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This chapter contributes to the existing literature on institutional theory and international business research by integrating the concepts of polycentrism and institutional learning to examine how MNEs from emerging economies invest in developed countries. We argue that equity-based market entry modes and non-equity-based modes create different needs for learning about economic, regulatory and political institutions; entry modes with or without local partners lead to different levels of institutional embeddedness and institutional learning speeds. Finally, the content of institutional knowledge also determines its transferability and adaptability. We emphasize the importance of recognizing the integrated nature of economic, regulatory and political institutions from a polycentric perspective and discuss their change in different situations.

The literature on foreign direct investment (FDI) and the environment has paid little attention to the role of home country factors in shaping the global practices of multinational enterprises (MNEs). By analyzing the interface between FDI and the environment from a Danish perspective, this chapter seeks to cast light on this issue. Denmark is a small, highly open economy dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises servicing specialized niche markets for consumer products or large industrial customers. What makes the case of Danish FDI in developing countries interesting from an environmental perspective is that environmental issues for the past three decades have had an exceptionally strong position on the Danish political agenda and have earned Danish environmental regulation a reputation as among the toughest in the world. The question is whether and how this strong environmental home base has spilled over into the environmental practices of Danish MNEs in developing countries. The chapter describes how the issue of corporate environmental responsibility in developing countries reached the Danish agenda with great force in the late 1990s, embroiling a number of Danish MNEs in damaging public battles. The chapter then moves on to review the – embryonic – literature on environmental practices of Danish MNEs. The chapter concludes by discussing whether and how the environmental practices of Danish MNEs may be traced back to distinct aspects of the Danish home country context.

Adopting a quantitative explorative research design, we employed a sample of 770 foreign market entries in the period 2005–2015 to investigate whether particular entry mode strategies such as joint venture or wholly owned subsidiary are differently chosen by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms. Various tests have been carried out revealing that SMEs show some different features compared to large firms when selecting their entry mode. SMEs react differently to economic downturns, and the diversification level is a crucial determinant for their entry choices while it is not for large firms. Moreover, we found for a set of other factors affecting the entry choice of large firms, not being significant for SMEs. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Brexit has caused a visible disruption to the established and accepted web of rules governing European markets. Our study, based on a survey of Polish firms operating in the UK market, aims to identify Polish firms’ perceptions of Brexit and select characteristics of groups of firms exhibiting similar perceptions of uncertainty. The perception of uncertainty itself was measured along two separate dimensions – uncertainty about future arrangements between the EU and the UK and uncertainty about institutional agility in the UK. The results are analyzed using the cluster method. The findings identify three types of firms that we have named as alarmist, the concerned, and the oasis of peace, within which the largest group are companies that view Brexit as a non-significant threat (the oasis of peace), unlike the other two groups (alarmist and the concerned). Those perceived differently are mostly firms having larger size, greater involvement into the British market and longer-term experience in that market.

In Japan a network system called keiretsu exists (Abegglen & Stalk, 1985; Gerlach, 1992; Sheard, 1994). Keiretsu may involve formal and informal relationships with suppliers that have developed over the years or other interfirm links (for example, among manufacturers and supporting financial institutions). In the late 1990s, the Japanese economic system has undergone some changes such as the dissolution of cross-shareholdings and the decline of the main bank system (relationship-based financing) leading to changes in the corporate ownership and the governance system of Japanese companies.

In this paper, we conduct a conceptual and bibliographic analysis of the literature that deals with the international strategy of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), with particular attention to SOEs from emerging economies (EEs). We first review the state of the art in defining the concepts of EEs and SOEs. We then conduct a detailed bibliographic analysis of the literature pertaining to SOEs’ involvement in international activities, whether as outward foreign investors or as potential local partners of inward-investing multinational enterprises. The analysis covers general trends in the literature, prominent research questions and outcome variables, use of theories, and choices pertaining to methodology (type of research and effects, empirical contexts). We document a literature that is fast-growing and well balanced in some respects. In other respects, we advance recommendations pertaining to (a) consistency and precision in the use of the concepts of “state-owned enterprise” and “emerging economy”; (b) search for specific evidence on the outward activities of EE SOEs in less-developed economies and even in other EEs, and on their performance; (c) understanding of relative propensities of local SOEs and inward investors to collaborate, and what happens when SOEs encounter each other across borders; (d) opportunities to strengthen the theoretical foundations and contributions of this research; and (e) minding the mix of home and host countries in studies and avoiding undue generalization from what has become a predominantly China-centric literature.

This chapter sheds light on how the internationalization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is jointly influenced by the ownership involvement of the state and other relational investors and by the home country’s institutional setting. It integrates international business literature and insights from the theory of corporate governance into a varieties of capitalism framework. Taking a configurational perspective, the interdependencies that link the SOE internationalization to the joint effects of particular combinations of actors and institutions are analyzed. As a result, it is argued that only a few home country–SOE governance configurations favor the expansion of SOEs abroad: (i) a configuration in which the state is a dominant owner capable of aligning the interests of any other private shareholder and the government is embedded in a proactive institutional context, so as to effectively orchestrate the internationalization process, (ii) a configuration in which, assuming the home country institutions markedly deficient in supporting interventions, relational co-owners are involved in SOE ownership and governance and have commitment, influential power, and competencies to equip the company with an effective strategy and competitive advantages to be exploited abroad. In all other configurations, the international performance of SOEs is worse, being undermined by institutional contexts that favor an inward-looking approach of the state and government, and/or by principal–principal agency problems.

Despite the importance of the service sector in developed economies and the growth of foreign investments in this sector during the last decade, few studies have undertaken to empirically analyze the factors influencing entry mode choice. The special characteristics of the service sector increase the complexity of the analysis and, thus, traditional explanations of entry mode choice in manufacturing sectors may need to be complemented by other moderating influences. Based on 174 entry decisions of service firms, our results suggest the importance of including strategic variables and the specific nature of services to understand a complex phenomenon, which is not always associated just with efficiency and value-based considerations but also with strategic issues and industry characteristics.

This paper analyses expansion strategies of international hotel operators in Eastern Central Europe (ECE) in relation to the changes in tourism supply and demand in ECE. Potential market sectors for the ECE region are explored, with the most promising for Eastern Central Europe being an emphasis on green or nature tourism, cultural tourism, the tourist business market and, finally the rejuvenation of the traditional spas and medicinal tourism of the region. Two groups of International hotel companies are identified. The majority group who are pursuing a follow-the-customer approach for the international business client in Prague, Budapest or Warsaw, and the smaller group who have expressed interest in supplying the budget and mid markets in secondary and tertiary locations.