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International audience; The objective of this article is to examine the relevant dimensions of distance for foreign market entry mode choice. Based on a sample of 203 interfirm linkages formed by French multinationals with partners across the world, we analyze the impact of four dimensions of distance on the choice between cooperative alliances and mergers-acquisitions. The findings indicate that administrative and economic distance have a significant influence on market entry mode choice, whereas the impact of cultural and geographic distance is not significant. They further highlight the important role of the host country's government effectiveness for market entry mode decisions.

La culture nationale « ou distance culturelle » a fait l’objet de plusieurs recherches dans le champ du management international (MI). Afin de mesurer la distance culturelle, ces recherches ont largement mobilisé le cadre culturel de Hofstede. Cet article évalue et compare les différents cadres culturels les plus importants en MI. S’appuyant sur un échantillon d’opérations de rapprochement menées par des entreprises françaises à l’étranger, l’étude révèle des résultats différents selon le cadre culturel mobilisé. Si les cadres culturels de Schwartz et de Globe, tout comme le cadre révisé de Hofstede, semblent influencer le choix du mode d’entrée, aucune incidence ne résulte du cadre culturel initial de Hofstede., National culture «or cultural distance» has been the subject of several studies in the field of International Business (IB). To measure cultural distance this research has mainly used Hofstede’s cultural framework. This article assesses and compares the most important cultural frameworks in IB. Based on a sample of interfirm linkages carried out by French companies with partners across the world the study shows different results according to the cultural framework used. While the Schwartz and Globe frameworks as well as the revised Hofstede’s framework seem to affect the entry mode choice, the Hofstede’s initial framework does not show any significant results., La cultura nacional « o distancia cultural » es objeto de varias investigaciones en el campo de la gestión internacional (GI). Con el fin de medir la distancia cultural, dichas investigaciones han movilizado ampliamente el marco cultural de Hofstede. Este artículo evalúa y compara los diferentes marcos culturales más importantes en GI. Apoyándose sobre una muestra de operaciones de acercamiento llevadas a cabo por empresas francesas en el extranjero, dicho estudio revela resultados diferentes según el marco cultural movilizado. Si los marcos culturales de Schwartz y de Globe, así como el marco revisado de Hofstede, parecen influenciar la escogencia del modo de entrada, ninguna incidencia resulta del marco cultural inicial de Hofstede.

International audience; Cette recherche porte sur les opérations de rapprochement qui visent à améliorer la gestion de la chaîne de valeur globale. L’étude empirique est fondée sur un échantillon de 205 alliances coopératives et fusions-acquisitions réalisées par des entreprises françaises avec des partenaires du monde entier. Les résultats montrent que les caractéristiques des accords noués varient selon qu’ils concernent des pays développés, des pays émergents ou des pays en développement. Ils révèlent aussi que l’engagement des entreprises a tendance à augmenter avec le niveau de développement des marchés visés. Enfin, il apparaît que les entreprises françaises choisissent des destinations différentes selon qu’elles souhaitent s’associer avec des concurrents ou des partenaires en amont et en aval du processus de production.

Companies from mature economies have considerably developed their investments in emerging markets during the recent period (Hadjikhani et al. 2012; Mayrhofer 2013; UNCTAD 2014). These investments frequently take the form of international joint ventures (IJVs) signed with local partners. IJVs are defined as organizational entities managed jointly by two or more independent parents from different countries, who invest in a company’s capital to obtain strategic objectives (Shenkar and Zeira 1987). They can be created from scratch (greenfield IJVs) or through a partial acquisition of equity in an existing firm (Hennart et al. 1998; Hennart 2009). According to Meschi (2009), four main reasons explain the proliferation of international joint ventures: (1) achieving economies of scale and critical size; (2) learning and transferring competence and knowledge; (3) refocusing and restructuring a business portfolio; and (4) entering new risky markets. Despite their numerous advantages, joint ventures are often characterized by a high degree of instability (Park and Ungson 2001) and poor performance (Killing 1983; Geringer 1986). Empirical studies on IJV survival in emerging countries show that between 30% and 50% are sold off, bought out, or dissolved by the partners during the first five years of existence (Meschi 2005; Meschi and Riccio 2008; Prange and Mayrhofer 2014). Recent studies have been conducted in Hungary (Steensma et al. 2008), Brazil (Meschi and Riccio 2008), China (Duan and Juma 2007; Puck et al. 2009; Ott et al. 2014), and Russia (Prevot and Guallino 2012).