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Cultural friction (CF) was introduced by researchers to overcome the issues and challenges of cultural distance measurement in the context of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs). However, this construct has proved itself to be problematic to operationalize. To address this challenge, this paper aims to elaborate on a CF measurement instrument based on individual perceptions in CBMAs. This study used a microfoundation approach to measure CF, relying on managers’ interactions in CBMA settings.

To develop and validate a CF measurement in the context of CBMAs, this study followed a classical procedure including items development, lab tests and one field-study and an assessment of the construct validity.

The final instrument developed for measuring CF is composed of six critical incidents with three associated items each. The factor analysis revealed that the scale used in the field-test measures two factors of CF: internal and external. Reliability and discriminant validity are tested, demonstrating a good discriminant validity of “external” CF. The final measurement can be used as a valid and reliable scale in further studies to assess CF in the context of CBMAs.

This paper’s originality lies in developing and validating a CF measurement instrument that does not rely on cultural distance frameworks. The resulting scale shows the interest in considering micro-individual perceptions – the microfoundation level – for analyzing an organizational phenomenon as culture in CBMA contexts. Using a micro-founded approach, this study offers promising avenues for researchers who wish to study cultural interactions in international settings.

How should foreigners manage a partnership or an acquisition in Russia? We know a lot about Russian culture per se, but research on foreign companies having to deal with Russia remains scarce. To answer our question, we used the concept of nationally bound administrative heritage to identify how foreign practices are efficiently implemented in Russia in the context of partnerships and acquisitions. We interviewed 16 Russian managers working in the car industry about their perception of foreign practices and how things ought to be done. Our investigations show the maintenance of a strong national culture that generates a need to cope with uncertainty for foreign firms. For local people, Russia is a particular country, not comparable to others. When transferring practices, foreign managers need to organize hybridization processes in order to successfully import these practices. Hybridization means transferring but adapting in order to impregnate them with the Russian specificity. Such hybridization requires foreign managers to work and network locally for the implantation of practices.

Anticipating mergers and acquisitions (M&A) helps executives and investors to design their firms’ strategies and decide on their investments. However, a review of the literature shows that we know relatively little about the determinants of M&A activity, and that former research often falls short of theoretical foundations. Hence the question: in what conditions can we make accurate practical predictions of M&A activity? Relying on neo-institutional theory, we suggest that M&A activity gains from being predicted at national level and that its determinants tend to depend on the country under scrutiny. We also draw on economic contagion theory pertaining to linkages between national economies to identify possible foreign institutional influences on a country's M&A activity. We tested our framework in three countries, the United States, the UK, and Japan, with a prediction model based on the Kalman filter that is rarely used in the field of international business. Our findings broadly corroborate our hypotheses, show the relevance of neo-institutional theory for studying the topic, and confirm that accurate practical predictions of M&A activity can be made at national level.

Few studies have explored how multinational firms (MNCs) use their experience when expanding abroad. According to the “knowledge projection” model of the MNC, appropriately disseminating industry experience, country experience and mode experience can a priori increase the chances of success of new subsidiaries. However, with inconsistent findings, prior research is of limited assistance in understanding this relationship. We argue that this situation can be explained by a focus on firm’s potential for experience accumulation, rather than on the actual transfer of experience. Deploying expatriate managers enable MNCs to apply organizational experience in foreign markets. It should also have an impact on foreign subsidiary’s chances of success and survival. Therefore, this paper examines how the use of expatriates to transfer experience can affect subsidiary survival.

This article discusses local cultural policies addressing popular music, and the values they imply, through a case study of Strasbourg's Espace Django, a publicly financed concert venue located in a disadvantaged neighborhood.

Espace Django's structural organization and overall cultural “philosophy” are described on the basis of field interviews and several documents related to the venue; they are then discussed in relation to literature on urban cultural policies and French policies concerning popular music.

Espace Django's activities embody a will to improve social interactions within local communities. The venue does not fit in either the “music city” or the “creative cluster” theoretical model. However, its policies belong to the French institutional tradition of Développement Culturel, and they express a tendency toward eventification and the experience economy.

In France, the public sector plays an important role in cultural practices, mostly through funding and policymaking. The example of Espace Django adds a distinct French perspective to a research field mainly centered on Anglo-Saxon countries and more liberal economies. Also, the appendix on Espace Django's response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis adds interesting elements for understanding what are the successful choices in the current cultural scenario.

The objective of the paper is to explain the motives for and against accelerated displacement of people from some countries to others. The evolving consequences of such shifts are highlighted.

In a soft‐system analysis, the paper cites specialists in mass migration and the various attitudes inherent in different nations' experience, economic policy, and culture.

The study finds that migration has increased in absolute, yet not in relative numbers. It explains the reasons for this.

The thrust of this paper gives a markedly different interpretation of the nature of the world's migratory movements today as opposed to the view prevailing until late in the twentieth century.