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Most developing countries, such as Sri Lanka (SL), are now looking for the support of foreign construction companies for large-scale infrastructure projects in return for expertise and resources. Thus, foreign companies may enter into agreements with local contractors through joint ventures (JVs). However, the priorities of construction project stakeholders may differ, which may ultimately end up in conflicts. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the most suitable conflict management strategies for international construction JVs (ICJVs) considering the SL context.

The mixed method was used for the research choice by selecting a questionnaire survey and expert interviews. Completed questionnaires (n = 78) were analysed using statistical techniques. The expert interviews with six industry practitioners were piloted to increase the validity and credibility of survey findings through a triangulation process where the collected data was analysed through content analysis.

The findings confirm that JV parties should first seek collaborative solutions in a conflict and seek legal redress only when those efforts are unsuccessful. Collaborating and compromising were recommended as the most appropriate tactics if an informal approach to conflict management was chosen. Alternative dispute resolution and litigation were identified as formal conflict management strategies.

This study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, will be the first of its kind in SL, which will lead to a better understanding of conflict management in IJCVs and will encourage other researchers to extend this study through further work.

Numerous biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms have undergone considerable changes and adapted to the challenge of developing sustainable products and services. However, few studies have explored the factors that contribute to the success of external innovation and value co-creation strategies adopted by biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms. The purpose of this study is to examine how biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries use value co-creation strategies to obtain external resources.

This study developed a conceptual framework based on the relevant literature. The study applied a resource-based approach, dynamic capability theory and a qualitative multiple-case study design to investigate several research questions; semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from 11 biotechnology/pharmaceutical firms in Taiwan, and the data extracted from the interview content were axially coded.

This study revealed that factors such as dynamic marketing capabilities and process optimization contributed to the success of the aforementioned strategies; several propositions were also developed on the basis of the literature review and coded data, thereby providing insights regarding the relative efficacy and propriety of various external innovation and value co-creation strategies and models in various situations and contexts. Firms and technology providers might enter a technology licensing agreement, establish a joint venture company; participate in a merger/acquisition depending on their size, research and development capabilities; or goals and time- and cost-related factors.

The main original contributions of this study are the proposed conceptual framework and the insights provided regarding the relative efficacy and propriety of different external innovation and value co-creation strategies and models in different situations and contexts.

International construction joint ventures (ICJVs) implementation is plagued with several barriers, full understanding of which is still lacking due to a lack of an in-depth exploration of them, particularly in developing countries. To fill this knowledge gap, this study aims to investigate the critical barriers to the success of ICJVs hosted in developing countries by examining the Ghanaian case.

This study builds on a previous study that identified 37 barriers factors to ICJVs success via a systematic literature review. Through expert interviews, 34 potential barriers were identified, and a two-round survey was conducted with 84 ICJVs practitioners in Ghana. The data collected was analyzed using the combination of a multidimensional fuzzy logic method and confirmatory factor analysis.

Results showed that 22 barriers were critical. The top five most critical barriers were “lack of preparedness to accept company philosophy,” “competing objectives,” “opportunistic behavior of parties,” “conflicts” and “lack of management control.” Furthermore, the results uncovered and confirmed five significant underlying components for the 22 critical barriers, namely, organizational-related, cultural-related, knowledge-related, individual-related and logistics-related barriers.

The findings could be useful to ICJVs practitioners and policymakers in developing suitable strategies for the successful implementation of ICJVs. Further, foreign firms aiming to execute and promote ICJVs in Ghana could have prior knowledge of the critical barriers and prepare for them.

This study empirically analyzed the individual levels of barriers criticalities in ICJVs context and from a specific-country perspective – the developing country of Ghana – rather than in the context of construction joint ventures and from a cross-country perspective in extant studies.

The study aims to identify, analyse and develop a model for measuring the inter-relationship and interaction among the inter-partner factors. International joint ventures (IJVs) literature has scantly studied the interactions and inter-relationships among the inter-partner factors of IJVs performance. To address this gap, this research creates a hierarchical relationship framework among the inter-partner factors of IJVs performance.

The comprehensive literature review is used to identify the factors and possible relationships between the factors and IJVs performance. M-TISM (modified total interpretive structural modelling) methodology is used to examine the relationship among the factors of IJVs performance.

This study highlights 12 inter-partner factors that affect IJVs performance. The results suggest that size asymmetry, commitment, goal incongruency, competitive overlap, trust, control, the interdependency of resources, cooperation, economic distance, cultural distance, geographical distance and administrative distance significantly impact IJVs performance. Commitment is found to be a linkage variable as it has high dependence and driving power. Goal incongruency and competitive overlap have high driving power.

This study gives a proposed list of critical inter-partner factors for policymakers and practitioners to consider when developing rules or recommendations to improve IJVs performance. The focus of policymakers should be on economic and geographical distance, followed by cultural distance, competitive overlap, goal incongruency, size asymmetry and administrative distance to improve inter-relationship among the partners in IJVs. The work contributes to the academician by presenting a modified TISM model that highlights the significance of ambidexterity in driving the performance of IJVs.

This study fills a gap in the literature by analysing the interactions among the inter-partner parameters that influence the performance of IJVs. It offers insights into the variables, such as driver dependence and the relationships between the variables.

The purpose of this study is to show how strategic planning can play multiple roles in the context of conflict between two controlling shareholders in a new joint venture.

This study conducted a five-year qualitative case study of a large financial services joint venture co-owned by a Latin American state bank and a European financial company.

The authors found that over time, budgeting and strategic planning had intertwining use to guide strategic decisions, but unexpectedly, strategic planning eventually developed three distinct roles beyond the merely functional, as it also contributed to complex symbolic and political functions.

This study provides guidance on considering different roles taken by strategic planning, as a utilitarian practice, as a symbolic narrative and as a conflict-mediating routine.

Joint ventures (JVs) serve as a viable tool in mitigating some of the challenges posed to the effective delivery of construction projects. However, JVs are highly susceptible to failure in most developing countries. Therefore, this study seeks to unravel the critical factors influencing the failure of JVs in the South African construction industry.

A quantitative approach was adopted for the study using a well-structured questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. Respondents for the study were built environment professionals in Gauteng province in South Africa. Data elicited from respondents were analyzed using a four-pronged process which included descriptive statistics, one sample t-test, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.

Resulting from the analysis conducted, four critical components emerged as the major factors influencing the failure of JVs in the South African construction industry, which are inefficient financial framework, divergent organizational culture, poor project governance and inadequacies from project stakeholders.

The outcome of this study presents a roadmap for stakeholders in the construction industry with the requisite knowledge of the critical factors leading to the failure of JVs, consequently providing a clear path for the successful delivery of JV mandates.

Evidence from literature suggests that several studies have been conducted on the various aspects of JVs in the South African construction industry; however, none has focused on the leading factors attributed to the failure of JVs. Also, the findings of this study cultivate a good theoretical platform for future studies on JVs.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of cross-listing in overcoming liability of origin (LOO) facing emerging economy corporations (EECs).

This paper takes Chinese firms' cross-listing in Hong Kong and the firms' establishment of international joint ventures (IJVs) with foreign partners as the research setting. This is an empirical study using Heckman's self-selection model as the primary econometric technique and two-stage least square (2SLS) regressions as the supplementary estimation procedure.

Cross-listing in developed economies can serve as a signal for EECs to overcome the LOO. In addition, the regional institutional voids of emerging economies (EEs) and state ownership are prominent boundary conditions shaping this effect.

Only Chinese firms and the firms' cross-listing in Hong Kong are considered for the empirical context as a result of data availability.

This paper provides a practical solution for EECs whose internationalisation tends to be hindered by the LOO.

This study is of high importance in that it centres on a distinctive and challenging problem faced with EECs—the LOO. Besides, it ascribes this liability to a matter of information asymmetries and explores how cross-listing can serve as a signal to cope with this challenge.

In the last two decades, risk reporting has followed a normative and calculative culture rather than the “materiality” of data. Although integrated reporting (IR) has become flooded with extra information, it does not adequately disseminate material information to stakeholders. In addition, the poor tone from the top diminishes creativity. This study aims to investigate how companies creatively address issues of the materiality of risk information in IR and how IR can be aligned with enterprise risk management.

Qualitative research was conducted via interviews with 50 chief risk officers and senior management executives in the Indian and UK insurance markets.

Overall, five institutions were observed to exhibit elements of being early adopters of institutional creativity. This confirmed the present study’s theoretical contribution of five divergent types of early adopters. The motivations for creativity are reflected in the resources available to these institutions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study provides a new insight into IR from internal mechanisms to deal with issue of materiality.

Drawing on the resource dependence theory (RDT), this paper investigates ownership composition, export intensity, and industry class as moderating factors to investigate the role of imported raw materials in performance of inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) in Ethiopia.

The hypotheses were tested using secondary data obtained from the 2016 Central Statistical Agency (CSA) on Large- and Medium-Scale Manufacturing and Electricity Industries Survey. The data included basic quantitative information on the country's manufacturing industry. The data items for the 2016 manufacturing and electricity industries surveyed are the numbers of proprietors or establishments involved in various sectors. The report did not record small firms that employed fewer than 10 people and did not use power-driven machinery. Two-Stage least squares (2SLS) regression analysis was performed to test the proposed hypotheses.

The results of this study indicate that three moderators (ownership composition, export intensity, and industry classification) interact with the hypothetical relationships between imported raw materials and performance. These findings enrich the knowledge of IFDI firms' operations in Ethiopia and in other least-developed countries (LDCs). The findings could provide information for IFDI firms that are looking to invest in LDCs.

Like all social science research, this study has some limitations. First, the research was conducted with the data found in the Report on Large- and Medium-Scale Manufacturing and Electricity Industries Survey In 2016. This was the first year of the second five-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II), a national development plan for the 2016–2020 period. Continual research on IFDI in Ethiopia in the following years will be needed to get a full picture of the effects of the determinants on IFDIs.

To IFDI investors, the result of this thesis demonstrates several alternatives to overcoming hurdles in manufacturing operation. The results find that J.V. firms make better use of imported raw materials than W.O. subsidiaries in order to achieve better performance. Concerning the choice between focusing on export or domestic markets, the study suggests that domestic market—oriented companies require less imported raw materials to achieve better performance. Concerning the comparative advantage on different industries, this study found the performance of firms in Industry 12 depended on imported raw materials. These findings highlight the challenges and opportunities for potential foreign investors. Ownership composition, market factors, and industry factors should be well considered in making investment decisions.

This is one of few studies on IFDI in Ethiopia, the most populous LDC. Ownership composition, export intensity, and industry class are used as moderating variables to investigate the difference between imported raw materials and the level of expatriate deployment to IFDI performance. For IFDI investors, the results of this study demonstrate several alternatives to overcoming hurdles in manufacturing operation.

This study examines the impact of formal and informal institutional distances on the foreign ownership strategies of emerging market firms (EMFs).

This is an empirical study relying on two sets of data collected over two time periods, 2006–2008 and 2017–2019, for publicly-listed Chinese companies.

Greater formal institutional distances in the host and home countries make EMFs less likely to use joint ventures (JVs), while greater informal distances make EMFs more likely to use the JVs. When both formal and informal institutional distances are high, the use of JVs is more likely. These results are affected by the goal of the foreign direct investment (FDI) project, with strategic asset-seeking (SAS) FDI projects favoring the use of wholly owned subsidiaries (WOSs).

This study relies on cross-sectional data from publicly-listed Chinese companies, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.

EMFs investing in advanced countries should carefully assess the tradeoffs between transactional cost efficiency and legitimacy in making their foreign ownership decisions. If the goal is to access strategic assets, EMFs should consider WOSs to ensure the transfer of strategic assets and create value for the parent company.

The findings show that formal and informal distances between institutions have different impacts on foreign ownership strategies, providing empirical evidence for the need to balance conflicting cost-efficiency and legitimacy considerations when businesses make such strategic decisions. The authors show how this balance depends on the goal of the FDI project.