How do MNCs establish their talent pools? Influences on individuals’ likelihood of being labeled as talent

Addressing the research question of what influences the likelihood of an individual being labeled as ‘talent’ in MNCs, this paper seeks to understand the decision processes involved in the identification of MNC-internal talent. We develop a framework suggesting that the decision to include an employee in a corporate talent pool is a two-stage decision process in which mostly experience-based (on-line) performance appraisal evaluations are used as an input in largely cognition-based (off-line) managerial decision making. Consequently, talent pool inclusion is determined not only by performance appraisal evaluations, but also a number of factors that influence the decision making in the second stage of the talent identification process. Using empirical insights from an in-depth case study as illustrations, we identify three such factors—cultural and institutional distance between the locations of a potential member of the talent pool and the decision makers; homophily between the individual and the decision makers; and the network position of the person in question.     

What's in a word? Adopting a linguistic-style analysis of western MNCs’ global press releases

We advance research on the impact of business English as a lingua franca (BELF) on the communication of multinational companies (MNCs). Study 1 helps predict country-level variations of linguistic style in the English language of 2,223 press releases from US, UK, German, and French companies. Press releases are a specific genre of narratives used to engage investors. Study 2 demonstrates in a controlled quasi-experimental setting that adapting linguistic styles alongside well-established frameworks of cultural values can shape investors’ attitudes and intentions. Within-language linguistic style differences in the use of BELF can create barriers to communication fairly overlooked in International Business.     

Fraud in Sustainability Departments? An Exploratory Study

While sustainability is largely associated with do-gooders, this article discusses whether and how fraud might also be an issue in sustainability departments. More specifically, transferring the concept of the fraud triangle to sustainability departments I discuss possible pressures/incentives, opportunities, and rationalizations/attitudes for sustainability managers to commit fraud. Based on interviews with sustainability and forensic practitioners, my findings suggest that sustainability managers face mounting pressure and have opportunities to manipulate due to an immature control environment. Whether a presumably morality-driven attitude may prevent them from committing and easily rationalizing fraud remains controversial. Even though cases of fraud happening in sustainability departments are still widely unknown, the interview analysis reveals that sustainability fraud is likely to occur at least to some extent—and presumably remains undetected. The study brings to light the importance of a clear commitment from executives to sustainability to prevent sustainability fraud and demonstrates adverse developments driven by external stakeholders, specifically the bonus relevancy of sustainability index scores. In particular, the study shows a lack of awareness for potential fraud in sustainability departments.     

Weathering storms – Technological exploration of MNCs in times of financial crisis

We generate new knowledge about financial crises and their consequences for MNC technological development, thereby addressing a largely uncharted issue at the crossroads of the organization, strategy and international business literatures. Drawing on threat-rigidity theory, we argue that financial crises have an overall negative effect on MNC technological exploration and that the strength of the effect differs across greenfield and acquired subsidiaries. Results from an empirical investigation of 21 MNCs over the 1890–2008 period suggest that the dampening effect of financial crises on technological exploration is confined to home-country units and greenfield subsidiaries, whereas it is found to be of less significance among acquired foreign subsidiaries. We suggest that such differentiation within the MNC is indicative of a previously unobserved advantage from multinationality, which allows it to smoothen the effects of financial crises on long-term technological development and corporate growth.     

The impact of retailers’ sustainability and price on consumers’ responses in different cultural contexts

Consumers want sustainability, but at what price? With growing demands for environmental and social sustainability, retailers aim to understand how consumers might react to adaptations in retail practices. This research examines consumers’ perceptions towards retailers’ environmental and social sustainability practices and the moderating effect of price in different cultural contexts. Quantitative research methodology using scenario-based experiments was employed. Two experiments were conducted using research participants from the US (a more individualist country) and Turkey (a more collectivist country) and measured one dimension of culture, individualism versus collectivism. The results reveal that high prices negatively moderate consumers’ response to retailers’ sustainability efforts. Even though there is no significant interaction between either type of sustainability and price on purchase intention, high sustainability along with a low-price strategy leads to an increase in consumers’ commitment, satisfaction, and loyalty. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that high prices have a more negative effect on consumers’ responses in a collectivist country. This study highlights the importance of price in both individualist and collectivist cultures and provides a better understanding of a neglected dimension of sustainability, social sustainability. Managers need to be aware of the increasing demand from consumers for environmentally and socially sustainable practices but need to recognize that consumers may not be willing to pay more for these products. Companies need to formulate business strategies based on low priced-sustainable products and the cultural context of the country in which they operate.     

The terror of death and consumers’ sustainability attitudes

Applying Terror Management Theory, this research attempts to investigate how the terror of death perception affects consumers' sustainability attitudes under the contingent condition of religiosity. This field study was conducted in Malang, Indonesia. The findings disclose that both mortality salience and self-esteem increase materialism. Materialism is found to intensify consumers’ sustainability attitudes of green concern and consumer social responsibility (CnSR). It is also found that religiosity strengthens the effect of mortality salience on materialism and that of materialism on CnSR. Contrarily, religiosity weakens the effects of materialism on green concern. However, there is no statistical support for the moderating effect of religiosity on the linkage between self-esteem and materialism.     

Corporate Sustainability Reporting: A Study in Disingenuity?

Over recent years, there has been a focus in corporate activity upon the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and one of its central platforms, the notion of sustainability, and particularly sustainable development. We argue in this article that the use of such a term has the effect of obfuscating the real situation regarding the effect of corporate activity upon the external environment and the consequent implications for the future. One of the effects of persuading that corporate activity is sustainable is that the cost of capital for the firm is reduced as investors are misled into thinking that the level of risk involved in their investment is lower than it actually is. We analyse the effects of this misrepresentation and argue for a fuller debate about sustainability.     

Corporate Sustainability Reporting: A Study in Disingenuity?

Over recent years, there has been a focus in corporate activity upon the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and one of its central platforms, the notion of sustainability, and particularly sustainable development. We argue in this article that the use of such a term has the effect of obfuscating the real situation regarding the effect of corporate activity upon the external environment and the consequent implications for the future. One of the effects of persuading that corporate activity is sustainable is that the cost of capital for the firm is reduced as investors are misled into thinking that the level of risk involved in their investment is lower than it actually is. We analyse the effects of this misrepresentation and argue for a fuller debate about sustainability.     

‘Activists in a Suit’: Paradoxes and Metaphors in Sustainability Managers’ Identity Work

Both sustainability and identity are said to be paradoxical issues in organizations. In this study we look at the paradoxes of corporate sustainability at the individual level by studying the identity work of those managers who hold sustainability-dedicated roles in organizations. Analysing 26 interviews with sustainability managers, we identify three main tensions affecting their identity construction process: the business versus values oriented, the organizational insider versus outsider and the short-term versus long-term focused identity work tensions. When dealing with these tensions, some interviewees express a paradoxical perspective in attempting to accept and maintain the two poles of each of them simultaneously. It emerges in particular that metaphorical reasoning can be used by sustainability managers in varied ways to cope with the tensions of identity work. We read these findings in light of the existing literature on the relation between paradoxes and identity work, highlighting and discussing their implications for both research and practice.     

Is Current Way of Promoting Sustainability,Sustainable?

Consumer behavior regarding sustainable products has been a complex concept. There is a discrepancy between consumer’s espoused concern towards environment and their purchase of environment friendly products. Past literature suggests greenwashing being a possible reason for this discrepancy. With greenwashing being caused by mismatch between communication and perceived performance, this article focuses on assessment of simultaneous impact of both communication and performance elements on brand attitude. A quantitative study was undertaken to test the hypotheses. This was followed by a qualitative study to understand alternative explanation of hypotheses that was not accepted. The research revealed that a consumer’s attitude toward a green brand is impacted both by his or her general skepticism towards green ads and the credibility that she assigns to the firm’s green message. Perceived value of product also had a positive impact on brand attitude. Findings advance academic literature and support managerial community by highlighting factors for building a positive green brand attitude and resultantly avoiding the trap of being equated with greenwashing.     

The Two Faces of R&D: Does Firm Absorptive Capacity Matter?

This paper examines the dual effect of firm R&D efforts on productivity growth for Swedish manufacturing firms. The R&D efforts do not only stimulate innovation but also enhance firms?? ability to identify, assimilate and exploit new knowledge from the environment (Cohen and Levinthal. Economics Journal 99:569?C596, 1989). In this paper, we assume that the principal channel of transmission of new knowledge is through I/O linkages. Our econometric evidence suggests that in addition to the firm??s own R&D activities, R&D spillovers embodied in traded goods within the industry, others imported from abroad, and technology spillovers transferred from the technological frontier within an industry are important determinants of firms?? productivity growth. Results suggest that domestic R&D spillovers following the I/O links between industries are of minor importance in this respect. We also analyze whether firms?? absorptive capacity matters for productivity growth. Analyzing absorptive capacity is particularly important for assessing the effective contribution of spillovers from other firms. The effect of a firm??s absorptive capacity is found to interact positively with imported R&D spillovers, whereas domestic rents spillovers seem to play a minor role for productivity growth.     

Cultural determinants of alliance management capability – an analysis of Japanese MNCs in India

This study examines the role of national and organizational culture in alliance management in the context of three prominent joint ventures between India and Japan, which reached diverse alliance outcomes. It uses the case study method as a tool for an initial rich exploratory analysis (Yin 2013) of alliance management capabilities that may later be tested on a larger dataset. The study finds that national and organizational culture is both important factors of alliance management capability. It highlights the specific role of trust, consensus in decision-making, communication and relationship building as key constituents of alliance management capability. This paper thus contributes to an important strand of literature on alliance management in the context of two important Asian players from the developed and emerging markets. Its focus on cultural factors as determinants of alliance management helps to establish a managerial blueprint leading to positive alliance outcomes for such ventures in future and to establish a roadmap for increased interaction between India and Japan.     

Sharing Sustainability: How Values and Ethics Matter in Consumers’ Adoption of Public Bicycle-Sharing Scheme

This study investigates the antecedents and mechanisms of consumers’ adoption of a public bicycle-sharing scheme (PBSS) as a form of shared sustainable consumption. Drawing on marketing ethics and sustainability literature, it argues that cultural and consumption values drive or deter the adoption of PBSS through the mediating mechanism of ethical evaluation. This study tests its hypotheses using a sample of 755 consumers from one of the largest PBSS programs in China. The results confirm the significance of collectivism, man–nature orientation, materialism, and face-consciousness as key determinants of the adoption of PBSS. Interestingly, these values play mixed roles in influencing PBSS adoption. It also finds that such values and beliefs need to be effectively translated into ethical evaluations of PBSS adoption, and need to be addressed in the specific social context. Thus, ethical evaluation constitutes a cognitive strategy that allows consumers to justify and defend their adoption of sustainability practices. The results suggest that a desirable sustainability program needs to not only cater to the cultural and psychological motivations of consumers, but also reflect the social norms and social context in which the sustainability practices and consumers are embedded.     

Headquarters–subsidiary relationships in MNCs: Fifty years of evolving research

We review the contributions to research on headquarters–subsidiary (HQS) relationships published in the Journal of World Business (known as the Columbia Journal of World Business until 1997) from the late 1960s to the present day. Based on 81 articles on the topic, we identify trends and dominant approaches in the journal's contributions to this area and link them to trends in the broader field of international management (IM) research and practice. We underline the journal's pioneering role in identifying and bringing to the forefront novel research questions and ideas that would later become central to the IM field. We conclude by assessing the importance and relevance of the journal's contributions to the literature on HQS relationships and by suggesting several directions for future research in this area, which could build on past work and leverage new phenomena.     

Absorptive capacity development in Indonesian exporting firms: How do institutions matter?

This paper addresses how firms from an emerging market characterized by a challenging and variable institutional environment learn about internationalizing. Building on the organizational learning and institutional literatures, and the concept of absorptive capacity (AC), and using a sample of Indonesian manufacturing-sector exporters we identify two dimensions of internationalization-related AC: international market and international strategic operation. Unlike previous literature, we find that indirect, or second-hand, experience contributes more than the firm's own experience to the development of international market AC. Furthermore, the second-hand experience feeds Indonesian manufacturing exporters’ learning in both positive (e.g., buyers) and negative (e.g., suppliers and foreign multinationals in Indonesia) ways. In contrast, the development of international operation strategy AC appears to be driven internally, with minimal contribution from either first- or second-hand experience. We posit that these outcomes are influenced by the rapid and substantial changes in the domestic institutional environment faced by the Indonesian manufacturers.     

‘Information and Communication Technologies’ and entrepreneurial activity: drivers of economic growth in Europe

Innovation and entrepreneurial activities have become increasingly important elements for economic growth and are also decisive factors in a country's level of development. As regards the scope of this work, the European region as a whole occupies the top positions in most of the technological indicators. Entrepreneurial activity plays a significant role for the economy of a country owing, among other matters, to its effects on the labour market and economic growth. Apart from fomenting job creation, the presence of entrepreneurs may be related to the structure and performance of a country's economy. The main purpose of this work is to analyse what relationship exists between technological availability and the presence of entrepreneurs in European countries.     

How do Universities Make Progress? Stakeholder-Related Mechanisms Affecting Adoption of Sustainability in University Curricula

This paper develops a theoretical model to explicate stakeholder-related mechanisms that affect university adoption of sustainability in curricula. This work combines stakeholder and institutional theories so as to extend both. By examining change in the university context wherein there is confusion about sustainability adoption, this research adds to previous institutional theory focusing on strongly contested practices, primarily in the for-profit firm setting. Sustainability is a transformational challenge and may be adopted reactively or proactively. Also, stakeholder theory is extended in a mixed profit and non-profit context. Propositions suggest how the extent of embeddedness affects an organizations’ selection of stakeholders, consequently affecting the type of adoption. This facilitates a greater understanding of why two competing definitions of stakeholders may operate. Moreover, extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are discussed as affecting adoption in different ways. A responsible leader organization is newly defined and intrinsic motivation is proposed as underlying its choice of the widest set of stakeholders leading to broad, proactive adoption.     

Defining the Content of Sustainability Reports in Nonprofit Organizations: Do Stakeholders Really Matter?

The aim of the article is to investigate the role of stakeholder engagement and participation in nonprofit organizations’ sustainability reporting, according to the literature on third sector and stakeholder theory. To verify the levels of involvement, the authors conducted an empirical survey, using content analysis, on a sample of 54 sustainability reports of nonprofit organizations included in the Global Reporting Initiative database as of September 1, 2012. In order to strengthen the results obtained from the content analysis, the authors shared their findings with the organizations of the sample. The survey showed that there were some criticisms regarding stakeholder participation in the targeted research field. These are considered in the conclusions. Questions for the future included whether stakeholder engagement is moving from being simply a way to consult and influence stakeholders to being an effective instrument for involving them in nonprofit organizations’ reporting and decision-making processes, through mutual commitment.