The internationalization of African firms: Opportunities,challenges, and risks

There has been a marked increase in the internationalization activities of African firms over the last two decades or so, resulting in the emergence of regional challenger firms that are aggressively competing with foreign multinationals in terrains historically dominated by the latter. However, our understanding of this phenomenon is limited, as empirical research examining the nature of internationalization of African firms is scarce, and research directly investigating drivers, outcomes, and boundary conditions of the internationalization of African firms is lacking. The goal of this special issue, therefore, is to contribute to the scholarly understanding of the increasingly prevalent internationalization of African firms. This guest editorial provides a summary of the six articles in this special issue, and highlights three broad thematic issues: internationalization opportunities for African firms (accelerated private‐sector development and regional integration, and ability to overcome institutional voids); internationalization challenges (global competitiveness challenges, limited management and cross‐cultural capabilities, and overcoming the liability of Africanness); and internationalization risks (losing focus on home markets and over‐internationalization).     

Politically connected boards and top executive pay in Chinese listed firms

Drawing on social comparison theory, this study examines the relationship between politically connected boards and top executive pay. Moreover, given the socialist orientation of China, tests are also carried out to establish the relationship between politically connected directors and pay dispersion across the firm. We find a negative association between politically connected boards and top executive pay. We also find that politically connected boards are negatively associated with pay dispersion, i.e., the higher the number of political directors on the board the smaller the gap between top executive pay and average employee pay. Finally, our study shows that politically connected directors weaken the pay‐performance link. These findings have important theoretical, policy, and managerial implications. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vietnamese Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Safe Pork in Hanoi

Abstract

Food safety is one of the main concerns and the biggest challenge for consumers due to its direct influence on human health. In order to deal with unsafe food situation, the demand for food hygiene has increased in recent years as well as the consequent increase in price accepted by consumers. This study aimed to estimate consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) and to examine the determining factors influencing their WTP for safe pork using double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (DBDC CVM). The data were collected from a survey with a sample size of 134 respondents in Hanoi, Vietnam using two sets of questionnaires on the consumption of rib and shoulder of pork. The results revealed that the percentages of the consumers willing to pay a premium for more hygiene shoulder and rib of pork were 81.75% and 73.01%, respectively. The mean WTP was 129,000 VND (US$6.07) for both safe shoulder and rib, 48.7% and 37.8% higher than the regular market price, respectively. The results showed that consumers’ awareness of the risk of unhealthy pork, household income and expenditure were the positive determinants to WTP; meanwhile, the amount of pork consumption per month negatively affected the willingness to pay more for shoulder and rib of pork.     

The ‘Company with Committees’: Change or Continuity in Japanese Corporate Governance?

Corporate governance practices are arguably diffusing across the world. This paper examines the adoption of the committee‐based governance system (i.e. audit, nomination, and remuneration) in Japanese firms, a practice common in Anglo‐American capitalism but potentially contestable in Japan. The study finds that firms that are internationally exposed through cross listing are more likely to adopt the committee system. Moreover, more experienced and highly cross‐held firms, with larger proportions of foreign ownership, are more likely to adopt the committee system. On the other hand our study finds partial support for the hypothesis that larger proportions of bank ownership are negatively associated with the adoption of the committee system, suggesting a gradual withdrawal by banks from the traditional monitoring of firms. This paper adds to the longstanding debate on the convergence on or persistent divergence from the Anglo‐American corporate governance system. The study thus provides insights into corporate governance changes in non‐Anglo/American countries that face a struggle between global capital market forces for change and deep‐seated institutional practices of continuity.     

Board Meeting Attendance by Outside Directors

Outside directors’ regular board meeting attendance is important in improving the effectiveness of a governance system. Such attendance is evidence of their commitment to the firm as key other players in monitoring and decision making. Using a unique dataset for Korean firms, and three-level random coefficients models, we find that, foreign outside directors, an independent appointment process, professional knowledge of business operations and accumulated firm-specific knowledge are important factors that affect outside directors’ attendance of board meetings. The results also confirm that both outside directors’ personal characteristics and the social context are crucial in understanding their board meeting attendance. Further analysis shows that a positive corporate environment that supports the outside director system encourages outside directors’ attendance at board meetings.     

Advancing Entrepreneurial Leadership as a Practice in MSME Management and Development

Consistent with recent studies, we emphasize that entrepreneurial leadership benefits from mutual cross‐fertilization between entrepreneurship and leadership, making it an effective mechanism for studying micro small and medium enterprise (MSME) management and development. Since it is an emerging concept and existing knowledge on MSME management and development so scattered, our comprehensive entrepreneurship and leadership literature review provided us in‐depth insights and new perspectives. From our analysis, a framework emerged mapping a new path for MSMEs. The model presents a nuanced leadership paradigm for small businesses. Thus, by presenting a mechanism that offers new methods aimed at managing and developing MSMEs, we extend existing leadership theories.     

Early and late adoption of American-style executive pay in Germany: Governance and institutions

Employing the theoretical perspective of neo-institutional change, this paper identifies the characteristics of early and late adoption of executive stock options (ESOs) in German firms. The paper contributes to the debate over the convergence/divergence of corporate governance systems, adding to the literature on institutional change by demonstrating the reaction of intra-organizational actors to macro-level changes. The study finds that there is employee resistance to the adoption of ESOs in the early stages, and older firms, embedded in traditional practices, prefer to maintain the status quo. Prior adoption of shareholder value oriented practices helps to smooth the way for subsequent adoptions for both early and late adopters. The full convergence of corporate governance systems is still not imminent.     

Educating the international manager: Some issues in the African context

This article sets out what the author perceives as the goals which transnational corporations (TNCs) and, therefore, their managers, have in Africa; indicates how he sees these goals as interacting with those of Africans and African states, giving special attention to areas of present or potential conflict and to how these may be reduced; reflects briefly on possible future scenarios concerning international managers and the relations of them and their firms with Africans and African governments.