Multiculturalism within individuals Vora, Davina; Martin, Lee; Fitzsimmons, Stacey R. ...
Journal of international business studies,
06/2019, Volume:
50, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
In a globally connected world, it is increasingly common for individuals to belong to and be influenced by more than one culture. Based on a critique of conceptualizations from psychology, ...management, marketing, anthropology, and sociology, we bring clarity and consistency to conceptualizing and measuring multiculturalism at the individual level. We propose that individual-level multiculturalism is the degree to which someone has knowledge of, identification with, and internalization of more than one societal culture, and recommend methods to measure each dimension. Finally, we suggest how individual-level multiculturalism influences, and is influenced by, social networks and power dynamics in international organizations.
Microfoundations have become an important theme in recent macromanagement research. However, the international management (IM) field is an exception to this. We document the lack of attention on ...microfoundations in IM research by focusing on knowledge sharing – a key IM research field – which we investigate by means of a keyword-based literature study of the leading IM and general management journals. We discuss possible reasons why microfoundations have so far met with less resonance in IM research. We point to the training and background of IM scholars as possible reasons. We also highlight the significance that IM scholars place on context and structure in explanation. These may be seen as contrary to a microfoundations perspective, a view that we show is incorrect. We end by identifying several microfoundational issues in IM research, calling for a sustained effort with respect to theory, heuristics, and empirics.
The field of international business (IB) is in need of more theory development. As such, the main focus of our manuscript was to provide guidance on how to build IB specific theory using grounded ...theory (GT). Moreover, we contribute to future theory development by identifying areas within IB where GT can be applied and the type of research issues that can be addressed using this methodology. Finally, we make a noteworthy contribution by discussing some of GT's caveats and limitations, particularly those relevant to IB. This effort is intended to spur further interest in the development of IB theory.
This paper develops a dynamic capabilities-based theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE). It first reviews scholarship on the MNE, with a focus on what has come to be known as "internalization" ...theory. One prong of this theory develops contractual/transaction cost-informed governance perspectives; and another develops technology transfer and capabilities perspectives. In this paper, it is suggested that the latter has been somewhat neglected. However, if fully integrated as part of a more complete approach, it can buttress transaction cost/governance issues and expand the range of phenomena that can be explained. In this more integrated framework, dynamic capabilities coupled with good strategy are seen as necessary to sustain superior enterprise performance, especially in fast-moving global environments.Entrepreneurial management and transformational leadership are incorporated into a capabilities theory of the MNE. The framework is then used to explain how strategy and dynamic capabilities together determine firm-level sustained competitive advantage in global environments. It is suggested that this framework complements contract-based perspectives on the MNE and can help integrate international management and international business perspectives.
Research shows that emerging market multinational enterprises (EM-MNEs) increasingly use corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting as a global legitimation strategy. Less is known about when ...their CSR reporting is decoupled from their CSR performance. Drawing on neo-institutional theory, we argue that EM-MNEs’ CSR decoupling is shaped by their dual embeddedness in their home countries and the global institutional environment. We then examine how EM-MNEs’ home country institutional voids and degree of internationalization affect their tendency to engage in such decoupling. Our model receives partial support in a study of 93 MNEs from 15 emerging markets between 2005 and 2012.
Vahlne and Johanson (2017) present the multinational business enterprise (MBE) as a new form of cross-border organization that supersedes the multinational enterprise (MNE). They offer a 'general ...model of the evolution of the MBE,' arguing that the MBE evolves through ongoing internationalization processes by proactively and entrepreneurially engaging in business exchange rather than production. In this counterpoint, we focus on two critical dimensions absent from Vahlne and Johanson's (2017) arguments: the impact of the digital context as a defining macro-level feature of our modern world, and the role of the individual as a core microfoundation of the internationalization process. We argue that a robust theory of the evolution of the modern firm must necessarily account for these dimensions. To explicate these impacts, we draw from a range of complementary research streams across international business, entrepreneurship, and international entrepreneurship. We identify research implications for scholars seeking to further advance the Uppsala model of internationalization and those who will use the revised model to study the modern multinational.
The rapid reshaping of the global economic order requires fundamental shifts in international business scholarship and management practice. New forms of protectionist policies, new types of ...internationalization motives, and new tools of techno-nationalism may lead to what we call “bifurcated governance” at the macro-level and “value chain decoupling” at the micro-level. As a result, innovation networks will require novel reconfigurations. We examine the emerging constraints on multinational enterprises, imposed by a bifurcated world order. We also discuss how the dynamic capabilities framework can guide scholars and managers alike to achieve new forms of evolutionary fitness.
This essay builds on the exposition by Thomas et al. and focuses on analyzing cause and effect in international business research. We attempt to explain how endogeneity problems occur and why they ...are so prevalent in international business research in a non-technical fashion. We then discuss the importance of explicitly identifying how the chosen research design best approximates a randomized-controlled experiment. Finally, we provide some guidelines on achieving this goal and emphasize the practices that seem most relevant to
JIBS
reviewers in evaluating high-quality international business research.
The original Uppsala model that was published in 1977 explains the internationalization process of firms. We have further developed the model several times in the intervening years. The present ...article is our latest effort: a general model of the evolution of the multinational business enterprise (MBE), from early steps abroad to being a global firm. The updated, augmented model explains MBE evolution in general, not only characteristics of the internationalization process in a narrow sense. We believe that the newest iteration, anchored in process ontology, will be useful in conducting longitudinal empirical studies.
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.
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