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1 – 10 of 134Beatrice Zanellato Mayer and Dinora Eliete Floriani
This paper aims to analyse how the temporal dimension is conceptualised in studies of the internationalisation process of firms and its implications. Theoretical models such as…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse how the temporal dimension is conceptualised in studies of the internationalisation process of firms and its implications. Theoretical models such as U-Model and INV explain the process of internationalisation as dynamic; nonetheless, time is approached as an underlying aspect of the process. In this essay, time is brought to the spotlight since, despite its strategic relevance, it has been treated implicitly in studies of the internationalisation processes, except in those that address the speed of internationalisation.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a critical reassessment of the academic literature, the authors present theoretical arguments and highlight elements to be considered in the analysis of the temporal dimension throughout the internationalisation process of firms.
Findings
This essay focuses on expanding the comprehension of temporality in the internationalisation process, that underlies periods of changes, implied also in periods of stability. The paper discusses time dimension implications during the internationalisation process and reveals that there is an interaction between temporal verticality (context/events), subjective dimension of time (perception and interpretation of time) and objective dimension of time (stability and changes). Therefore, it sustains that these interactions compress past, present and future actions in the internationalisation process.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the chosen research approach, this essay did not empirically apply the theoretical model and propositions. Therefore, future studies may empirically apply the propositions and use the temporal lens to look deeper at the temporality of internationalisation process and shed further light on the mechanisms that interlink the pre-and post-entry phases.
Practical implications
The argument helps entrepreneurs understand that actions throughout the internationalisation process are also influenced by the experience of time and not only governed by rational matters. Changes in the context can alter the perception of present time as being restricted, and in turn, may alter the flux of future internationalisation actions. However, if actions are conducted in a precipitated manner it can bring forth negative results for the firm. It is essential to recognise the importance of temporal verticality and subjective dimension of time as influencers of future actions of the objective dimension of time in the process of internationalisation.
Originality/value
While most research is restricted to understanding time as speed, this essay brings a theoretical model extending the knowledge of time in the literature of international business and international entrepreneurship, by including factors that imply temporality. By explaining the relationship between temporal aspects, it is argued that temporal verticality (events and context) influences temporal subjectivity (perception of the present and interpretation of the past) to direct future actions of the temporality of internationalisation (stability and changes).
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This paper aims to examine the important factors that influence foreign retailers' expansion in China. By doing so the paper proposes business strategies for foreign retailers to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the important factors that influence foreign retailers' expansion in China. By doing so the paper proposes business strategies for foreign retailers to be successful in China and other emerging economies.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach is employed to build theory. Five case studies were chosen, including the world's four largest retail firms: Wal‐Mart, Carrefour, Metro and Tesco, as well as the Japanese department store Heivado.
Findings
The paper identifies six important activities in successful retail expansion: adaptation to the external environment; responses to psychic distance; establishment of business networking; localization; entry strategies into new areas; and the role of local management team. A new framework articulates the interdependent relationships between various factors embedded in retail internationalization, including external environment, internal drivers, psychic distance, and expansion strategies.
Practical implications
The findings provide directions to managers of international retail firms on how to expand successfully in an emerging market.
Originality/value
This paper offers an exploratory framework on post‐entry expansion, which provides an indispensable link between previous research on pre‐entry and entry stages of retailer expansion and future research on foreign retailers' performance.
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Partha Gangopadhyay and Manas Chatterji
The fragmentation can either lead to an all-out civil war as in Sri Lanka or a frozen conflict as in Georgia. One of the main characteristics of fragmentation is the control of…
Abstract
The fragmentation can either lead to an all-out civil war as in Sri Lanka or a frozen conflict as in Georgia. One of the main characteristics of fragmentation is the control of group members by their respective leaders. The chapter applies standard models of non-cooperative game theory to explain the endogenous fragmentation, which seeks to model the equilibrium formation of rival groups. Citizens become members of these rival groups and some sort of clientelism develops in which political leaders control their respective fragments of citizens. Once the divisions are created, the inter-group rivalry can trigger violent conflicts that may seriously damage the social fabric of a nation and threaten the prospect of peace for the people for a very long time. In other words, our main goal in this chapter is to understand the formation of the patron–client relationship or what is called clientelisation.
Manish B. Ganvir and Neeraj Dwivedi
The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to study internationalization-performance relationship of Indian born global (IBG) firms from multi-theoretical lens and establish…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to study internationalization-performance relationship of Indian born global (IBG) firms from multi-theoretical lens and establish the nature of this relationship; second, to highlight the role of foreign equity in moderating this relationship; and third, to establish the relevance of export intensity (EI) in determining these firms’ financial performance.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 411 IBG firms were identified based on born global (BG) definition and post-entry internationalization age requirement of this study. A balanced panel comprising of three years from 2010 to 2012 was analyzed using pooled panel and moderated multiple regression techniques.
Findings
The authors empirically prove that though EI and financial performance are positively related at overall level, this relationship is curvilinear in nature. In presence of foreign equity this positive curvilinear relationship is moderated to inverted-U shape.
Research limitations/implications
The data sample is restricted to 411 private limited IBGs between the years 2009 and 2012. Implications of the findings are for policy makers and managers to sharpen their strategic foresight for exporting firms in its post-entry period. Also, investors can take level of internationalization into cognizance when investing in BG firms.
Practical implications
The authors believe the results have practical implications for numerous parties, such as shareholders, institutional investors, scholars, policymakers and managers. It emboldens modern day managers to make further foray into internationalization due to its positive benefits on both productivity as well as profitability. Also, firms that look for foreign equity participation have to balance their strategies for greater scale and scope into international markets.
Originality/value
This is the first study that brings out the vital relationship aspect of EI with financial performance of IBG firms in their post-entry internationalization period, adding to international business literature in area of BG firms in their post-entry internationalization period.
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Jinyan Fan, M. Ronald Buckley and Robert C. Litchfield
Formal orientation programs play a potentially important role in newcomer adjustment, yet research aimed at understanding and improving the effects of these interventions has…
Abstract
Formal orientation programs play a potentially important role in newcomer adjustment, yet research aimed at understanding and improving the effects of these interventions has stagnated in recent years. The purpose of this chapter is to facilitate a redirection of researchers’ attention to such programs, and to suggest ways to integrate this body of research with recent developments in socialization and training literatures.
Sara Quach, Scott Weaven, Park Thaichon, Debra Grace and Lorelle Frazer
Drawing on an outside-in marketing perspective, this paper aims to outline the development, implementation, evaluation and reflection of a real-world entrepreneurship education…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on an outside-in marketing perspective, this paper aims to outline the development, implementation, evaluation and reflection of a real-world entrepreneurship education (EE) intervention with cognitive, affective and ultimately behavioural objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
A specific and uniform EE program specifically targeted to current “would be” entrepreneurs who were investigating the franchising business model was developed, focusing on the behavioural outcomes. The effectiveness of the EE intervention was evaluated using a quasi-experimental research design, which involved franchisees who had not participated in the EE intervention (control group) and franchisees who had participated in the EE intervention (experimental group). The administration of the national on-line survey yielded a total of 520 responses (194 in the experimental group and 326 in the control group).
Findings
The planning process in the pre-intervention stage included situation analysis, objective setting and decisions in relation to the communication strategy, i.e. content and mode. The effectiveness of the EE intervention was evaluated in the post-intervention stage. The findings indicate that EE intervention resulted in participants’ positive cognitive, affective and behavioural outcomes such as performance and relationship management. Finally, following a reflection process, additional elements covering topics related to work-life balance were incorporated into the module pertaining to an individual’s suitability to become a franchisee.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a conceptual framework that represents an outside-in EE approach whereby problems, audiences, objectives and communication strategies (content and method) are strategically intertwined to produce relevant, measurable and diagnostic behavioural outcomes. The EE intervention can also improve the B2B relationship between actors in a business network.
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This paper aims to explain how the dynamic demand environment influences strategic firm behavior along an industry’s evolutionary path. A conceptual gap concerning the influence…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explain how the dynamic demand environment influences strategic firm behavior along an industry’s evolutionary path. A conceptual gap concerning the influence of demand-side environmental factors (vis-à-vis changes in technology and policy) on firms’ strategic choices motivates the theory developed herein. The paper’s contribution to the literature on “evolutionary perspective in strategy” also addresses an important gap in the emerging literature on “strategy dynamics”.
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual framework in this paper features a dynamic demand environment that provides the structural context for firms’ strategic choices. It conceptualizes demand-side competence as a mediating firm-specific construct to explain the endogenous relationship between the characteristics of the demand environment and firms’ path dependent demand-side investments.
Findings
A review of the literature on evolutionary perspective in strategy reveals an important conceptual gap concerning the structural determinants of dynamic firm behavior. There is no explanation of the endogenous relationship between dynamic demand structure, firms’ dynamic demand-side competence, and temporally heterogeneous strategic choices.
Originality/value
The demand-side explanation of how idiosyncratic firm behavior is endogenously determined, with both structural characteristics (demand structure) and firm competences (demand-side competence), addresses an important conceptual gap. The novelty of the theory developed herein lies in its explication of the effect of dynamic demand environment on the evolution of idiosyncratic strategic firm behavior – entry, investment and exit – along the evolutionary path of an industry. The theory developed herein not only explains the effect of both determinants of idiosyncratic strategic firm behavior – the external industry environment (dynamic market structure) and internal firm environment (dynamic firm competences) – but also explains how the determinants evolve along the industry’s lifecycle.
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Katiuscia Vaccarini, Christoph Lattemann, Francesca Spigarelli and Ernesto Tavoletti
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to analyze the impact of Chinese managers’ psychic distance (PD) with Germany on their businesses; and second, to investigate whether…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to analyze the impact of Chinese managers’ psychic distance (PD) with Germany on their businesses; and second, to investigate whether managers’ previous experiences affect their PD.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple case study research design is adopted. It is based on six Chinese companies that have recently entered Germany through FDI.
Findings
PD influences the decision making of Chinese FDI to Germany, it has an impact on Chinese businesses in Germany on 4 out of 12 dimensions, namely, legal, political, cultural aspects as well as language. Managers with no international experience (study, work, foreign investment practice) perceive a higher impact of PD dimensions on business with the host country, whereas the opposite is true for experienced ones.
Originality/value
While extensive research has been conducted on the PD construct under the point of view of the differences between the home and host country’s characteristics, this paper sheds lights on the impact of pre- and post- periods of investment, as well as over international experiences of managers investing abroad. It examines the environmental industry for Chinese FDI to Germany.
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Shihmin Lo, My-Linh Tran, Pei-Fen Chen and Huy Cuong Vo Thai
This research explores how individual factors drive early-stage strategic entrepreneurship (SE) in Vietnam and Taiwan. The authors extend SE and integrate knowledge spillover…
Abstract
Purpose
This research explores how individual factors drive early-stage strategic entrepreneurship (SE) in Vietnam and Taiwan. The authors extend SE and integrate knowledge spillover theory to gain insights into the relationship between individual factors and SE. The research highlights the importance of a dual process, which involves advantage-creating by innovation, as value creation and capture, and advantage-leveraging by growth and international expansion, as value retention and capture.
Design/methodology/approach
Innovation-oriented SE (ISE), growth-oriented SE (GSE) and internationalization-oriented SE (ITSE) are identified as new measures of SE. There are six hypotheses containing the effect of six personal characteristics have on SE. The authors employed logit regression to estimate the effect of independent variables on SE based on a pooled cross-sectional dataset drawn from Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring (GEM) in Vietnam and Taiwan during 2013–2018.
Findings
Opportunity sensing, education, self-funding ability, startup knowledge and skills and startup experience are crucial to the engagement of at least one type of SE in Vietnam. In contrast, education, self-funding ability and start-up knowledge and skills are key factors in Taiwan.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the extension of SE at the individual level in the early phase of new venturing and the integration of knowledge spillover theory. In order to drive early-stage SE further, the authors recommend to prioritize learning from spillovers within and among organizations, industries and communities, as well as through quality institutions, in addition to the individual drivers.
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Mauricio A. Valle, Gonzalo A. Ruz and Samuel Varas
The purpose of this paper is to propose a model of voluntary employee turnover based on the theory of met expectations and self-perceived efficacy of the employee, using data from…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a model of voluntary employee turnover based on the theory of met expectations and self-perceived efficacy of the employee, using data from a field survey conducted in a call center.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper formulates a model of employee turnover. First explaining the fulfillment of expectations from initial expectations of the employee (before starting work) and their experience after a period of time. Second, explaining the turnover of employees from the fulfillment of their expectations.
Findings
Some of the variability in the fulfillment of expectations can be explained by the difference between expectations and experiences in different job dimensions (e.g. income levels and job recognition). Results show that the level of fulfillment of expectations helps explain the process of employee turnover.
Research limitations/implications
This work provides evidence for the met expectation theory, where the gap between the individual’s expectations and subsequent experiences lead to abandonment behaviors in the organization.
Practical implications
The results suggest two paths of action to reduce the high turnover rates in the call center: the first, through realistic expectations setting of the employee, and the second, with a constant monitoring of the fulfillment of those expectations.
Originality/value
A statistical model of survival is used, which is appropriate for the study of the employee turnover processes, and its inherent temporal nature.
Propósito
El propószito de este trabajo es proponer un modelo de rotación voluntaria de empleados basado en la teoría de cumplimiento de expectativas y autoeficacia del empleado, utilizando datos de un estudio de campo llevado a cabo en un centro de llamados (call center).
Diseño/metodología
Este trabajo fomula un modelo de rotación de empleados. Primero, explica el cumplimiento de expectativas laborales a partir de las expectativas iniciales (antes de comenzar a trabajar), y las experiencias laborales después de un período de tiempo. Segundo, explica la rotación de empleados a partir del cumplimiento de las expectativas laborales.
Resultados
Parte de la variabilidad del cumplimiento de expectativas laborales puede ser explicado a partir de la diferencia entre expectativas y experiencias en distintas dimensiones del trabajo (por ejemplo, niveles de salario y reconocimientos laborales). Los resultados muestran que el nivel de cumplimiento de expectativas ayuda a explicar el proceso de rotación de empleados.
Limitaciones/implicaciones
Este trabajo porvee evidencia empírica de la teoría del cumplimiento de expectativas, en donde la brecha entre las expectativas individuales y las subsecuentes experiencias, conducen a comportamientos de abandono en la organización.
Implicaciones prácticas
Los resultados sugieren dos distintas vías de acción para reducir la alta rotación de empleados en los centros de llamados. La primera es a través de fijación de expectativas iniciales realistas al empleado, y la segunda, un monitoreo constante del cumplimiento de tales expectativas.
Originalidad/valor
Se utiliza un modelo estadísitico de sobrevivencia, el cual es apropiado para estudios de procesos de rotación, cuya naturaleza es inherentemente temporal.
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