216 research outputs found
Three Organizational Challenges for Multinational Enterprises
Get PDFThe rapidly changing and volatile institutional environments, within which Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) must operate, have put traditional organisational forms under pressure. Globalization and regionalism develop at the same time, whereas regulation facilitating Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) runs parallel to ‘reverse measures’ frustrating FDI (PIBR #7 – Van Tulder et al. 2012 provides an overview of mixed institutional pressures on the MNE). The leading question that this volume addresses is therefore whether there are adequate organizational responses that the MNEs can develop to these mixed pressures. How to internalize external inefficiencies, inter alia in the broader stakeholder sphere? MNEs have been responding along a variety of paths. One path has been to redraft relationships between headquarters and existing subsidiaries. Another path has been to adopt new organisational forms, both internally (team-based approaches and asymmetrical networks) and externally, (advanced management of value chains and stakeholder ecosystems). As a result, new organizational arrangements have appeared, including micro-multinationals, ‘born globals’, springboard multinationals, as well as other types of international new ventures.Taking stock of the present discourse in International Business (IB) we divide this chapter, and the contributions in this volume, along three organizational challenges. 1) Changing hierarchies: considers the shifting roles of headquarters and subsidiaries in MNEs, and explores the question whether headquarters still matter from various angles. 2) New organizational forms: considers new forms of organizing internationalization and international activities, including new roles of teams in multinational organizations. This part explores the question whether size still matters for MNEs. 3) Reorganizing the value chain: which gathers novel ideas about how multinational firms use external partners and parties in the organization of their international activities. The leading question here is whether the position of the MNE in the (international) value chain still matters.This chapter elaborates these three themes and provides a short account of each of the contributions that are selected for this volume in parts II, III and IV. These contributions include research-oriented papers, panel discussions and case studies
How Subsidiaries Attempt to Direct HQ Attention to New Business Opportunities
No full textPurpose: We examine how subsidiaries of multinational companies communicate with headquarters about business opportunities they perceive in their local environment. Our aim is to provide in-depth insights into how communication is used to attract the attention of headquarters.Design: We study four communication processes of opportunities recognized by subsidiary managers in four different units within the same multinational corporation. Findings: We find that communication is influenced by the subsidiaries’ perception of their relationship with headquarters. Importantly, we find that subsidiaries in emerging countries show different communication patterns than those in advanced markets. Our results further point out that multinationals from advanced countries face the challenge to respond to the increased salience of opportunities from emerging economies, while at the same time still working within existing communication patterns and structures that are not adapted to this new situation.Originality/value: Our study presents communication processes within multinationals beyond the frequency of communication, including a variety of aspects of communication. Doing so, we are able to point out that open communication is not achieved with all subsidiaries, and what is worse, seems most of all to be challenged for subsidiaries in emerging markets, risking promising business opportunities in these markets
Causes of rigidity in SMEs' export commencement decision
No full textToday, small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) collectively contribute to the largest percentage of job creation in OECD countries. SMEs have become increasingly international since the turn of the century despite being smaller in size in comparison to large multinational firms, and notably, exporting is the most favoured mode of international market entry utilised by SMEs in their internationalisation strategy. Governments around the world have acknowledged the importance of export promotion and have employed policies that are targeted at increasing the export activity of SMEs. However, in many countries, the involvement of SMEs in export operations remains rather low. Within Australia, for example, only about one-third of local SMEs are exporting and this raises an important question as to why there is such a huge percentage of non-exporters. \ud
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Much scholarly research that focuses on this problem has concentrated on the broad concept of 'export barriers' that act as obstacles to a firm's export development. This paper takes a different approach to previous studies and proposes that a firm's resistance to commence exporting can be better understood through an analysis of the behavioural decision process during its pre-export state. Using a sample of Australian SMEs, the factors that are important in preventing a firm’s initial export commencement decision are categorised and discussed through the use of factor analysis
Global Organizing: A Case from Belarus
No full textPurpose-We aim to identify the factors that led to a Belarusian firm's initial fast internationalization and the reasons for slowing the process down thereafter. Methodology/approach-The chapter is based on a single case study. We collected the data via 9.5 hours of interviews and also used the firm's annual reports. Findings-The case firm's internationalization was "pushed" by the Belarusian economic environment-especially, the fear of governmental takeover. The founders felt that internationalizing would be less risky than fully focusing on their domestic market. It was also "pulled" by growth opportunities on foreign markets and also a founder's personal contacts. The slowdown of the firm's internationalization was caused by the lack of foreign market knowledge and other resources. Practical implications-Despite of slowing the internationalization down and experiencing several fluctuations in foreign activities, the founders are satisfied with the firm's internationalization. Thus, managers should not automatically regard such internationalization a failure: adjustments in the firm's internationalization pace can be justified as it has to react to the changing economic and business environment. Originality/value-The chapter shows that a born global's internationalization can slow down, it can use its subsidiaries as bases for further gradual internationalization, and it can also experience fluctuations in internationalization.</p
¿Cambio sin búsqueda? Relacionando la retroalimentación sobre el desempeño en objetivos domésticos vs. de exportación, la búsqueda cercana vs. distante, y la entrada a nuevos mercados de exportación
Get PDFProblemistic search argues that when companies face performance below
aspirations, search for new alternatives is triggered, which ultimately
drives organisational change. However, when studies test this assertion,
they link performance below and above aspirations directly to observed
organisational changes, omitting search as the cause for change. Yet, the
process leading to change has to be proven, not assumed. To test how
performance below and above aspirations triggers search and subsequent
change, I hand-collected data on changes in 63930 export products and
37165 instances of export market presence from a sample of 244 Peruvian
exporting firms between 2010 and 2022. I find that performance feedback
faced in domestic vs. export goals yields different patterns of search for
near vs. more distant export products. Once search is controlled for, performance
feedback becomes less associated to change, measured as entries
into new export markets. Emphasising that the search step is not trivial, I
find that its effectiveness in driving change depends on the complexity of
the landscape in which companies have to search.Una reacción común en las empresas que enfrentan un desempeño por debajo de sus metas es buscar nuevas alternativas de acción que conlleven posteriormente a cambios en la empresa. Los estudios que evalúan este proceso de cambio han vinculado directamente el fracaso o éxito en el desempeño con cambios en distintas áreas estratégicas. Sin embargo, estos estudios omiten el rol central que tiene la forma en la que las empresas buscan nuevas alternativas. Para considerar el rol que tiene la búsqueda de nuevas alternativas en el cambio en las empresas, recopilé manualmente cambios en 63930 productos de exportación y 37165 instancias de presencia en mercados de exportación en una muestra de 244 empresas exportadoras peruanas entre el 2010 y el 2022. Encuentro que experimentar un fracaso o éxito en el mercado doméstico y de exportación conllevan a diferentes patrones de búsqueda de nuevas alternativas, ya sea al introducir nuevos productos de exportación similares o más distantes a los actualmente exportados. Finalmente, encuentro que estos distintos patrones de búsqueda afectan significativamente la entrada a nuevos mercados de exportación y que su efectividad depende de cuán complejo es el paisaje en el que las empresas deben buscar nuevos productos de exportación.Países Bajos. University of Groningen. Research Master in Economics and Business tuition fee scholarshipTesi
Ngoen rian nok thi chai nai hua muang pak tai
No full textThe article illustrates foreign coins which were used in Thailand before the country's monetary system was established. The author also traces the origin of the Thai word ""rian"" which means coins in English. Supported by historical evidences, the author concludes the word was originated from the Spanish currency, Real
Varifocus gevraagd:multinationals en internationale duurzaamheidsstrategieën
Get PDFHet belang van een duurzame bedrijfsvoering is groter dan ooit. Bedrijven ervaren een steeds grotere druk, van binnen en buiten, om hier serieus aan te werken. De meeste bedrijven zijn daarom druk bezig met het ontwikkelen van een strategie die niet alleen goed is voor ‘profit’, maar ook voor ‘people’ en ‘planet’. Multinationals zijn bijzondere spelers in dit verband, omdat ze een groot bereik en ook een grote verantwoordelijkheid hebben.Grote verschillen in waardenDoor hun internationale activiteiten hebben multinationale ondernemingen te maken met grote verschillen in waarden, normen en voorkeuren in hun directe omgeving. Dit heeft invloed op de strategische keuzes van multinationals, bijvoorbeeld waar ze investeren en hoe, maar ook op de interne organisatie. De diversiteit in normen, waarden en opvattingen bestaat namelijk ook binnen de eigen organisatie. Het is daarom vaak lastig om iedereen op één lijn te krijgen, vooral voor strategische doelstellingen die niet overal op dezelfde manier gewaardeerd worden, zoals doelstellingen ten aanzien van duurzaamheid.VarifocusVoor het doorvoeren van een duurzaamheidsstrategie lijkt een soort varifocus, of gelijktijdige aandacht voor meerdere en soms conflicterende doelstellingen, noodzakelijk. Meer onderzoek is nodig om te begrijpen hoe multinationals zo’n varifocus kunnen ontwikkelen en hoe de diversiteit in het bedrijf en haar omgeving daar een rol in speelt. Hoe kunnen bepaalde communicatiestructuren en procedures bijvoorbeeld gecombineerd worden om zo’n varifocus te faciliteren en stimuleren? En hoe kan samenwerking met partners, bijvoorbeeld NGOs, multinationals helpen om hun duurzaamheidsdoelstellingen te integreren in activiteiten in het buitenland
Psychic Distance, Innovation, and Firm Performance
No full textPrevious research suggests that internationalization improves a firm's ability to innovate, but the effect of internationalizing into specific target markets or destinations on the innovation ability of firms has not been fully investigated. This study examined whether the psychic distance between target market and home market affects firms' propensity to innovate. The starting assumption was that perception of a high degree of differences and subsequent environmental uncertainty when expanding into psychically distant markets triggers strategies for interacting and integrating with the market environment. These include producing and adopting innovations to processes and products and to organizational strategy, structure, and administrative procedures to cope with the new environment and overcome uncertainties. These innovations and the associated competitive advantages can improve firm performance. Hypotheses regarding the relationships between psychic distance, innovation, and firm performance were tested here by structural equation modeling using data from 186 export ventures into 23 international markets by Swedish companies. The results indicate that the link between psychic distance and firm performance is mediated by innovation
The Development of Network Relations of MNC Subsidiaries: How Internal MNC and External (Local) Relations Evolve
Get PDFManaging relations is a complex task for internationalizing firms and their subsidiaries: MNC subsidiaries are not only part of the MNC network but they also develop relations with network actors in their local environment.This paper investigates conceptually how MNC subsidiaries established through generic expansion build relations within the MNC and with external market and non-market actors as they evolve through stages of start-up, growth and maturity.The paper develops propositions, grounded in institutional theory, resource dependency theory and network approaches, on the changing strength and importance of a subsidiary's relations depending on its dependence or interdependence in these relations, with five groups of actors (MNC headquarters, other subsidiaries within the MNC, local business actors, local government and non-government organizations).The paper ends with drawing directions for future work that will enhance understanding of the dynamics of relationship management in MNC subsidiaries
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