Search results

Drawing on the related insights from the upper echelon perspective, modern cognitive theory and path dependence theory, this paper aims to first integrate top management teams (TMTs) overseas experiences, research and development (R&D) strategic decision-making and innovation performance into a uniform theoretical framework and try to understand TMTs’ overseas experiences accounting for both the direct and indirect mechanisms of the variables involved within the transition economy of China.

The paper adopts research sample from the listed companies on the Growth Enterprises Market Board (GEMB) of Shenzhen Stock Exchange of China due to their stronger innovation consciousness. The research data are mainly from the WIND database of China, as the data issued in this database must be checked and approved by China’s legal institutions including China Securities Regulatory Commission and its authorized agencies. The samples cover different types of ownership and the vast majority of industries of China, which makes the objects a wide range of coverage and representativeness. In addition, according to suggestions of Podsakoff et al. (2003), the authors design the controlling measures from two aspects of data collection and statistical analysis to reduce the homologous error as much as possible.

Empirical results show that innovation performance is positively affected by the centrality overseas functional experience and industrial experience but negatively affected by the heterogeneity of overseas functional experience of TMT. Meanwhile, R&D intensity and modes play partially mediating effect in the relationship between TMTs’ overseas functional experience centrality and industrial experience heterogeneity and innovation performance, but for the relationship between overseas functional experience heterogeneity and innovation performance, R&D intensity leads to fully mediating effect.

This study contributes toward filling the gaps by elucidating the effect of TMTs’ overseas experiences on the innovation performance, identifying the mediating role of R&D strategic decision-makings in this relationship and empirically examining the acting mechanisms and paths of the variables involved in the Chinese context. In addition, practitioners could use these findings to improve their selection and training processes regarding both the top management members and the designing of the R&D strategies.

The environment of international business (IB) and the capabilities of emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) as well as their home countries have changed significantly, leading to some new features of liability of origin (LOR). This paper aims to extend the LOR literature by particularly focusing on the LOR of Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) and by taking into account the heterogeneity among industries and across individual MNEs.

Based on the stereotype content model and organizational legitimacy perspective, this study explores how LOR influences Chinese MNEs’ cross-border acquisition completions. Several hypotheses were tested by using a binary logistic regression model with panel data techniques based on data of 780 Chinese MNEs’ acquisition deals between 2008 and 2018.

The results of this study show that when the competence dimension of China’s LOR is perceived as high in the host country, Chinese MNEs are less likely to complete cross-border acquisitions. Moreover, deals are less likely to be completed when the warmth dimension of China’s LOR is perceived to be low. Global experience and the foreign-listed status of individual Chinese MNEs can alter the relationship between the LOR and deal completions.

This study advances and enriches the LOR research. It shows that a high level of competence in the home country has led to LOR for Chinese MNEs rather than the low level of competence proposed by existing LOR studies; and the LOR for Chinese MNEs is also determined by the perceived low level of warmth in the home country resulting from the geopolitical conflicts between two countries. In addition, the LOR suffered by EMNEs could vary based on certain industry- and firm-level characteristics. The findings of this study provide important practical implications for emerging economy governments and for firms intending to go abroad.