Chang-Hoon Gong and Shinichi Sato
The purpose of this study is to find out a simple cognitive intervention method to use MCI and suffering people with depression. As the elderly society increases around the world…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to find out a simple cognitive intervention method to use MCI and suffering people with depression. As the elderly society increases around the world, the number of elderly people with diseases and dementia is increasing rapidly. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a pre-stage to dementia, is a critical treatment time to slow disease progression. However, there is currently no appropriate medication. Furthermore, MCI patients with depression are more difficult to treat.
Design/methodology/approach
To overcome these problems, the authors confirmed improvements and delayed effects in MCI patients in this study for three years through cognitive intervention, demonstrating its effectiveness. Cognitive interventions were conducted for memory retrieval and steadily stimulated the brain by performing tasks to solve problems during daily conversations.
Findings
As a result, the intervention group retained mini-mental state examination and Montreal cognitive assessment scores on the domains of cognitive function and also instrumental activities of daily living in the domain of motion compared to the non-intervention group. Moreover, significant improvements in geriatric depression scales-15 and quality-of-life scales enabled the patients to maintain stable living compared to before the intervention. In addition, the intervention group showed a change in patterns that allowed them to voluntarily devote time to going out at the end of the study.
Research limitations/implications
This study was originally planned to compare the rates of transmission from MCI to dementia by tracking over five years (2016–2021). However, due to the impact of COVID-19, which began to spread around the world in 2020, further face-to-face visits and cognitive intervention became impossible. Thus, only half of the data in the existing plans were collected. Although it is difficult to present accurate results for the rate of transmission from MCI to dementia, the tendency was confirmed, indicating sufficient implications as an intervention.
Originality/value
This study was originally planned to compare the rates of transmission from MCI to dementia by tracking three years (2016–2019). The authors had studied for long-term effect.
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Sooyoung Lee, Unjung Whang, Sihoon Nahm and Chang Hoon Oh
This paper aims to investigate how the gap between a multinational enterprise’s (MNE) productivity and that of its competitor determines the utilization of expatriate managers in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how the gap between a multinational enterprise’s (MNE) productivity and that of its competitor determines the utilization of expatriate managers in its foreign subsidiaries.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors first develop a formal analytical model where expatriate managers are relatively more reliable and expensive while local managers are prone to job-hopping. The authors then test the predictions of the analytical model using subsidiary-level data of Korean MNEs.
Findings
The findings show a positive relationship between the productivity gap and the share of expatriate managers in a foreign subsidiary. The empirical findings also show that the job position (middle versus top managers) is another key determinant of the utilization of expatriate managers.
Originality/value
The results of this paper are consistent with the literature that finds that MNEs choose a governance structure that minimizes the hazard of opportunism in their subsidiaries, yet the paper reveals a novel aspect of the determinants of expatriate utilization.
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Is non‐sequential internationalization process solely technology enabled or a product of mutually interdependent forces? This paper aims to show that even though the sequential…
Abstract
Purpose
Is non‐sequential internationalization process solely technology enabled or a product of mutually interdependent forces? This paper aims to show that even though the sequential approach in the process model is intuitively appealing, not all firms follow such a path. Hence, integrated framework to explain how the international market entry process has changed with respect to the sequential approach is presented.
Design/methodology/approach
The data banks of the Swedish Trade Council and the Chambers of Commerce are used to identify small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) with between 50 and 250 employees (in compliance with European Union's definition of SMEs). Data are collected through the use of questionnaires and in‐depth interviews from 60 Swedish SMEs operating in other countries and foreign SMEs operating in Sweden that tends not to develop in incremental stages with respect to their international.
Findings
Some of the findings are: that the sequential model is by no means reflective of, or appropriate for all firms' approaches to international business; the usefulness gained by using an international network approach to study the international activity of a firm; and the interplay between the identified driving forces behind a non‐sequential internationalization process.
Research limitations/implications
Even though market entry patterns of firms investigated demonstrate a non‐sequential internationalization process, they are still within the general theoretical framework where the basic assumption of the sequential internationalization model can maintain its validity. Firms are indeed exposed to irrecoverable transaction costs that hamper their behaviours and complicate export supply responses in international markets. However, the magnitude of the costs and speed of internationalization is dependent on the ability of the firms to take advantage of the enablers of non‐sequential internationalization pattern. This is particularly important for firms to and from developing countries and emerging markets and their propensities to succeed in their internationalization endeavours.
Originality/value
Knowledge acquired from the empirical study of firms that tend not to develop in incremental stages with respect to their international activities, and therefore start international activities by entering very distant markets and multiple countries right from birth without prior experience, is used to develop an integrated framework which aptly depicts that non‐sequential internationalization process is not solely enabled by technology, as commonly envisaged in literature, but a product of mutually interdependent forces. Consequently, this study provides a holistic view on the driving forces behind the rapid internationalization process encountered by many SMEs today.
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This study aims to explore how a change in the staffing configuration of foreign subsidiaries affects subsidiary performance by focusing on staffing localization.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how a change in the staffing configuration of foreign subsidiaries affects subsidiary performance by focusing on staffing localization.
Design/methodology/approach
The relationship between localization and subsidiary performance is analyzed from the perspective of human capital. Hypotheses are tested using a panel data set of foreign direct investment by Japanese multinational enterprises.
Findings
The analysis demonstrates that localization has a positive effect on subsidiary performance when subsidiaries can access a pool of competent local managers in the host country. It also shows that when competent local managers are highly available, localization has a positive effect on subsidiary performance under high cultural distance. In comparison, when the availability of competent local managers is limited and cultural distance is high, localization has a negative effect on subsidiary performance.
Originality/value
Using human capital theory, this study theorizes how localization, which is a change in the configuration of human capital toward a reliance on local-specific human capital, enhances subsidiary-specific advantages. It introduces the effects of changes in the configuration of human capital over time, into studies on subsidiary staffing. In addition, from a different viewpoint than previous studies, this study proposes one possible path where human capital leads to organizational performance. Specifically, it shows that a change in the configuration of human capital affects subsidiary-specific advantages, which eventually impacts subsidiary performance.
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Yuxue Luo, Young Un Kim, Lei Li and Xiaojun Tang
This study aims to examine how the parent firm’s foreign direct investment (FDI) motive influences the roles of corporate boards and CEO appointment of foreign subsidiaries in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how the parent firm’s foreign direct investment (FDI) motive influences the roles of corporate boards and CEO appointment of foreign subsidiaries in the context of emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs). Based on the agency and resource dependence theories, foreign subsidiary boards mainly serve two governance roles: an internal role focusing on monitoring subsidiary operations and resource flows with parent firms and an external role aimed at securing local operational effectiveness. This paper specifically examines the composition of foreign subsidiary boards in terms of board independence and expatriate director ratio, and whether the CEO is an expatriate, which reflects the emphasized role.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper collects data on listed foreign subsidiaries of Chinese MNEs between 2005 and 2021. The final sample includes 754 subsidiary-year observations across 20 host economies. The analysis is conducted using Hausman–Taylor estimation.
Findings
This paper finds that strategic asset-seeking FDI motive is associated with a lower expatriate director ratio, a higher independent director ratio and a higher likelihood of hiring nonexpatriate CEOs. In contrast, foreign subsidiaries established with the motive of institutional escape to tax havens result in a higher expatriate director ratio, lower independent director ratio and lower likelihood of hiring nonexpatriate CEOs.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore how FDI motives influence board composition of foreign subsidiaries and appointment of subsidiary CEOs. Theoretically, this paper draws upon agency theory and resource dependence theory to extend their application to foreign subsidiaries of EMNEs. The findings enhance the understanding of international corporate governance.
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Szymon Kaczmarek and Richard B. Nyuur
This paper aims to revisit the long-standing in the management literature argument of “matching managers to strategy” in the new empirical context of the top management team (TMT…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to revisit the long-standing in the management literature argument of “matching managers to strategy” in the new empirical context of the top management team (TMT) and firm internationalisation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the consequences of matching nationalities of the TMT members to the multinational corporations’ (MNC) countries of operation.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on the quantitative methods. The authors use the traditional regression analysis, with the ordinary least squares estimation, in the moderated multiple regression models.
Findings
The study findings point to the importance of the asset-based exposure to international environments for the benefits of the TMT nationality matching to materialise. They re-affirm the critical remarks on the early “matching managers to strategy” frameworks, which indicated that the effectiveness of matching is underpinned by the detailed specification of the matching contingencies that influence the matching process.
Originality/value
The measure of matching the TMT foreign nationals to the MNCs’ host countries constitutes a novel way of capturing the TMT internationalisation, as opposed to measuring the incidence of foreigners on the TMTs or the TMT nationality diversity variable. It therefore underlines the aspect of matching in terms of the cultural fit between the TMT nationalities and countries of MNCs’ operations.