This study extends on the analysis of innovation and corporate catching-up in China’s photovoltaic and wind power equipment manufacturing industries from a configurational perspective. In particular, a case-oriented set-theoretic methodology is applied. In empirical terms, the longitudinal analysis unravels the modal complexity of innovation and corporate catching-up and (some of) the temporal context in which it is embedded, including the modal interplay between localized internal and international external learning on the one hand and within international external learning on the other. Learning orientations are found to differ not only across firms, but also across firm performance classes. Overall, the empirical findings seem to support the idea that firms should take a more holistic approach to learning, technological capability building, and innovation to synergistically combine different kinds of complementary inputs and resources acquired through different modal sources, including various sources of international technology transfer. Such multi-modal insights also contribute to a finer-grained understanding of Chinese internationalization. In methodological terms, the added value of applying configurational, set-theoretic logic to latecomer development research is demonstrated. This includes demonstrating the potential use and usefulness of a novel patent analytic approach to conceptualizing individual firm-specific consecutive learning phases in the techno-economic catch-up process of firms.

Despite the increasing amount of international business (IB) research on diversity management (DM) in multinational enterprises (MNEs), research on DM professionals as agents of organisational change has not been done in significant manner. This study addresses the knowledge gap by exploring the role of DM professionals as agents of change in a country characterised by unique societal norms and liberal privatisation. I draw on the theory of institutional entrepreneurship to conceptualise change agency of DM professionals. I conducted semi structured interviews with DM professionals working in subsidiaries of thirty MNEs in Pakistan. The findings indicate that the entrenched set of DM practices are challenged by DM professionals by first creating the vision of divergent institutional change and then mobilising resources and allies to support that change. It was found that resources related to their social position such as formal position in organisational hierarchy and social capital play a vital role in convincing other actors in institutional field to support implementation of divergent organisational change. This study contributes to the scarce literature on DM in developing and emerging market context. It enhances the literature on institutional entrepreneurship and agency of DM professionals for wider range of other developing and emerging economies.

Recent research has started to explore the positive effects of presence of multiple MNE (multinational enterprises) subsidiaries on individual subsidiary performance. In addition, there is research which argues that local listing (of a subsidiary) would enable access to pertinent local knowledge. Combining these two streams of research we argue that the unlisted subsidiary could learn from the listed subsidiary when both are owned and operated by the same parent MNE in the host-country. This learnt knowledge in turn should result in higher sales growth for the unlisted subsidiary. We add that the learning should be higher if the listed and the unlisted subsidiary operate in the same industry and are proximally located to each other. We will test these hypotheses on a sample on MNE subsidiaries operating in India in the period of 2000-2013.

Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) has been recognised as a driving force of learning and innovation for emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs). Recently, the emergence of global value chains (GVCs) has shifted focus from final goods to intermediate tasks, potentially reshaping OFDI patterns and outcomes. However, little has been written about the role of GVCs in the OFDI-innovation nexus. Based on upgrading and governance perspectives, the paper investigates questions whether innovation outcome varies with the GVC types of OFDI projects and whether governance relations within GVCs affect OFDI-to-innovation mechanisms, both theoretically and empirically. Results based on data from over 4000 listed Chinese firms containing 314 MNEs show that high-value-added OFDI leads to a greater increase in innovation, compared with low-value-added OFDI. When Chinese MNEs have foreign capital, the positive effect of high-value-added OFDI is amplified but low-value-added OFDI may even hinder innovation. The negative impact, however, vanishes if foreign firms do not hold Chinese MNEs’ capital directly. These findings encourage EMNEs to leverage high-value-added OFDI projects to enhance innovation, but they should exercise caution regarding direct participation of foreign capital when undertaking low-value-added projects, as EMNEs may be governed to cater to foreign investors’ interests and stuck in innovation bottlenecks.

Increasingly, there is scholarly recognition that dynamic capabilities constitute a background factor like other antecedents conditioning the quality of international entrepreneurship. Hence, this paper focuses on the underexplored context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in deprived areas and strives to conceptualize the impact of dynamic capabilities on SME internationalization. Building on the wealth of 2020 data from the Small Business Survey, we employed 740 SMEs in the UK's top 15% deprived areas to test six hypotheses. On this premise, our findings conceptualize associations between sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring with the international scale-up decision and the subsequent internationalization performance of the UK SMEs in the deprived areas. In this vein, the moderating impact of co-creation with other counterparts and technology has been explored. Accordingly, this study is among the pioneering research investigating the roles of dynamic capabilities in SMEs' entrepreneurial internationalization against wicked problems such as local deprivation.

This article offers an in-depth review of the rapidly growing domain of International Political Risk Management (IPRM) research by performing bibliometric analysis, conceptual thematic mapping and bibliographic coupling using the Bibliometrix R-package over 72 peer review journal articles published between 1983 and 2023. It also identifies the main contributions to IPRM research, its conceptual structure and research agenda. Building on Decision Theory (DT) and Business Analytics (BA), we conducted the review based on a multistage decision-making process framework that encompasses critical attributes to be considered. Our results indicate that some of these issues have gained significantly more scholarly attention than others. Mixing the results of bibliometric and contextual analysis, we categorize the literature methods into three different statisitical stages from BA: (i) descriptive analytics (ii) predictive analytics and (iii) prescriptive analytics. Following this framework, we propose a research agenda and new avenues for future research on the conceptualization of IPRM as a multistage decision-making process.

This study delves into the intricate dynamics of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) internationalisation within an emerging economy, focusing on the pivotal roles played by innovation and certification in overcoming corruption barriers. Leveraging data from the World Bank's Enterprise Survey (WBES, 2023) and drawing from a rich literature base, the research centres on India, utilising survey responses from CEOs conducted in 2022.

Employing the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation technique, the study scrutinises the relationship between corruption and SME internationalisation, considering the moderating influence of innovation and certification. Results reveal that the positive relationship between corruption and internationalisation weakens significantly in the context of internationally certified SMEs with innovative practices. Firms armed with certification and innovation exhibit a diminished reliance on corrupt practices to facilitate their internationalisation endeavours.

These findings carry important implications for policymakers seeking to foster ethical and sustainable SME internationalisation strategies. By highlighting the mitigating effects of certification and innovation on corruption barriers, the study provides actionable insights for shaping policies that promote responsible business conduct and facilitate SME growth in emerging economies

Firms engaging in post-merger integration (PMI) confront a long-standing dilemma: integrating the target firm may render detrimental impacts due to loss of autonomy. To address such an integration-autonomy dilemma, we conducted an in-depth qualitative study on a home appliance ecosystem leader’s cross-border merger and acquisitions. We develop a three-stage model of facilitating the PMI process with ecosystems that unfolds through a series of inter-connected mechanisms, i.e., harmonizing ecosystem identity, building ecosystem complementarities and nurturing ecosystem generativity. We introduce an ecosystem approach that features the multilateral interactions between the target firms with other constituents in the acquirer’s broader ecosystem over time to balance the integration and autonomy. Our findings contribute by reconciling the integration-autonomy dichotomy in the traditional PMI literature and extending the scope of PMI from target-acquirer dyads to ecosystem triads amid integration with the acquirer’s ecosystem.

Literature suggests that stakeholders reward firms with meaningful corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributions during crises. However, our understanding remains limited regarding whether CSR efforts toward two important stakeholders, the community and customers, yield varying rewards. We argue that community-focused CSR is more rewarding than customer-focused CSR during crises, particularly in institutional environments where stakeholders expect companies to make a significant social contribution. Focusing on the pandemic crisis and using a sample of 345 transportation industry firms across four years in 40 countries, Study 1 finds that community-focused CSR offers a stronger buffer against the negative financial impact of the pandemic than customer-focused CSR, particularly in countries with higher healthcare infrastructure deficiencies and rural populations. Focusing on the hurricane crisis and employing an experimental survey data from 390 US investors, Study 2 highlights that airlines are seen as more legitimate when their CSR strategy prioritizes the community over customers, especially when stakeholders expect greater social contributions from firms. Furthermore, the crisis's adverse effect on investors' inclination to invest in the focal airline is stronger for airlines with lower legitimacy. This paper contributes to legitimacy theory by delineating firms' legitimacy dynamics during crises, considering stakeholder prioritization and institutional contexts.

This study uses OLI framework to analyze the impact of FDI motivations of EMNEs on their ownership level decisions in CBMAs. We propose that location specific factors and internalization decisions are closely related in EMNEs’ CBMAs. We also argue that different institutional environments in host and home countries could be evaluated through L-specific factors in OLI paradigm. We tested our proposed hypotheses in the context of Turkish MNEs. All completed CBMAs by Turkish MNEs between 1989-2021 are included in the study sample. We found that both market seeking and strategic asset seeking FDI of EMNEs will lead to higher level of ownership in CBMAs. However, institutional distance between home and host countries would not have a moderating role on these proposed relationships. This study indicates the importance of analyzing EMNEs through both conventional and unconventional approaches in IB literature.