An emerging body of research in international business examines firm response to challenging envi... more An emerging body of research in international business examines firm response to challenging environments involving disasters, conflict and crime. This work has two salient characteristics: (a) a f...
This study investigates the involvement of corporate level managers in innovation processes at th... more This study investigates the involvement of corporate level managers in innovation processes at the business unit level in diversified corporations. We present a process model of the emergence and e...
Multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries abroad are important organizations in their own right... more Multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries abroad are important organizations in their own rights. They typically hold some of the MNE’s most critical resources, and operate at the forefront of complex international environments. In this review, we identify and organize theoretical and empirical research on subsidiary management based on over 600 articles in leading academic journals. We develop a conceptual framework that integrates complementary streams of theoretical and empirical research with the subsidiary as its focal unit of analysis. In particular, we review six lines of research on subsidiary scope, practices, knowledge management, engagement with local market and nonmarket actors, performance, and individuals within subsidiaries. We highlight theoretical perspectives that have contributed to, and been advanced by, research on MNE subsidiaries. Based on the review, we explore future research agendas, linking the contemporary research themes with two main thrusts. First, s...
How do decision makers of multinational enterprises (MNEs) appoint general manager (GM) successor... more How do decision makers of multinational enterprises (MNEs) appoint general manager (GM) successors in their local-market-seeking foreign subsidiaries? Extant literature suggests that to better addr...
In today’s interconnected world, there is ever greater need for developing new ways of coordinati... more In today’s interconnected world, there is ever greater need for developing new ways of coordinating, organizing, and reconfiguring of organizational structures and routines across inter and intra-o...
Prior research into the effects of cultural differences between multinational enterprises’ (MNEs’... more Prior research into the effects of cultural differences between multinational enterprises’ (MNEs’) home and host countries on expatriate staffing decisions in foreign subsidiaries has produced a la...
An emerging body of research in international business examines firm response to challenging envi... more An emerging body of research in international business examines firm response to challenging environments involving disasters, conflict and crime. This work has two salient characteristics: (a) a f...
This study investigates the involvement of corporate level managers in innovation processes at th... more This study investigates the involvement of corporate level managers in innovation processes at the business unit level in diversified corporations. We present a process model of the emergence and e...
Multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries abroad are important organizations in their own right... more Multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries abroad are important organizations in their own rights. They typically hold some of the MNE’s most critical resources, and operate at the forefront of complex international environments. In this review, we identify and organize theoretical and empirical research on subsidiary management based on over 600 articles in leading academic journals. We develop a conceptual framework that integrates complementary streams of theoretical and empirical research with the subsidiary as its focal unit of analysis. In particular, we review six lines of research on subsidiary scope, practices, knowledge management, engagement with local market and nonmarket actors, performance, and individuals within subsidiaries. We highlight theoretical perspectives that have contributed to, and been advanced by, research on MNE subsidiaries. Based on the review, we explore future research agendas, linking the contemporary research themes with two main thrusts. First, s...
How do decision makers of multinational enterprises (MNEs) appoint general manager (GM) successor... more How do decision makers of multinational enterprises (MNEs) appoint general manager (GM) successors in their local-market-seeking foreign subsidiaries? Extant literature suggests that to better addr...
In today’s interconnected world, there is ever greater need for developing new ways of coordinati... more In today’s interconnected world, there is ever greater need for developing new ways of coordinating, organizing, and reconfiguring of organizational structures and routines across inter and intra-o...
Prior research into the effects of cultural differences between multinational enterprises’ (MNEs’... more Prior research into the effects of cultural differences between multinational enterprises’ (MNEs’) home and host countries on expatriate staffing decisions in foreign subsidiaries has produced a la...
Location of International Business Activities, 2014
This study investigates the widely overlooked phenomenon of multinational enterprise (MNE) locati... more This study investigates the widely overlooked phenomenon of multinational enterprise (MNE) location avoidance, utilizing a multi-method research design and data on 131 foreign investment locations. It complements economic-choice-based location research by adding contextual dimensions at the country level that matter to managers personally, and affect decisions at the firm level. We provide a connection between international business research, the behavioral stream in economic geography, and the microfoundations stream in the strategic management literature. The results suggest that, in addition to traditional location choice criteria (including investment potential, internationalization strategy, and various geographic and psychic distances), foreign location decisions in MNEs are influenced by how troublesome it is for managers to travel to or live in certain places. An 11-item measure composed of travel inconveniences shows a significant negative moderating effect on the relationship between foreign direct investment potential and investment intensity. The effect is stronger for non-resource-seeking industries. We call this phenomenon the “hassle factor”.
Strategic Management in the 21st Century. In: Wilkinson, T.(Ed.), Praeger Publishers, 2013
Increasing societal expectations regarding responsible business conduct as well as an increasingl... more Increasing societal expectations regarding responsible business conduct as well as an increasingly fierce enforcement environment are placing integrity and compliance highly on the list of management priorities. However, although many companies are investing serious efforts into compliance programs and are increasing the headcount within their compliance organizations it seems to be striking that severe ethical breakdowns still happen on a very regular basis. The reason may well be that strongly relying on classical elements of compliance programs to prevent misconduct such as establishing numerous policies, strengthening awareness training and increasing monitoring mechanisms works like trying to win the Tour de France with flat tires. Typically, structural causes are the driving forces behind systemic misconduct. These include; unbalanced incentives systems that determine bonuses, salary increases or career progression without any consideration of moral behaviors; a lack of respon...
6 Intra-organizational turbulences in multinational corporations Andreas Schotter and Paul W. Bea... more 6 Intra-organizational turbulences in multinational corporations Andreas Schotter and Paul W. Beamish Introduction Scholars have recently pointed out that intra-organizational conflict in multinational corporations (MNCs) between headquarters (HQ) and their foreign ...
Intellectual property (IP) protection is the No. 1 challenge for multinational corporations opera... more Intellectual property (IP) protection is the No. 1 challenge for multinational corporations operating in China. According to the U.S. government, China accounted for nearly 80% of all IP thefts from U.S.-headquartered organizations in 2013,1 amounting to an estimated $300 billion in lost business. Among European manufacturers, the loss of IP in China reduced potential profits by 20%.2 Although multinational corporations can’t afford to stay away from China, in order to remain competitive they must develop mechanisms that enable them to shift some of their innovation capabilities to China safely, without losing critical know-how.
On February 24, 2010, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota Motor Corporation’s founder, Kiichiro T... more On February 24, 2010, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota Motor Corporation’s founder, Kiichiro Toyoda, endured a grueling question-and-answer session before the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The committee represented just one of three Congressional panels investigating the 2009-2010 recall of Toyota vehicles related to problems of sudden acceleration and the company’s delay in responding to the crisis. Signs of the coming recall crisis began as early as 2006 when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into driver reports of “surging” in Toyota’s Camry models. The NHTSA investigation was closed the next year, citing no defects. Over the next four years, Toyota, known in the industry for its quality and reliability, would quietly recall nearly nine million Toyota and Lexus models due to sudden acceleration problems. Toyota’s leadership, widely criticized for its slow response in addressing the problems, now had to move quickly to identify a solution that would ensure the safety of its vehicles, restore consumer confidence, protect the valuable Toyota brand, and recoup a plummeting share price.
For Chiquita Brands International, a pioneer in the globalization of the banana industry, banana... more For Chiquita Brands International, a pioneer in the globalization of the banana industry, bananas are not only serious business, they represent an array of economic, social, environmental, political, and legal hassles. Since its founding more than a hundred years ago as United Fruit Company, Chiquita has been involved in paying bribes to Latin American government officials in exchange for preferential treatment, encouraging or supporting US coups against smaller nations, putting in place dictatorships in Central America’s “banana republics,” exploiting local workers, creating an abusive monopoly, and now doing business with terrorists. 1 For American multinationals, the rewards of doing business abroad are enormous, but so are the risks. Over the past decades, no place has been more hazardous than Colombia, a country that is just emerging from a deadly civil war and the effects of wide-ranging narco …
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Signs of the coming recall crisis began as early as 2006 when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into driver reports of “surging” in Toyota’s Camry models. The NHTSA investigation was closed the next year, citing no defects. Over the next four years, Toyota, known in the industry for its quality and reliability, would quietly recall nearly nine million Toyota and Lexus models due to sudden acceleration problems. Toyota’s leadership, widely criticized for its slow response in addressing the problems, now had to move quickly to identify a solution that would ensure the safety of its vehicles, restore consumer confidence, protect the valuable Toyota brand, and recoup a plummeting share price.
For American multinationals, the rewards of doing business abroad are enormous, but so are the risks. Over the past decades, no place has been more hazardous than Colombia, a country that is just emerging from a deadly civil war and the effects of wide-ranging narco …