Our commentary returns to the conundrum of how institutions matter in international business (IB) by revisiting the 2018 JIBS Decade Award article by Jackson and Deeg (2008) on Comparing Capitalisms. ...We first synthesize their main insights around institutional diversity and track its significant impact within IB and other management fields. We then suggest three main takeaways that could move Jackson and Deeg’s agenda further in terms of developing a more nuanced approach to institutions in IB. We close with suggestions for future research and urge IB scholars to be more cautious when drawing on different strands of institutions theory.
The increasing importance of CSR means that companies must consider multi-stakeholder interests as well as the social, political, economic, environmental and developmental impact of their actions. ...However, the pursuit of profits by multinational corporations has led to a series of questionable corporate actions and the consequences of such practices are particularly evident in developing countries. Adefolake Adeyeye explores how CSR has evolved to aid the anti-corruption campaign. By examining voluntary rules applicable for curbing corruption, particularly bribery and analysing the domestic and extra-territorial laws of Nigeria, United Kingdom and the United States for holding corporations liable for bribery, she assesses the adequacy of international law's approach towards corporate liability for bribery and explores direct corporate responsibility for international corruption. The roles of corporate governance, global governance and civil liability in curbing corporate corrupt practices are given special focus.
Business, Society and Politics Amjad Hadjikhani, Ulf Elg, Pervez N. Ghauri / Pervez N. Ghauri
2012, 2012-12-20, Volume:
28
eBook, Book
This volume looks at interaction between business firms and socio-political actors in emerging markets - and how this relationship can be managed - and deals with the interconnection between the ...socio-political organizations in emerging markets and MNCs. Inferring to different business perspectives, the volume includes papers studying firms' strategic actions towards socio- political organizations, i.e. the interplay with socio-political actors and how this affects firms' competitive advantage in a particular market. The book discusses this in relation to a number of critical strategic areas such as brand building, market orientation and CSR. It also offers a number of practical illustrations from empirical studies from different markets. In this volume different authors contribute chapters focusing on diverse empirical and theoretical aspects covering the impact of socio-political environments on the success of international firms.
In this paper, we suggest that internalization theory might be extended by incorporating complementary insights from GVC theory. More specifically, we argue that internalization theory can explain ...why lead firms might wish to externalize selected activities, but that it is largely silent on the mechanisms by which those lead firms might exercise control over the resultant externalized relationships with their GVC partners. We advance an explanation linking the choice of control mechanism to two factors: power asymmetries between the lead firms and their GVC partners, and the degree of codifiability of the information to be exchanged in the relationship.
Distance is a central concept in international business research, yet there is debate about the construct as well as its operationalization. In this editorial, we address three of the most important ...recurring questions posed by authors, editors, and reviewers by examining the theory, methods, and data of distance research. We discuss (1) how to theorize on distance, and (2) what method and (3) what data to use when constructing a distance index. We develop practical recommendations grounded in theory, illustrating and supporting them by calculating cross-country distance indices for all available country pairs and two of the most used distance indices: cultural and institutional. We show that, whereas a specific method to calculate distance may matter to some extent, the choice for a specific cultural or institutional framework to measure cultural or institutional distance has a major impact on country–pair distances. Overall, this editorial highlights the importance of matching data and method to the theoretical argument.
Global mindset is an emerging concept, influenced by globalization, that can support companies’ growth in international settings and help develop a more effective, skilled workforce that can be open ...and adaptable. This book presents an analysis of current global mindset knowledge and explores how national culture and international business behaviors affect global mindset development in business process outsourcing organizations in both managerial and non-managerial groups. The authors outline how processes of skill development and their final impact differ within multinational enterprises among managers and non-managers and present the implications on how to apply it in various seniority, talent groups. The theoretical and practical research discusses and emphasizes the need to involve employees in international relationship building, developing international know-how, and focusing on the methods of communication and management in business, because they stimulate the development of global mindset among managers and non-managers contributing to further business success. This book will find an audience with researchers and astute students within international business, cross-cultural management, and business process outsourcing in particular. It will also be a valuable resource for those researching and operating in global teams.
Extant institutional research has failed to make a distinction between the effects of institutional profile and institutional distance on MNEs. The problem stems from the fact that, due to the use of ...a single reference country, variation in institutional distance between the reference country and partner countries is essentially equal to variation in the institutional profiles of these partner countries, making institutional distance and institutional profile effects indistinguishable. This research begins by demonstrating that the problem of profile – distance conflation is relevant for virtually all possible countries as reference points, and then showing how this problem is mitigated by using more than one country as reference points from which to calculate institutional distance. We conclude that current institutional research in international business is unable to explain how institutions matter for MNEs and that a more careful theoretical and empirical distinction between the effects of institutions and institutional distance on cross-border business activities is essential for pushing the institutional perspective in international business studies forward. Multiple reference point research designs are required to achieve this.
The burgeoning of ibusiness firms in the modern digital economy challenges the received internationalization theory. Given that ibusinesses such as social networking sites create value by providing a ...digital platform for users to interact with one another, we employ a user-network perspective and externalization logic, suggesting that ibusinesses’ internationalization process depends critically on users’ collective interactions, instead of being solely driven by firms’ market commitments, as noted by the Uppsala model. However, ibusinesses may suffer from liabilities of outsidership due to the boundedness of international network effects. Drawing on social network theory, we demonstrate that such liabilities can be mitigated by first diffusing the ibusiness platform in countries with higher clout. Our analysis using a unique dataset of mobile ibusiness platforms finds empirical support for the hypotheses. We discuss theoretical implications for the network approach of the Uppsala model in the digital era.
Global value chain governance Kano, Liena
Journal of international business studies,
08/2018, Volume:
49, Issue:
6
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Global value chain (GVC) governance is an established field within international business research, yet the relational aspects of GVCs have, to date, garnered less scholarly attention than have ...efficiency considerations. This conceptual study’s objective is to explore the relational dynamics of GVC governance using an internalization theory perspective, and by linking GVC research with insights from the business network literature. GVCs are argued to be a distinct form of asymmetrical networks, associated with economizing and capability creation features, as well as costs. The orchestrating firm can thus enhance efficiency outcomes of the GVC using social mechanisms similar to those adopted by core actors in a business network. In the study, six such mechanisms were identified: (1) selectivity, (2) inclusion of non-business intermediaries, (3) joint strategizing, (4) relational capital, (5) multilateral feedback, and (6) rules for equitable value distribution. While safeguarding the GVC’s efficiency, the above social mechanisms are associated with challenges and limitations, and therefore do not guarantee international competitive success. However, deployed in an integrative fashion, these social mechanisms facilitate coordination (thus economizing on bounded rationality), reduce the hazards of imperfect effort by partners (thus economizing on bounded reliability), and foster innovation and new capability development.
The discussion on business responsibilities for human rights is thriving – although, surprisingly, predominantly outside of the International Business (IB) field. This article introduces business and ...human rights (BHR) as a research area with great potential for IB scholars. IB scholarship has much to offer when it comes to better understanding the relation between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and human rights. BHR, on the other hand, is a field that can no longer be ignored by IB research if the field is to remain at the forefront of scholarship in globalization-related issues concerning MNEs. Therefore, this perspective article aims at providing guidance to IB scholars interested in engaging in BHR research by tracing common themes and overlaps, and outlining a research agenda that addresses some of the research gaps and open questions in both fields.
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