Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the relative institutional distance of the subsidiary from the multinational enterprise (MNE) headquarters influences job satisfaction in the subsidiary. The authors argue that job satisfaction in the MNE subsidiary will be influenced by the institutional distance between the firm’s home (headquarter) and host (subsidiary) countries, such that the greater the institutional distance, the less satisfied the subsidiary employees. The authors also argue that the degree of function interdependence (global vs local roles) will moderate this relationship, such that high interdependence will result in lower job satisfaction as distance increases.

Using data from a global high-tech Canadian MNE, consisting of over 15,000 employees located in 19 subsidiaries, the research undertakes an empirical investigation that identifies if and how job satisfaction varies between countries and tests the influence of subsidiary-level institutional distance from the headquarters on subsidiary-level job satisfaction, using a multilevel model.

The results demonstrate that subsidiary distance from the headquarters has a complex effect on subsidiary-level job satisfaction; in some distances, no effect is found, while in others, either some or all job satisfaction facets are affected (depending on the distance and facet) in both positive and negative ways. Unlike much of the past research on distance, which has treated distance as a barrier to be overcome or reduce (Stahl et al., 2016), the paper’s finding demonstrate that “negative” distance operates independently (and at varying strengths and significance) than “positive” distance, due to underlying mechanisms.

There is a real opportunity to push ahead on linking international business strategy research with organizational theory and organizational behavior research. To do so, it requires not only a positive organizational scholarship approach (Stahl et al., 2016) but also methods that will allow researchers to study the influence of distance on mechanisms and processes, as opposed to stand-alone variables. The authors therefore suggest that future work in this area pursue qualitative methods as called for by Chapman et al. (2008).

Findings are surprising, in that results vary across job facets and distances. Practitioners need to therefore focus on the mechanisms that influence job satisfaction, not just differences and their potential negative impact.

The firm-level study provides a rich perspective on the complex way in which country-level differences influence subsidiary-level job satisfaction.

In this study, we explored the behaviour of two Canadian multinational companies operating in the context of Arab Spring events in Egypt in 2011.

We conducted a fine-grained analysis of 171 documents of various secondary sources to understand the behaviour of the two firms in Egypt between 25 January 2011 and 30 June 2012.

We suggest that corporate diplomacy should be viewed as portfolios of interdependent actions rather than reactions to discrete events. We also underline the importance for organisations to have a proactive, holistic and inclusive corporate diplomacy strategy, with the objective to secure and balance both explicit political/legal licence and implicit social licence.

We intentionally focused our empirical analysis on two Canadian firms operating in the same host country and belonging to the same industry. It would be useful to carry similar research in different organisational and institutional contexts.

There is an ongoing debate over the transference of managerial and organizational skills, techniques, values and culture from developed countries to developing countries. We argue there is a false underlying assumption among academics in developed countries that the theoretical template of managerial and organizational attributes in developing countries is similar to what one finds in developed countries. Two key analytical insights are offered. First, we explicitly differentiate organizational, environmental and cultural characteristics of developed and developing countries. Second, we apply Scott’s (1992) natural/ecological level of analysis to create a framework to better carry out organizational analysis in developing countries.

This paper seeks to develop a theoretical explanation of conflicts and incompatible interpretations of events between agents of multinational corporations (MNCs) and actors present in certain host countries. It aims to situate the argument in comparative economic systems as a part of a broader social system. The socio‐economic system can be modeled using institutional theory, particularly using Scott's three pillars and the concept of formal and informal institutions. Within different socio‐economic systems a dominant logic is developed, and this becomes internalized among actors and agents as behavioral scripts.

The paper uses a multi‐level and multi‐disciplinary conceptual analysis, developing a model of dominant logic and behavioral scripts with MNC agents and traditional emerging economy actors.

MNC agents and traditional emerging economy actors have difficulty comprehending the logic of the other, creating a fertile context for conflict.

An ideal type template is developed that can be used for empirical investigations focusing on situations where disagreement and conflict occur when MNCs operate in traditional emerging economies.

By integrating the authors' conceptualization into training for expatriate managers, the potential for conflict can be reduced.

This multi‐level and multi‐disciplinary model allows grounded development of understanding of conflicts or potential conflicts in the MNC agent‐traditional emerging economy actor context.

Privatisation is occurring at various levels within government in many countries around the world. So extensive is the reform programme that the term “re‐inventing government” has taken on a fashionable gloss.

Multinational corporations (MNCs) are experiencing a number of major challenges in the international business arena. Can business diplomacy help them to deal with these challenges effectively? In this introductory chapter we conceptualize and identify the relationship between MNCs’ international business diplomatic activities and firm performance.

We conducted a literature review and interviews with five large MNCs that are operating in distinctive industries. Business diplomatic activities have been classified into three particular areas to support the analysis, namely: (1) MNC–Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) relations, (2) MNC–Host Government relations, and (3) MNC–Local Community relations.

The main findings suggest that international business diplomacy has a direct positive effect on firm performance with regard to so-called soft or nonfinancial indicators. These indicators include knowledge sharing, reputation, company image, and marketing possibilities. The effect can in turn lead to a better financial performance and market stance in the long run.

The results of this study are important for the future awareness and execution of business diplomacy in large MNCs.

The argument that the board of directors can be a helpful tool for entrepreneurships and small businesses derives from the rationale for using boards from both a macro and a micro perspective.Society depends on boards to provide overall checks and balances in the running of businesses.This could not be more evident from the role of the board in Enron’s collapse (U.S. Senate 2002).

The boardʼs value to the entrepreneur is found in the application of the micro perspective.Two sets of recommendations are developed to formulate an improved model of directorship actions and behaviors. First, duties and responsibilities of the board of directors are expanded to help guide entrepreneurs.Second, five unique behavior patterns are then proposed that can be particularly helpful in carrying out the duties and activities of the board for guiding entrepreneurial success.