation associated with LOO mitigation.

EE-MNCs that enter a developed economy by greenfield investment experience heightened LOO while entries using M&A are associated with the mitigated liability. When EEMNCs enter a more institutionally distant developed country, the establishment modes will be more determinant of their subsequent experiences of this liability. Moreover, the effect of establishment modes can recede when EE-MNCs have established their presence in a developed country for a longer time.

This paper utilizes the causal-model theory of categorization to articulate the underlying mechanisms through which the country-of-origin cue is weakened by the cue transmitted by M&A. It further considers the context-saliency of the cue of M&A and clarifies boundary conditions for the effectiveness of this establishment mode to mitigate LOO.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the specific difficulties that senior managers face when employing expatriate, Chinese and local‐hired foreign managers in China‐based subsidiaries of Western multinational companies (MNCs). Furthermore, it aims to examine the resultant coping strategies to overcome identified weaknesses.

This research adopts a qualitative approach, using semi‐structured interviews with key‐informants from senior management in 44 Australian and German companies operating in China.

The study identified specific difficulties associated with the employment of expatriate, local Chinese, and local‐hired foreign managers in Australian and German subsidiaries in China. The interviewees indicate a widespread intention to replace expatriate managers with Chinese managers and local‐hired foreign managers. The striving for localization of staffing is more pronounced in German than Australian MNCs. German companies offer more comprehensive development activities for the Chinese talent than Australian companies.

The small number of participants and the restriction to one key informant per company limit the generalizability of the findings. The effects of different staffing options still need to be researched in longitudinal studies and in varied contexts.

Localization of staff suggests the need for specific, culture‐sensitive approaches to personnel development. The findings also suggest that the knowledge transfer between expatriate and local managers deserves more attention. Finally, the return on investment that companies receive from differing staffing options should be assessed using a multidimensional set of success criteria.

This paper has two main contributions to existing research. First, it links academic discussion about the options of international staffing with the experience of practitioners from Western MNCs operating in China. Second, it provides further support for the existence of country‐of‐origin effects in international staffing.