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Based on impression management theory, the authors ask how marketing activities build organizational reputation and examine the mediating mechanisms of desired impressions, and the moderating impact of national culture. Specifically, and in the context of higher education (HE) institutions, the authors examine the influence of relational marketing and traditional advertising on organizational reputation through the mediation of desired impressions (e.g. quality of learning, career prospects and extracurricular activities) across countries and specify the moderation role of cultural variables.

This study estimates empirical models using a survey data set comprising 1,890 student responses from 10 universities in 8 countries. The authors use confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and measurement invariance models, as well as ordinary least squares with robust standard errors to test the hypotheses.

The results indicate that marketing activities affect organizational reputation through the mediation of desired impressions in line with our theoretical reasoning. Specifically, the results show that (1) relational marketing has direct and indirect effects on organizational reputation; (2) relational marketing has a higher influence on organizational reputation in countries with lower individualism and lower masculinity scores; (3) quality of learning mediates the relationship between traditional advertising and organizational reputation; (4) quality of learning also mediates the association between relational marketing and organizational reputation; (5) career prospects mediate the relationship between relational marketing and organizational reputation; (6) traditional advertising does not have a direct but only an indirect effect on organizational reputation; and (7) these findings are net of the effect of respondents', universities', and countries' characteristics.

The findings contribute to the body of knowledge on the antecedents of organizational reputation, from an international marketing perspective. The results extend the impression management by integrating constructs that have been studied independently into a cohesive framework that links marketing activities, desired impressions and organizational reputation. With the study, impression management theory provides a framework to study the impact of marketing activities on organizational reputation not only in domestic but also in international markets.

By asking the target market about the importance of different marketing activities, their expectations of the organization and its reputation, HE administrators can employ the model proposed in this study to assess the relevant marketing strategies that will drive desired impressions which in turn will influence reputation.

While there are studies that focus on the impact of several constructs on organizational reputation in an international context, it is striking to observe that extant research is silent on how (via what mediating mechanisms) marketing activities work as an antecedent of organizational reputation. To address this gap, we examine marketing activities as antecedents of organizational reputation in an international, cross-country context, and specify the moderation role of cultural variables.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the differential impact of government promotional measures and government ownership on two internationalization variables: location and speed of internationalization of emerging market multinationals (EMNEs). Central to the authors’ study is the mediating role of strategic intents to internationalize. In particular, we study how government impacts the resource-seeking, market-seeking and technology-seeking motives to internationalize.

The empirical setting for the paper is Chinese companies that have internationalized via an equity based entry mode. The authors employ 672 firm responses collected by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

The empirical results demonstrate that different home government measures have differential impact on internationalization outcomes. Government promotional measures (such as direct incentives and bilateral agreements to support internationalization) have only an indirect effect on international location and speed through the effect they have on the strategic motives to internationalize; while government ownership in the company has a direct impact on international location.

The study highlights that home governments are shaping EMNEs strategic intent. Home government can influence EMNEs internationalization choices by providing resource flows through financial resources and state ownership or through asset-accumulation mechanisms via promotional measures.

Policy makers in emerging markets need to develop policies focused on the specific motivations that firms have when internationalizing. EMNEs are suggested to take advantage of government policies more intentionally.

The theoretical contribution centers on identifying important mediating mechanisms pointing to the interplay between government policies and international location and speed of firms. The authors contribute to the growing stream of research on internationalization of emerging market firms by building a sound theoretical model and examining empirically the role of home government in the internationalization of EMNEs.

This study aims to ask whether the funding behaviour of companies is different during a recession. Specifically, the authors study whether firms fund marketing resources and capabilities with internal or external financing during a recession and under which conditions of strategic financial flexibility debt might be used to fund marketing resources and capabilities in recessions.

This study estimates empirical models using a newly merged data set covering 17 years, from 2000 to 2016. The authors merge firms’ marketing and financial information from Advertising Age, the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Compustat and the Centre for Research in Security Prices. The sample includes a panel of 653 firm-years of 67 top corporate advertisers.

The results indicate that firms take recessions as opportunities to be proactive and invest in short- and long-term marketing capabilities, companies with higher strategic financial flexibility relative to their industry peers tend to rely more on debt to fund short- and long-term marketing capabilities during recessions, firms use internal financing to fund their marketing budgets and short-term marketing capabilities in recessionary and non-recessionary periods and firms use internal financing and signals from past stock returns as mechanisms to fund long-term marketing capabilities.

The findings contribute to the body of knowledge on the antecedents of marketing resources and capabilities. The results extend the pecking order theory to include recessions and provide nuances of the financing drivers of resources and capabilities.

Companies should be proactive during recessions and invest in short- and long-term marketing capabilities. When negotiating marketing budgets with chief financial officers, marketing practitioners could suggest the sources to finance specific marketing resources and capabilities. Based on the results of top corporate advertisers, the authors recommend companies to fund marketing capabilities with internal resources (e.g. cash flows, retained earnings), and if cash is not available, companies need to rely on their superior strategic financial flexibility to access long-term debt and fund investments in marketing capabilities. The authors also recommend companies to fund long-term marketing capabilities by re-allocating investments. As well, signals from past performance are an important source to gain access to capital and fund investments in long-term marketing capabilities.

This study provides a more complete picture of the financial antecedents of marketing resources and capabilities in general and during a recession. The authors provide light on the moderating role of strategic financial flexibility during recessions. This study also clarifies the potential signalling of past performance for funding marketing resources and capabilities.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how exporters’ time-out periods and re-entry to various export areas impact their knowledge stock and capacity to learn from foreign markets.

This paper introduces the concept of innovation divergent export areas (IDEXAs), which refers to a group of countries with relatively similar average levels of innovation capabilities (intra-area homogeneity), and different from other areas (inter-area heterogeneity), as measured by their R&D expenditures over gross domestic product (GDP). This paper tests the hypotheses on a longitudinal sample of Spanish manufacturing companies that exported to different IDEXAs from 1990 until 2016.

The findings suggest a positive effect of IDEXA re-entry on new product and process introductions and a negative impact of a time-out period of four or more years for those export areas with higher innovation levels.

Re-internationalization offers exporters the opportunity to reuse the knowledge gained in prior exporting episodes to increase their chances of success. Hence, it is important that managers make sense of the potentially damaging exit experience, to avoid repeating the same mistakes and perform better the next time around.

This study investigates for the first time the effects of re-entry to specific export areas on exporters’ capacity to increase their innovation output. Hence, it contributes to the international business literature by examining the performance consequences of companies’ re-internationalization, a key and under-researched topic. Furthermore, most studies focus on full withdrawal from foreign markets and ignore the more common microscopic decisions concerning withdrawing from one or more export areas.

This study aims to examine how entrepreneurship education influences intentions for starting a technology venture among science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students with particular attention to gender differences. This study builds on the model of entrepreneurial event and social role theory to assess the impact of entrepreneurship education on feasibility, desirability and intentions for technology entrepreneurship.

The hypotheses are tested with a sample of 879 Bulgarian science and engineering students from 15 universities. To test the models, this study uses ordinary least squares and logistic regressions with robust standard errors and Hayes mediation analysis with bootstrap bias-corrected confidence interval estimations for indirect effects. Two-stage Heckman regressions to control for sample selection bias and other robustness checks including propensity score matching were used.

Results show that entrepreneurship education, measured as participation in an entrepreneurship course, has a stronger impact on feasibility, desirability and intentions for technology entrepreneurship for female STEM students compared to their male counterparts. As such, this study supports the notion that entrepreneurship education could be part of a solution to counteract societal norms that position technology entrepreneurship as a less desirable and/or less feasible choice for women in STEM. However, attention should be paid to the operationalization of entrepreneurship education, as other measures of entrepreneurship education (role models, entrepreneurship education support) did not have a moderation effect with gender.

The authors assume a positive correlation between entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial behavior. Future studies should include actual entrepreneurial behavior to paint a more complete picture of the effect of entrepreneurship education.

Little is known about the role of entrepreneurship education in the field of technology entrepreneurship, and even less about the potential gender differences in entrepreneurship education among STEM students. The study contributes to the literature by examining factors that could help close the persistent gender gap in technology entrepreneurship.

This research aims to assess variations of motivations when studying international location decisions. In particular, this study aims to assess the influence of diverse motivations – seeking technology, seeking brand assets, seeking markets, seeking resources and escaping institutional constraints – as determinants of the international location choice of emerging market multinational enterprises (EM MNEs) entering least developed, emerging, and developed countries.

The authors develop a set of hypotheses based on the ownership–location–internalization framework and complement it with an institutional perspective. The conceptual model posits that the different internationalization motivations (seeking technology, seeking brand assets, seeking markets, seeking resources and escaping institutional constraints) will impact the location choice of EM MNEs in developed economies, emerging markets or least developed countries. This study uses the 2013 survey data collected by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. The final sample of analysis of this research includes 693 observations.

After controlling for several variables, two-stage Heckman regressions show there is a variation of motivations when EM MNEs enter least developed countries, emerging markets and developed economies. EM MNEs are motivated to enter least developed countries to seek markets and resources. Conversely, those firms enter developed countries in their search for technological assets and to escape institutional constraints at home. While the present study findings show a clear difference in the motivations that lead to location choice in least developed vs developed countries, the results are not as clear for location in other emerging countries.

The paper offers empirical support for the importance of motivations as crucial determinants of location choice.

This paper provides a detailed quantitative study on the internationalization location choice of EM MNEs based on their motivations. Though theoretical models underscore the importance of motivations, we know very little about how, in practice, motivations drive location choice. This study contributes to the international location choice literature a deeper understanding of how diverse motivations drive choices of expansion into developed economies, emerging markets or least developed countries.

Despite the important role of entrepreneurial implementation intentions for closing the intention-behavior gap, empirical evidence on their drivers and mechanisms is scant and inconclusive. In the case of college students’ technology-driven entrepreneurship, the objective of the present study is to examine whether implementation intentions are contingent on the university environment in which the progression from entrepreneurial intentions to subsequent actions unfolds. The sample for this study is composed of 299 Bulgarian STEM students, who reported technology-based entrepreneurial intentions. A binary logistic regression is applied to examine four specific mechanisms that facilitate or impede the students’ actual implementation intentions. Findings suggest that students enrolled in universities that provide greater concept development support are more likely to have formed specific implementation intentions, while students in more research-intensive universities are less likely to do so. Practitioner implications and recommendations for future research are provided.

This paper explores the effect of financial support on farmer cooperative development in the Chinese context, aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of public inputs and draw implications for the sustainable development of cooperatives. The variance of the effect in different sectors, i.e. crop, forestry, husbandry, fishery and services, is investigated.

Provincial-level panel data from 2007 to 2017 are used for this study. A linear dynamic panel regression model is estimated using multiple estimation methods, i.e. the generalized method of moments (GMMs), fixed-effect model and ordinary least squares (OLS) are applied.

The empirical analyses indicate that the role of the government is important for the development of farmer cooperatives but limited in some specific aspects. First, the coverage of financial support is positively associated with the growth of cooperative population and membership size, but the strength of financial support, measured by the total amount of financial support divided by local agricultural gross domestic product (GDP), has no statistically significant effects on the development of cooperatives. Second, financial support does not exhibit significant influence on the revenue of cooperatives. Third, the magnitude of the effect of government support on cooperative development is heterogeneous across different sectors.

The research study adds to the institutional economics literature on the association between institutional environment and organization development by focusing on a particular and an important type of organization, i.e. farmer cooperatives. It is one of the attempts and a most extensive study to empirically investigate the role of financial support in the development of farmer cooperatives.