André Sammartino, David Merrett, Pierre van der Eng and Simon Ville
This paper argues for the benefits to international business (IB) of taking a much longer view at the engagement by multinational enterprises (MNEs) with host locations.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper argues for the benefits to international business (IB) of taking a much longer view at the engagement by multinational enterprises (MNEs) with host locations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors showcase a project tracking the engagement by MNEs with Australia over the past two centuries. Extensive archival work has been undertaken to identify and document modes of entry, home countries, industries, operational modes and company types among the MNEs operating in Australia. The authors also describe the shifting nature of Australia as a host location.
Findings
The authors demonstrate the historical and ongoing diversity of ways in which MNEs interact with a host. They show that different organisational forms have prevailed over time, and that considerable operational mode changes can best be observed when a long lens is adopted. The authors show how these mode changes interact with host country dynamics, and also the broader context of the MNE and its altering strategies.
Research limitations/implications
The authors urge IB scholars to embrace longer timeframes to capture the complexity of MNEs’ growth and adaptation more meaningfully.
Originality/value
By taking such a long-run perspective, the authors shed new light on the importance of moving beyond simple snapshots to analyse key IB constructs and phenomenon.
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Sarah Gundlach and Andre Sammartino
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of individual traits and attributes on the entrepreneurial and internationalization actions of Australian businesswomen…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of individual traits and attributes on the entrepreneurial and internationalization actions of Australian businesswomen, many of whom run small businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is exploratory and quantitative, based on a questionnaire survey of 323 Australian businesswomen. Drawing upon the extant literature on internationalization, gender and entrepreneurship, the study explores two micro-foundational relationships of interest – personality and capability assessment differences between female business owners and their employed counterparts, and the impact of such traits and assessments on their internationalization. A further question is explored in terms of any differentials in perceptions of barriers in internationalization.
Findings
The findings show key personality dimensions do not differ dramatically between Australian businesswomen working in their own businesses (i.e. entrepreneurs) or as employees in organizations, while there are surprisingly few differences between women who are engaged internationally and those yet to do so. When comparing the female entrepreneurs and employees, in particular, the findings around tolerance for ambiguity and management efficacy are notably counterintuitive. This leads to the development of testable propositions to refine the causal claims in this domain.
Practical implications
The study calls into question the distinctiveness of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial endeavors, at least for female businesswomen.
Originality/value
By including entrepreneurs and employees, women who have engaged internationally and those that are yet to do so, the study avoids some of the potential self-selection and confirmation biases inherent in studies of only entrepreneurs or small business owners. The investigation of individual traits, attributes and experiences as micro-foundations for internationalization motivations challenges existing theories of small business expansion.
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Thomas Osegowitsch and André Sammartino
In this chapter, we revisit the empirical findings of Rugman and coauthors concerning the overwhelming home-regionalisation among the world's largest firms. Using a longitudinal…
Abstract
In this chapter, we revisit the empirical findings of Rugman and coauthors concerning the overwhelming home-regionalisation among the world's largest firms. Using a longitudinal research design and continuous measures of internationalisation, we observe a number of secular trends. Among other, we find that sales growth beyond the home region is faster than sales growth within the home region. We use our empirical results to critique and augment existing regionalisation theory. In particular, we raise doubts about the sharp distinction in the literature between expansion in the home region and expansion in host regions.
Elizabeth Maitland and André Sammartino
Using a managerial cognition lens, we investigate the organizational design issues facing multinational corporation (MNC) managers. We apply concepts hitherto untested in the…
Abstract
Using a managerial cognition lens, we investigate the organizational design issues facing multinational corporation (MNC) managers. We apply concepts hitherto untested in the international management (IM) literature to a longitudinal study of reconfiguration efforts within a large, Asian MNC. We focus on how organizational design outcomes can be affected through mental interventions that provoke changes in senior executives’ mental representations of what the MNC is and can be to achieve a strategic redirection and redesign. We draw on extensive interview and other qualitative data. Our study contributes to the literatures on MNC design and to our understanding of the important, but largely neglected, micro-foundational role of cognition in IM. This field research on executive judgment and decision-making in real time offers unique insights into the dynamics of MNC design.
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Christian Geisler Asmussen, Bo Bernhard Nielsen, Tom Osegowitsch and Andre Sammartino
– The purpose of this paper is to model and test the dynamics of home-regional and global penetration by multi-national enterprises (MNEs).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to model and test the dynamics of home-regional and global penetration by multi-national enterprises (MNEs).
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on international business (IB) theory, the authors model MNEs adjusting their home-regional and global market presence over time. The authors test the resulting hypotheses using sales data from a sample of 220 of the world’s largest MNEs over the period 1995-2005. The authors focus specifically on the relationship between levels of market penetration inside and outside the home region and rates of change in each domain.
Findings
The authors demonstrate that MNEs do penetrate both home-regional and global markets, often simultaneously, and that penetration levels often oscillate within an MNE over time. The authors show firms’ rates of regional and global expansion to be affected by their existing regional and global penetration, as well as their interplay. Finally, the authors identify differences in the steady states at which firms stabilize their penetration levels in the home-regional and the global space. The findings broadly confirm the MNE as an interdependent portfolio with important regional demarcations.
Originality/value
The authors identify complex interdependencies between home-regional and global penetration and growth, paving the way for further studies of the impact of regions on MNE expansion.
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Andre Sammartino and Thomas Osegowitsch
The paper aims to motivate more rigorous theoretical and empirical specification of the home regionalization phenomenon, in particular the dynamics of shifting advantage over time…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to motivate more rigorous theoretical and empirical specification of the home regionalization phenomenon, in particular the dynamics of shifting advantage over time within a multinational enterprise. It aims to improve dialogue among regionalization researchers.
Design/methodology/approach
Contrasting the economizing and behavioral perspectives on internationalization, the paper presents five different archetypes of the home‐regionalization phenomenon. These archetypes are predicated on strategic management stylizations of competitive advantage.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that the notion of home regionalization as a dominant and superior model for firm internationalization remains a promising yet under‐explained and inconsistently articulated thesis. By introducing and exploring the archetypes, it shows the diversity of home‐regionalization theses, and the prospect that multiple forms of regionalization may be at play for different firms, industries and locations.
Originality/value
The paper presents the full complement of archetypes of the home‐regionalization phenomenon and explores their corresponding assumptions. These explorations open up new empirical and theoretical research avenues for distinguishing any genuine region effects.
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Elizabeth Maitland and André Sammartino
This chapter addresses an unresolved theoretical issue in international business: the impact of existing, committed assets in a host location on parent and subsidiary decisions…
Abstract
This chapter addresses an unresolved theoretical issue in international business: the impact of existing, committed assets in a host location on parent and subsidiary decisions regarding the configuration of future value-adding activities for the location. We develop a measure of investment committedness, or the degree of flexibility versus specificity of existing assets in a host location, to explore this issue. The measure assesses whether assets, such as brands, human capital, process technologies, and supplier relations, retain only scrap value outside their current application or they can be redeployed to alternative value-adding activities in the host location or shifted offshore, either within the multinational enterprise (MNE) or to another user. The measure is a key step in developing a model of strategic choice for the future configuration of value-adding activities by MNEs in host locations. Drawing on firm-specific data from 237 MNE subsidiaries operating in Australia, we first present a traditional integration-responsiveness classification of subsidiary activities. This static snapshot of the subsidiaries’ current profiles is then compared with the measure's preliminary findings on the levels of investment committedness and strategic flexibility available to the sample MNEs and how this may shape strategic allocation decisions, including divestment and withdrawal.
Taken together, these three chapters cover three important building blocks in the effective management of headquarters–subsidiary relations: corporate structure, executive…
Abstract
Taken together, these three chapters cover three important building blocks in the effective management of headquarters–subsidiary relations: corporate structure, executive attention, and resource allocation. A common theme across the three chapters is their focus on system flexibility and how this can be achieved for the MNE. Specifically, their research suggests that through the use of matrix structures coupled with conflict resolution training for managers, promoting subsidiary initiatives and profile building to capture headquarters attention, and allocating resources with limited committedness to foreign operations would enable the MNE to better scan and respond to a fast-changing external environment. This system flexibility is particularly important for MNEs that adopt the differentiated network model, which among other things, requires subsidiaries to share knowledge and resources in the formulation and implementation of company-wide response actions as demanded by the circumstance.