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We study the relationship between firms’ top management teams (TMT) and internationalization complexity. We consider the effect of three different sets of TMT characteristics – international business orientation intensity, education intensity, and team diversity – on three different and increasingly complex facets of internationalization - international markets intensity, international operations intensity and international country diversity. We argue that more international, highly-educated and diverse TMTs are better able to face the complexity derived from international competition. The results of our empirical analysis show that TMTs having foreign managers or managers with international experience are more likely to be in charge of firms facing higher international operations intensity. Conversely, more educated and more diverse TMTs are associated with complexity deriving from international diversification.

This study aims to investigate how upper echelon theory accounts for franchising by selecting the top management team to proxy for the upper echelon and using age, tenure, education, equity ownership and stock options as its main attributes.

The sample was drawn from the Execucomp and Compustat databases and from other publicly accessible resources (e.g. LinkedIn and Business Week, in addition to Annual 10-K reports). A total of 29 restaurant companies were used for data collection, which covered the period of 2000-2013. A panel feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) regression was used to analyze the data.

The study found a significant moderating effect of the degree of internationalization on the relation between the attributes of the upper echelon (e.g. tenure, education and share ownership) and franchising decisions.

The results verified that top managers in the restaurant industry with more tenure and share ownership become more risk averse when they operate under riskier conditions, whereas highly educated restaurant top management teams tend to take more risks in strategic decision-making.

This study expanded internationalization research to upper echelon theory and into the arena of franchising.

Corporate digital transformation (DT) and top management team (TMT) internationalization seem to be concomitant phenomena in recent years, the former is a major change and a thorough transformation requiring continuously new technologies and ideas. Excitingly, the latter shows a relatively broad vision, a large risk appetite and interest in new things. Does TMT internationalization promote DT? This question is essential for DT. Given that, this article will aim to discuss and examine whether and how TMT internationalization affects corporate DT.

This article takes China's A-share listed manufacturing companies from 2011 to 2019 as a sample. The quantitative text analysis method is used to measure attention related to digitalization. This paper discusses: (1) The decision-making logic and cognitive process mechanism of “TMT internationalization–attention related to digitalization–corporate DT”. (2) The moderating effect of shared corporate mission of the TMT on the cognitive process of decision-making, that is, the social process of transforming individual cognition into team cognition, and the social process of transforming team cognition into corporate decision-making.

TMT internationalization promotes DT. As an external manifestation of team cognition, attention plays a positive role as an intermediary mechanism. Specifically, executives with overseas experience have higher urgency assessment and manageable assessment, thus affecting their attention to digitalization positively, thereby promoting DT. This article does not demonstrate the moderating effect of shared corporate mission on the cognitive process, but it promotes DT directly, and only plays a role in the precognitive stage.

This article is the first one to study the relationship between TMT internationalization and corporate DT, which has practical guiding significance for DT and the “going out” strategies of the TMT. Also, the combination of upper echelons theory and cognitive theory opens up the black box of the strategic process. Lastly, this research explores the formation process of team cognition, which is always neglected by previous studies of the TMT demographic characteristics.

This study addresses foreign markets selection decisions by Russian mobile telecommunications operators and the impact of top management team composition on the degree of firms’ internationalization.

The qualitative exploratory study analyzed 24 foreign market entry decisions and the composition of the top management team of the two leading Russian mobile telecommunications operators, VimpelCom and Mobile Telesystems (MTS/AFK Sistema).

Russian mobile telecommunications operators adopted a gradual approach to foreign market selection, as the study revealed the positive impact of the target market’s geographic proximity to Russia on the investment decision. The international background of the top management team was positively related to the increasing distance of the selected foreign markets.

Further studies may include quantitative evaluation of investment decisions by mobile telecommunications operators from other emerging-market firms, as well as a longer observation period and investment decisions by firms operating in other industries.

Russian and other emerging-market firms should evaluate the importance of the top management team composition and international experience prior to initiation of the internationalization process.

Russian multinationals represent a relatively understudied phenomenon, despite the importance of outward foreign direct investments from Russia among other emerging-market firms.

Within the literature of global mindset there has been much discussion of antecedents. Few attempts have been made, however, to analyze the outcomes of a global mindset. Our chapter undertakes a thematic analysis of global mindset antecedents and outcomes in the 1994–2013 literature. Adopting an inductive approach and borrowing methods from international business and managerial cognition studies, we map, assess, and categorize 42 empirical and 10 theoretical studies thematically. We focus on the antecedents and outcomes at individual, group, and organizational levels. We conceptualize corporate global mindset as a multidimensional construct that incorporates global mindset at the individual level and is dependent on a robust communications infrastructure strategy for its cultivation throughout the organization. Our study categorizes antecedents and outcomes by level and identifies the gaps in global mindset outcomes and firm performance for future researchers to address.

This study is an extension of research which links top management team characteristics and the use of a variety of business strategies. Agency theory and information processing theory provided the framework used to investigate the complex business strategies of 219 Japanese firms in four sectors. Statistical results support our view that top team characteristics reflect important aspects of the corporate governance strategies needed to manage business strategies such as specialization, diversification and internationalization. Although there are substantial institutional differences in the business environments, it appears that there is increasing convergence in the Japanese and American approaches to corporate governance.

This study aims to identify the role of top management team (TMT) in the internalization process and vital characteristics for successful internationalization. The literature analysis presents the evolution of TMT concept, its relatedness to internalization conditioned by resource dependency theory and institutional theory and current studies on TMT characteristics linked to internationalization. Conducted research also let us to identify which abilities, skills, or knowledge TMTs are missing, aiming to achieve better international performance. The study contributes to current small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) internationalization studies by providing insights, a deeper analysis of such phenomena and future research directions. Consequently, the study provides directions for SMEs, seeking to improve their performance of international activities. The practical implications of the study’s results are related to the selection and recruitment of new TMT members or recommendations for training. The evaluation of candidate’s experience, personal qualities, and communication skills are important in hiring process of managers. It might require the improvement in selection process by including business case simulation, trial day, or references from previous employers. TMT members’ capabilities should be regularly evaluated by peers and if necessary specialized training should be provided on time.

The purpose of this study is to explore how international entrepreneurial orientation of top management team (TMT) of software product firms influence their firms' internationalization activities.

This study uses interpretive analysis techniques and examines data collected from in-depth interviews and secondary sources from 20 software product firms.

The analysis of data reveals the existence of a pathway through which the international entrepreneurial orientation of the TMT influences the firm's strategic learning functions (knowledge creation, dissemination, interpretation and implementation) which in turn influences the firm's internationalization activities.

The authors extend the existing knowledge by demonstrating an existence of path to interpret the individual attribute of international entrepreneurial orientation of TMT with the organization's knowledge management functions. Building on the theories of knowledge-based view and organizational learning, and by leveraging the microfoundations approach, a process model is also derived based on evidence from data analysis to enable examination of the combined effects of the international entrepreneurial orientation of TMT, firm's strategic learning on internationalization.

The authors provide an integrative process model that connects TMTs' international entrepreneurial orientation to the firms' strategic learning processes, which in turn is linked to examine the combined influence of these constructs on the internationalization activities of a firm.

The purpose of this paper is to draw the perspective of dynamic adjustment costs, the author developed hypotheses regarding the relationships between the internationalization of business groups and first, key leaders of business groups who helped found the groups (i.e. founder-key leaders); second, business groups’ group-level decision teams where the majority of positions are held by members of the founding family (i.e. family-dominated decision teams); and third, business groups’ group-level decision teams where strong ties exist among these teams (i.e. strong-tie decision teams) because group-level top managers are simultaneously top managers of group affiliates.

This study used generalized least squares fixed-effects models to test its arguments about longitudinal data pertaining to 173 Taiwanese business groups’ foreign direct investments over a period of five years (2004-2008).

The results show that the presence of a founder-key leader and strong-tie group-level decision teams in a business group can positively affect the internationalization of business groups. However, family-dominated group-level decision teams in a business group can adversely affect the internationalization of business groups.

Using a dynamic managerial-capacities perspective, this study provides alternative explanations regarding the degree of business groups’ internationalization to demonstrate the links among business groups’ key leaders, group-level decision teams, and internationalization.

When deciding whether to expand abroad, managers at a given business group should carefully consider the characteristics of the group's management team because business groups engaging in such expansion are likely to incur dynamic adjustment costs. In this case, the dynamic managerial capacities of a business group play an important role in enabling the group to decrease dynamic adjustment costs. The differences among a group-level key leader's traits, a family-dominated group-level decision team's traits, and a strong-tie group-level decision team's traits will lead to distinct levels of dynamic managerial capacities within the group.

Given the increasing number of business groups entering international markets, this paper rests on the perspective of dynamic managerial capabilities and uses group-level evidence to clarify how the characteristics of key leaders and the characteristics of group-level decision teams in business groups affect the groups’ international expansion.

Prior research has tended to view cross-country distance as an obstacle. Yet, differences across countries are a key reason for firms to internationalize. To address this discrepancy, this paper puts forward a unifying framework which (1) synthesizes and delineates the different types of cross-country distance, (2) provides a logic for analyzing cross-level influences of distance on internationalization decisions, and (3) highlights the opportunities brought about by distance. The paper argues that firms are more likely to be able to realize these opportunities when they have internationally experienced managers and diverse, well-functioning top management teams at the helm. The paper also highlights the complex influences of distance, calling for the use of cognitive and behavioral research methodologies to further our understanding of the role of distance in internationalization. An illustrative example of Vodafone Group PLC is included.