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This study aims to assess the impact of changes in international business modes on consumer ethnocentrism. The study utilizes a quantitative research approach and is theoretically grounded in the resource‐based view. Data was collected from Bangladesh, China, India, and Malaysia using the consumer ethnocentrism tendencies scale (CETSCALE), and analyzed using quantitative methods. The results indicate that changes in international entry modes have an impact on the degree of consumer ethnocentrism. Across all countries studied, the highest level of consumer ethnocentrism was found for imported products, and this degree and intensity decreased when the entry modes changed from importing to joint venturing and FDI. This study contributes to the literature on both international business and consumer behavior by integrating the two fields, resulting in a robust theoretical contribution. The findings also suggest that the appropriate IB mode can act as a resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that firms typically expand into foreign locations with sizeable coethnic communities. However, in many cases the ethnic community influences the investment choice of the same firm in one location but not another. We offer an institutional lens to explain this heterogeneity. Ethnic groups function like informal institutions that facilitate transactions between foreign firms and customers, suppliers, and information providers through interpersonal exchange. Relying on ethnic communities to mediate transactions in foreign markets is valuable but limited by the relatively small scale of these communities. In contrast, relying on formal institutions allows firms to expand more broadly into foreign markets because the impersonal exchange inherent in formal governance is more scalable. This is manifested in "dual entry strategies" wherein ethnic communities have a significantly stronger influence on location choice in places with unreliable (weak and unstable) formal institutions than in places with reliable formal institutions. We found support for these ideas using a unique dataset of South Korean banks' investments in Chinese provinces during 1992–2013. To mitigate endogeneity concerns, we exploited a historical migration that created a quasi-random distribution of ethnic Koreans across provinces. Our work contributes to research on international expansion, ethnic communities, and institutional theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019, the US ornamental horticulture industry had a farm gate crop value of roughly $17 billion, contributed $348 billion in total output to the nation's economy, and created 2.32 million employment opportunities. However, as the industry matures and reaches a slow‐growing stage, interfirm rivalry may appear among grower firms for marketing channels and sales opportunities. Independent garden centers and retailers report facing increased competition from mass merchandisers. Market channel choices, as part of the competitive strategy, are alternative ways for ornamental production to reach consumers. However, marketing practices of this industry have not received adequate attention from researchers despite the economic significance of the industry. Combining four waves of the National Green Industry Survey from 2004 to 2019, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of factors influencing firms' market participation and market channel choices. Over the survey period, traditional wholesale market channels such as landscape services companies, rewholesalers, and single‐location garden centers have remained mainstream channels. The direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) channel showed the potential to gain significant market share. Thirty percent of the firms participated in DTC channel in 2018, and their sales represent about 22% of total sales by all survey firms. Our empirical results show firms' wholesale market participation and choices of market channels are largely influenced by plant types and firm perceptions (variables potentially affecting firms' assessment of the "size" of their market) and variables approximating the market size such as regional dummies and housing price index, confirming the impact of market size on entry decision. [EconLit Citations: C50, M31, L14]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study considers a search market with an outside option and shows that entry may be insufficient. When a firm enters the search market, the price decreases, and consumers can search for more products, which increases the market demand and improves social welfare. However, firms do not internalize the effect, and insufficient entry can occur. Additionally, insufficient entry is likely to occur in a search market with low search costs and/or an attractive outside option, as these factors increase the socially optimal number of firms but decrease the firms' profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language diversity is an inherent part of international business transactions, despite the dominance of English. The challenge for management, HRM, and employees in multinational companies is to find the right strategy. Multinational organizations can be categorized using the EPRG (ethnocentric, polycentric, regiocentric, geocentric) model, according to how they define their relationship with subsidiaries, and how they operate in foreign markets. Using this model, conclusions can also be drawn from their applied language strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early and rapid internationalization has emerged as an established phenomenon of research, yet several fundamental issues remain to be studied. In this research, the authors aimto analyze the link between earliness of internationalization—a temporal dimension of foreign market entry—and the geographic diversity of international expansion, as well as the contingent nature of the relationship. They test their hypotheses with empirical data collected in a survey among international young ventures in China. The results show that while earliness of internationalization does not directly lead to the geographic diversity of a venture’s international expansion, its impact becomes salient as the venture gains international legitimacy and strategic flexibility. Furthermore, the moderating effects of international legitimacy and strategic flexibility vary according to the type of the venture’s first foreign market (regional vs. global). This research advances the knowledge not only of the important role of early foreign market entry but also of the strategic factors for paths created by accelerated internationalization. It potentially contributes to the emergent research on foreign market entry timing/speed of internationalization and performance implications of international young ventures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the influence of founders' prior shared international experience on the timing of their new ventures' first entry into foreign markets. We propose that this experience, which is gained by founders working concurrently for the same international firm prior to the founding of the current company, provides them with shared knowledge and routines that they can use to enter foreign markets for the first time earlier in the venture's life. Further, we propose that founders' diversity strengthens this relationship, because diverse groups of founders have a broader range of knowledge, skills, and perspectives, which facilitates the adaptation of their prior shared international experience to their new venture setting. This is likely to further reduce the time it takes them to enter foreign markets for the first time. We also argue that industry dynamism weakens the relationship between founders' prior shared international experience and the time to first foreign market entry, because this type of experience is likely to become obsolete in a rapidly changing environment. Finally, we hypothesize that early internationalizers enjoy higher performance than late internationalizers. We test these predictions using a sample of Swedish new ventures. Our results contribute to the literatures on founders' shared experience and early internationalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID pandemic is a game-changer that affected almost every aspect of our lives, both economically and socially. The emergence and spread of the COVID virus forced countries worldwide to impose various restriction policies at different times. Growing economic ties between countries are accelerating the transfer of goods and information and the effect triggering economic crises. Multinational corporations' foreign direct investments (FDI) have been greatly affected, as they represent a significant global aspect of economic development in the last decades. The Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) are sensitive to economic and other shocks. Nevertheless, only by a few because FDI is often considered long-term and less sensitive to global shocks, as they involve large amounts of capital investment that are costly to reverse. This paper examines whether the COVID-19 pandemic impact FDI flows. If they do, we analyze the possible channels through which the COVID-19 pandemic influences FDI flows. Our findings show that during the COVID-19 pandemic, investment flows had different impacts on various sectors and were also influenced by the modes of entry. In the manufacturing sector, pandemic damage in host countries has a significant negative impact on both Greenfield FDI and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. In-home countries, it does not significantly impact both types of FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choosing the right international market entry mode is of utmost importance for an internationalizing firm. However, there is a lack of analysis concerning the decision-making process (DMP), specifically with regard to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors study the DMP among SMEs intent on entering international markets and how it affects each firm's international market development strategy. Using six cases based in Finland and Italy, the authors develop a model of the SME DMP. Their results imply that the DMP evolves and goes through various phases. By focusing on the postentry phase, this study enhances knowledge on decision-making frameworks by linking the traditional international marketing literature related to initial entry mode with "mainstream" international business literature. Furthermore, the study reveals that SMEs adopting a more rational DMP are more likely to succeed in foreign markets, and consequently, it demonstrates the importance of real options reasoning as a theoretical lens for making entry mode decisions in the context of SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how tax cuts that benefit some firms are related to the economic performance of their direct competitors. Consistent with tax cuts decreasing the cost of initiating competitive strategies, we find that a decrease in the tax burden for only a specific group of firms in the U.S. economy (i.e., "rivals") has a negative economic effect on the performance of its direct competitors not directly exposed to the same tax cut (i.e., "competitors"). This negative externality is stronger when the relatively higher taxed competitors (1) are financially constrained, (2) operate in more competitive markets, (3) have similar products to their lower taxed rivals, (4) face rivals that retain more of their cash tax savings due to lower dividends and share repurchases, and (5) face lower taxed, but financially constrained, rivals. We also find that shareholders and lenders price the negative externality manifested in these competitors' economic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to determine the simultaneous effect of exporting firms' competitive strategies and capabilities on the achievement of competitive advantages and export performance under the boundary conditions of competitive intensity. In so doing, the study combines the alternative theoretical lenses of the resource-based view (RBV) and the structure–conduct–performance (SCP) paradigm. Design/methodology/approach: Primary data were obtained from 281 Turkish manufacturer–exporter firms operating in different sectors and located in several regions of the country. Structural equation modeling was utilized to test our conceptual framework, which combined the effects of RBV-based and SCP-based factors on competitive advantages and export performance under the moderating influence of competitive intensity. Findings: This study reveals that unique firm capabilities, specifically informational, relational, and marketing capabilities, and competitive strategies, including differentiation and cost leadership, provide export firms with a competitive advantage and improve their export performance in foreign markets. Furthermore, competitive advantages partially mediate the effects of competitive strategies and unique firm capabilities on export performance. Finally, unexpectedly, and contrary to most of the existing literature, we find that competitive intensity negatively moderates the link between service advantages and export performance. Originality/value: This research offers a comprehensive view of manufacturer–exporter firms' export performance by accounting for the overlooked simultaneous effect of firm capabilities and competitive strategies through the mediation of competitive advantages and under the boundary conditions of competitive intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a panel dataset of 78 branded drugs for the period January 2009 through March 2020, we examine whether brand prices react to the onset of generic competition. Contrary to the findings of several prior academic studies, we show that the rate of change of brand prices (both nominal and CPI-deflated) are significantly lower after generics enter the market; notably, we also find branded drug manufacturers raise their prices in the six-month period just before generic entry and lower them in the six-month period after, with the differences in the rates of change being highly significant. We also show in markets with an authorized generic and in ones with large pre-entry brand sales, manufacturers raise prices at a higher (or decrease CPI-deflated prices at a shallower) rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Few researchers and even fewer practitioners would deny that serendipitous events play a central role in the growth process of firms. However, most international marketing models ignore the role of serendipity in the opportunity discovery process. The authors provide a nuanced view on international opportunities by developing the role of serendipitous opportunities in the foreign market entry process. The authors develop a model integrating the notions of serendipity, entrepreneurial logic, experiential knowledge and network knowledge redundancy. From the study's model, the authors condense three sets of hypotheses on the relationships among experiential knowledge and entry strategy, network knowledge redundancy, entry strategy and serendipity. Design/methodology/approach: The authors confront the study's hypotheses with data collected on-site at 168 Swedish firms covering 234 opportunities, and to test the hypotheses, the authors ran ordinary least squares (OLS) regression tests in three steps. Findings: The results of the study's analysis reveal that experiential knowledge and network knowledge redundancy both lead to a logic based on rigid planning and systematic search, which in turn reduces the likelihood that serendipitous opportunities will be realized in the foreign market entry process. Originality/value: This is the first study that develops a measure of opportunities that are the outcome of serendipitous events. In addition, the authors integrate network and learning theories and internationalization theory by establishing antecedents to, and outcomes of, the entry strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a growing interest in the influence of managerial characteristics on firms' strategic decision‐making process, scholarly knowledge is limited with regard to how and when psychological attributes of executives affect firms' foreign entry mode decision. Building on behavioral decision‐making theory, we address this gap by investigating the effect of chief executive officers' (CEOs') optimism on firms' foreign market equity mode choice. In addition, we examine the moderating influence of the host country's rule of law on this relationship. Using primary data from 227 small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana, we found that increases in the levels of CEOs' optimism are related to the increases in preference for equity entry mode. This relationship is amplified when CEOs perceive the host country to have stronger rule of law. The findings have theoretical, managerial, and policy implications for SMEs' foreign market entry mode strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Research on foreign market entry has rarely considered that multinational firms' new entries may be affected by the configuration of their existing affiliates. We argue that in making entry decisions, firms take into account how an entry into a new location helps increase the operational flexibility of their affiliate portfolios due to options to switch operations across affiliates in case of diverging labor cost developments across host countries. We juxtapose this real options‐based explanation with a risk diversification explanation. Analysis of Japanese multinational firms' foreign entry decisions suggests that the two explanations are complementary. We also establish portfolio‐level boundary conditions to the influence of operational flexibility considerations on entry, in the form of product diversification and the nature of dispersion of labor cost levels. Managerial Summary When deciding on whether to enter a foreign market, managers of a multinational firm are intuitively aware that they need to consider how the economic environment of the target host country is related to the environments of the existing countries in which the firm operates. The less the environments are correlated with each other, whether in terms of input cost or market demand conditions, the greater the chance that the firm may capture cost savings and reduce sales volatility globally. These benefits arise from a switching option to shift operations flexibly across countries and from an ability to reduce risk by holding a portfolio of diversified global investments. Our findings support both sets of considerations, suggesting that companies do give due attention to correlations in labor cost and market demand between the target host country to enter and the existing host countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare the influence of entry mode choice on subsidiary performance in two developmentally-differentiated regions of a developing host country. Analysis of 113 subsidiaries located in two provinces of China indicates that wholly owned subsidiaries outperform joint ventures in the developed region, whereas joint ventures outperform wholly owned subsidiaries in the less developed region. However, the smaller performance gap between wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures in the developed region indicates that the magnitude of influence of entry mode choices on performance varies across subnational regions. Firms must therefore be more discriminating in formulating entry strategies to regionally heterogeneous countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the globalization has been increased in the twenty first century, the marketing has become the integral part of every business. When the business is operating with the customer as its primary element, the achievement will be: competitive advantage in the market. One of the markets that is in expansion is China market. To develop the market in China has to be understood the advantages and the disadvantages of this market. The determining of the marketing possibilities in the new markets can help one company to extend the business. While opening new markets, the competition is still not aware of the existence of the entering company. So, to attract the customers have to be created values for the customers in order to shape their perceptions. The values are created by focusing on the topic that is from crucial essence for the customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global market can be considered a volatile environment and the internationalization of a firm through the adoption of any entry mode may lead to the need to innovate or adapt its business model (BM) to better fit specific contexts of international markets. Even though entry modes have been deeply investigated during the last decades, the relation of business model innovation (BMI) and entry modes is a new study subject. This article assumes that the internationalization process is a trigger for innovation, and it aims to answer what are the different possibilities of BMI generated through the entry modes. The concepts of BM, BMI, and its relationship with internationalization and entry modes are investigated in this paper. Based on the literature review, a theoretical model is proposed to relate entry modes and the need of business model innovation. We identified that little is known about the relation between these subjects and applied research is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate foreign market re-entry commitment strategies, namely the changes in the modes of operation (commitment) undertaken by multinational enterprises (MNEs) as they return to foreign markets from which they had previously exited. We combine organisational learning theory with the institutional change literature to examine the antecedents of re-entry commitment strategies. From an analysis of 1020 re-entry events between 1980 and 2016, we find that operation mode prior to exit is a strong predictor of subsequent re-entry mode. Contrary to the predictions of learning theory, we did not find support for the effect of experience accumulated during the initial market endeavour on the re-entry commitment strategies of MNEs. In turn, exit motives significantly impact on the re-entrants' decision to re-enter via a different mode of operation, by either increasing or decreasing their commitment to the market. We show that re-entrants do not replicate unsuccessful operation mode strategies if they had previously underperformed in the market. When favourable host institutional changes occur during the time-out period, re-entrants tend to increase commitment in the host market irrespective of the degree of prior experience accumulated in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Focusing on the global trade collapse and the subsequent recovery period, the purpose of this paper is to examine the export performance of firms that are involved in complex internationalization strategies.Design/methodology/approach The authors use a random-effects probit model with panel data and a dynamic panel data model (GMM system) for Spanish manufacturing firms from 2006 to 2013 period.Findings It is found that, once firm characteristics are controlled for, complex internationalization plays an important role in continuing to export and, additionally, positively influences the level of exports. Firms active in a complex mix of internationalization strategies have an added advantage, which enables them to confront the uncertainty of foreign markets in better conditions and translates to a lower likelihood of ceasing exporting and to higher export values.Practical implications The present paper throws light on this question by showing that the negative impact of trade collapse in 2009 on the export level was lower for firms inserted in complex internationalization strategies and the subsequent recovery was more intense.Originality/value The analysis goes one step further and investigates whether the impact is different during the trade collapse in 2009 and the following recovery. Here, previous empirical research at firm level on the role of complex internationalization strategies in trade is contradictory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article extends knowledge of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) by examining EO in the context of international performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We enhance understanding of foreign market entry of SMEs by taking into account the mediating mechanisms (i.e. networking capability and experiential learning) through which firm EO leads to superior performance across borders. A sample of 164 internationalising SMEs in New Zealand supported the direct impact of EO on international performance as well as the mediating role of experiential learning and networking capability in this focal relationship. These findings reveal the importance of EO in internationalisation of SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constructs a duopoly model to study the optimal international cross-ownership and state-owned shares proportion when domestic state-owned enterprise competes with foreign-funded enterprise in home market or against local enterprise in foreign market under Cournot competition. The results indicate that whether to implement international cross-ownership or not and the proportion of state-owned depend on the implementing subject of cross-ownership, competitive environment, the efficiencies of state-owned and private capitals, and so on. The proportion of state-owned shares may influence the action of international cross-ownership in some cases. Complete nationalization is optimal choice under specified condition. These conclusions have certain significance for the formulation of privatization policies in various countries and the merger and reorganization of enterprises in the international scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Management & Organization Review is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The burgeoning of ibusiness firms in the modern digital economy challenges the received internationalization theory. Given that ibusinesses such as social networking sites create value by providing a digital platform for users to interact with one another, we employ a user-network perspective and externalization logic, suggesting that ibusinesses' internationalization process depends critically on users' collective interactions, instead of being solely driven by firms' market commitments, as noted by the Uppsala model. However, ibusinesses may suffer from liabilities of outsidership due to the boundedness of international network effects. Drawing on social network theory, we demonstrate that such liabilities can be mitigated by first diffusing the ibusiness platform in countries with higher clout. Our analysis using a unique dataset of mobile ibusiness platforms finds empirical support for the hypotheses. We discuss theoretical implications for the network approach of the Uppsala model in the digital era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For MNEs, entry‐mode decision is undeniably critical. While the literature has identified several determinants of foreign entry‐mode choice, few have examined the impact of manager's animosity and ethnocentrism. This article is an attempt to fill this gap by examining the independent effect of manager animosity and ethnocentrism as well as the moderating effect of cultural intelligence on entry mode. Data were collected through surveys targeting upper‐level managers in the U.S., U.K., and Germany to examine how animosity and ethnocentrism would shape their decision to enter Iran, a host market largely perceived negatively in the West. Multivariate multiple regression was used to test the hypothesized effects and to capture the multidimensional aspect of entry modes. We found that, in general, manager's animosity and ethnocentrism do negatively affect the choice of an entry mode and that cultural intelligence has the potential to neutralize that negative effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Research has identified inverted U-shaped relationships between domestic competitive position, often cast in terms of home-country market share or relative profitability, and speed of entry into a foreign market. However, in some industries, firms may be especially attentive and responsive to competition between firms in their local-home market (i.e. sub-national). Hence, this study aims to explore the effect of local-home market competitive intensity on the relationship between a firm's overall competitive position and speed of entry into a foreign market.Design/methodology/approach Data from 114 large US corporate law firms from 1992 through 2008 were used for Cox proportional-hazards regression models to estimate the moderating effect of local-home market competitive intensity on the relationship between relative profitability at the national level and speed of entry (i.e. hazard rate) into China.Findings Less-dominant firms from highly competitive local-home markets entered China more quickly than less-dominant firms from less-competitive local-home markets. In addition, first-movers from highly competitive local-home markets tended to have more advantageous competitive profiles, as reflected in profitability, than first-movers from less-competitive local-home markets.Originality/value This research explores an important contingency in the relationship between a firm's competitive position at home and timing of entry into a foreign market. Additionally, the results suggest that first-movers from less-competitive local-home markets may face immediate competition from better-positioned first-movers from more competitive locations within the same home market when they enter new markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among studies on performance outcomes of entry mode choices disagreement fueled by ambiguous research findings is apparent as regards whether the best performers are those firms that enter foreign countries with high or low entry mode degree of control. To solve this dilemma and test new hypotheses, the relationship between entry mode degree of control and firm performance is examined by meta-analyzing 133 studies (740,114 observations) covering entry mode choices from 1980 to 2010. We find that (a) overall high-control entry modes lead to higher performance, and (b) adopting high-control entry modes is particularly important for firms entering developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of RAN - Revista Academia & Negocios is the property of RAN - Revista Academia & Negocios, Universidad de Concepcion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Foreign market entry is important in market development. We examine entry timing/mode, investment, advertising, location, and interactive effects. Early entrants enjoy a high market share. The type of entry and initial investment also affect performance. Even though the effect of advertising on market share is significant, regardless of early/late entry, the effect is different, based on entry mode, investment, and industry. The effect of advertising is larger on owned subsidiaries. Nonmanufacturing firms benefit more from advertising compared to manufacturing firms. Multinationals in manufacturing industries investing in Middle/Northeast China perform better, while nonmanufacturing multinationals perform better in Eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Using the lens of Uber's digital workers in Paris, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how the trust-building mechanism is constructed between a digital platform and its digital workers in a foreign market entry.Design/methodology/approach This is a case study based on empirical data from in-depth interviews with 35 Uber drivers. A cross-disciplinary literature framework from mainly international business and internet geography theory and a reflexive qualitative methodology are applied.Findings Results show that the relationship between the digital platform and the digital workers is characterized by mistrust and suffers from decreasing commitment levels soon after market entry. Uber mitigates its mistrust via control and scarce mechanisms. The digital drivers' "illusionary freedom", a state in which they feel they can log on and log off at any time, enables the digital platform to gradually lower its commitment. The authors find that the mistrust does not seem to hamper the digital platform's business performance.Research limitations/implications The paper mainly covers the digital workers' perspective and the case of Uber's market entry in Paris.Social implications This paper implies that digitally conveyed control seems to come at the cost of lowered human trust. Given the pace at which digital control systems are permeating society, this could eventually lower the whole societal trust level.Originality/value The authors criticize incumbent international business theory for not being sufficiently able to explain a contemporary digital business logic and the authors challenge the general assumption that successful internationalization is built through trust. The authors contribute with the conceptualization of a new technical market entry mode for digital platforms – "digitally controlled proxies". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To obtain information about foreign markets is a very complex task for small- and medium-sized enterprises. This work’s aim is to find out how certain variables are related to the consumer’s shopping intention. It will help these firms to get a better knowledge of this intention. The work is specifically centred on products related to the gastronomy of a particular place. Through a sample of 154 tourists who visited this destination, we sought to know these products’ degree of acceptation. Via structural equation modelling, it has been possible to determine the relevance which the variables of country of origin, gastronomic culture, and type of product have regarding the shopping intention. The work’s novelty is to contribute a methodology of gathering information in the destination on the likes and behaviour patterns of foreign consumers without the need of costly research in their countries of origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on how cultural distance impacts the choice of entry mode shows contradictory findings. This study uses a strategic fit perspective to examine the impact of distinct cultural factors as predictors of equity entry scale of Chinese firms. Findings from a sample of 667 Chinese firms demonstrate that the effects of cultural fit on equity entry scale vary across cultural dimensions. Whereas a collectivism cultural fit motivates Chinese investors to secure a high-equity entry scale in foreign firms, a lower power distance cultural fit (“misfit”) leads to higher entry involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to provide a theoretical explanation to the observed phenomenon that SMEs develop a foreign operation mode (FOM) package. The findings demonstrate that SMEs' FOM package was developed based on an opportunity development logic. Specifically, SMEs develop multiple opportunities sequentially and simultaneously which end up as a FOM package. The authors identify the antecedents - existing knowledge and networks, and additional influential factors of affordable loss and the level of commitment to develop a theoretical explanation. Practitioners can apply opportunity development logic to evaluate a SMEs FOM decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses how multinational enterprises (MNEs) manage their interactions with host governments during the market entry process. A qualitative multiple case study collected data through in-depth interviews with multiple participants in six New Zealand MNEs. The analysis identifies two distinct political schemas which represent MNE managers’ assumptions and heuristics regarding how to approach interactions with foreign governments, systematic and episodic, which lead to the enactment of distinct patterns of political activities, each supported by certain political resources and capabilities. We then identify several sources of the variations in these two political schemas at the managerial, firm, industry, and country levels of analysis. Our study deepens understanding of the micro-processes of corporate political activity (CPA) and the processes and activities through which political resources and capabilities are developed, deployed and leveraged by MNE actors in managing their interactions with host governments during the market entry process. In doing so, we highlight the role of international experience in influencing the process of political capability development, and also the role of managerial actions in shaping this evolutionary process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Internationalization has emerged as a vital catch-up strategy for firms in emerging markets. Although external knowledge search has been widely acknowledged as an important way within the internationalization process, there appear to be opposing views as to whether local or international knowledge search contributes more for firms’ internationalization. This paper aims to integrate organizational ambidexterity and external knowledge search theory to define the concept of external knowledge search ambidexterity and empirically test the impact of the balance dimension of external knowledge search ambidexterity and combined dimension of external knowledge search ambidexterity on internationalization and the moderating effect of organizational slack and environmental munificence.Design/methodology/approach Survey.Findings Based on survey data of 219 Chinese manufacturing firms, the authors find that both relative balance and combined dimensions of external knowledge search ambidexterity are positively associated with internationalization. Organizational slack and environmental munificence both negatively moderate the relationship between balance dimension of external knowledge search ambidexterity and internationalization, both positively moderate the relationship between combined dimension of external knowledge search ambidexterity and internationalization.Practical implications It is essential for managers to take different external knowledge sources into consideration, so as to both maximize revenues and profits from advanced technological knowledge and foreign marketing knowledge in foreign markets and geographic proximity advantages in local market, while minimizing the risks of lacking of adaptive capacity for lacking of knowledge about international markets and cost of coordination and communication because of long geographical distance and cultural difference.Originality/value The findings help us better understand the knowledge seeking activities of emerging economy multinationals by proposing that the balance and combination of local and international knowledge search both can promote internationalization, especially on the background of China. The results also enrich the organizational ambidexterity research and extend it to external knowledge search field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transformations in Business & Economics is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines whether male- and female-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt different strategic directions when internationalising. We build on the notion of gendered socialisation and the resource-based view examining gender differences in international entry modes. We also analyse several contingencies in the relationship between gender and internationalisation. Findings indicate that female-led SMEs are more likely to internationalise via export than foreign direct investment (FDI). The results challenge conventional wisdom on the role of resources and capabilities accumulated with manager age in the process of internationalisation; younger female chief executive officers are more likely to internationalise via FDI. The results offer novel insights to the literature on internationalisation of SMEs calling for more attention towards the interplay of social norms and gendered structural arrangements, on the one hand, and entrepreneurial agency, on the other, for a better understanding of the internationalisation of female-led SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both commercial and enterprise advertisements are deeply connected with the cultural values of a society. Advertisements that sensitively reflect changes in the times show the changes in the cultural sphere it is projected. Communication through advertisement could be the way to encourage understanding of different cultures. The comparison of advertisement between different cultures does not only provide understanding of different cultures but also provides important insights about how a product is perceived by the target audience. This paper analyzes Shiseido's corporate strategy that has advanced into foreign markets and will focus on the television advertisement of the same enterprise in Japan and China. The analysis describes how cultural specificity in Japan and China has been shown and managed in the advertisements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the managerial cognition perspective, we develop a contingency framework that empirically examines the effect of senior managers’ global mindset on their decisions regarding the choice of entry mode for foreign subsidiaries and how their cognitive decision-making style and managerial experience interact with their global mindset and thereby affect their decisions. Data were collected from both headquarters and subsidiary senior managers of 345 Chinese multinational enterprises. The results show that senior managers who exhibit a stronger global mindset tend to choose a lower-level ownership entry mode for their foreign subsidiaries. This tendency is stronger when senior managers possess a ‘thinking’ decision-making style as opposed to a ‘feeling’ decision-making style but weaker when senior managers have more experience in their managerial positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional distance (ID) has come to be a key concept in understanding the determinant factors of the performance of a multinational company's (MNC) subsidiaries in emerging economies. However, the results of empirical studies are contradictory and inconclusive. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of ID on the performance of foreign firms' subsidiaries and the extent to which these effects may be mediated by locating these companies within regional clusters and by different choices of entry mode. Through a regression analysis of a sample of 308 subsidiaries of foreign firms, results show that whereas ID is negatively related with the firm's performance, locations within clusters and access to the resources afforded by economies of agglomeration have positive effects on performance. Finally, the empirical evidence indicates that access to the resources of industrial clusters moderates the effects of ID on the performance, motivating MNCs to adopt overseas entry modes for complete control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there has been considerable research into the internationalisation of high-technology firms, it mostly assumes that these firms are pursuing global opportunities for technologies which are ready to be sold. This assumption does not hold for firms with ‘new-to-the-world’ technologies still under development. We investigate the internationalisation patterns of such firms by means of a qualitative case study. Our findings show the internationalisation patterns of the case firms to be uneven and discontinuous in nature. We attribute these patterns to the dialectical tensions which decision-makers confront between expanding internationally and developing their technologies. The nature and duration of the uncertainty inherent to bringing new-to-the-world technologies to global markets explains why tensions between innovation and internationalisation dominated, rather than synergies. In these conditions of fundamental uncertainty, the case firms were unable to benefit from the positive, self-reinforcing learning mechanism that underlies both the Uppsala internationalisation process model and the accelerated (early and rapid) internationalisation postulate. Instead, the dialectical process model which we develop recognises the socio-technical nature of technology, the impact of fundamental uncertainty, and the need to account for nonlinearity and interdependencies in the internationalisation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this editorial for the Special Issue on International Entrepreneurship, we inter-relate key concepts about the pursuit of opportunities from the entrepreneurship and international business literatures. In doing so, we consider the assessment of opportunities as an individual-level cognitive activity, the construction of opportunity as a firm-level innovative activity and the shaping of opportunity as an institutional-level structuring activity. We then extend the discussion to explore the notion of a distributed, global ecosystem of opportunities and opportunity seekers, which we believe may provide a platform for valuable future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the initial stage of foreign market selection (i.e., narrowing a set of potential countries from which to make a final choice), we theorize that manager’s country familiarity influences both the decision-making process and outcome. We hypothesize that with increasing country familiarity, (a) manager investment of cognitive effort (process) first increases and then decreases, and (b) the likelihood of a country being included for further consideration (outcome) also increases and then decreases. We further hypothesize that the effects of country familiarity are contingent on the managers’ international experience. Empirical evidence from verbal protocol analyses of managers provides strong support to our arguments. These findings contribute to the emergent literature on the critical role of cognition in decision making about foreign markets. Manager cognition potentially influences sequential/non-sequential entry decision making, possibly explaining some previously observed exceptions to internationalization process theory. The contingent role of international experience further stresses that the influence of cognition in internationalization decision making is both important and complex, involving, at least, innate cognitive processes, idiosyncratic knowledge, and international experience. We discuss the theoretical implications, along with practice implications, of country familiarity and intuitive decision making in foreign market selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the theories used to study the international equity-based entry mode strategies of emerging market multinationals (EMMs) and the contribution of these studies to extant literature.Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a systematic review of the literature. A total of 73 articles were identified from key management, international business and international marketing journals published between 2000 and June 2015. Articles were analysed according to the theory(ies) used, thematic area, methodology, home/host countries studied and findings.Findings Despite the great interest around the topic of how the antecedents and outcomes of EMMs’ international entry mode strategies may challenge and amend existing theories, the findings that come out of this research mirror patterns observed in the entry mode literature in general. Whilst traditional perspectives such as internalisation theory and the OLI paradigm remain prevalent, a growing number of studies draw on institutional theory and combine multiple theoretical perspectives. Newer theories developed specifically to study EMMs (e.g., the springboard perspective) are used in only five studies and challenged to differentiate their theoretical underpinnings from extant literature. Overall, the theoretical contribution of EMM studies is simply a change in emphasis from the role of firm-specific factors towards the influence of home country institutions on entry mode strategies. The authors conclude that the literature has only made tweaks at the edge of theories with no significant changes to extant theorisations.Originality/value This is the first systematic review of the literature focusing specifically on the international equity-based entry mode strategies of EMMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to provide a review of scholarly articles that have examined retail internationalization issues. We identify three core areas within RI research: (1) RI drivers and impediments, (2) RI strategy, and (3) RI performance. We also discuss four RI strategy issues that have been examined: (1) RI speed, (2) Foreign market selection, (3) Foreign entry mode, and (4) Strategy employed. Based on the review, we point to multiple areas where RI research is lacking and can contribute to the advancement of the field as well as offer insightful implications for international retail managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyse how the distance between countries determines host country selection. To explain foreign market entry we use two dimensions of the distance between countries: (1) geographic distance and (2) historical ties between the home and the host countries. We carry out descriptive, empirical and case study analyses in the mobile telecommunications industry to study how these two dimensions of distance determine the entrance of firms in foreign countries. Our work shows that geographic distance negatively affects the entrance of firms in host countries while historical ties between countries encourage firms to enter the host country. Moreover, historical ties positively moderate the relationship between geographic distance and market entry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]