Multinational Corporations and the Social Contract

The constitutions of many nations have been explicitly or implicitly founded upon principles of the social contract derived from Thomas Hobbes. The Hobbesian egoism at the base of the contract fairly accurately represents the structure of market enterprise. A contractarian analysis may, then, allow for justified or rationally acceptable universal standards to which businesses should conform. This paper proposes general rational restrictions upon multi-national enterprises, and includes a critique of unjustified restrictions recently proposed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). I propose restrictions that may be tighter than the OECD and international law currently demand, because reason requires that the activities of enterprises accord with standards of environmental and governmental sustainability in addition to consortium, national law and international law agreements. I argue that it is justifiable that indictments may be presented by a citizen or a government against the local arm of a multinational enterprise in response to violations committed by an arm within a different country.     

跨国公司在中国的研发活动

近年来,跨国公司加强了在中国的研发投资。跨国公司在华研发活动的增长性、集中性、合作性、控制性,促进了我国高科技产业的发展,增加了“技术溢出”效应,搭建了人才培养的平台,在此基础上,应从政策方面支持跨国公司在华的研发活动,引导我国企业采取科学的管理理念和模式,推动企业国际化的步伐,加强我国企业自身研发能力建设。     

Corruption,Types of Corruption and Firm Financial Performance: New Evidence from a Transitional Economy

Using a nationwide survey of provincial institutional quality and a sample of private manufacturing small and medium scale enterprises (the SMEs), this paper contributes to the literature by considering for the first time the effects of corruption on the financial performance of Vietnamese private SMEs. Interestingly, contrary to previous findings, we find that corruption when measured by a dummy variable, does not affect firms’ financial performance after controlling for heterogeneity, simultaneity and dynamic endogeneity. However, the intensity of bribery and the majority of the forms of corruption were found to have negative impacts on firms’ financial performance. Hence, a typical approach using only a dummy variable for bribery might not adequately evaluate the impact of bribe intensity or even ignores the negative impacts of some types of bribes on firms’ financial performance. The findings suggest that anti-corruption measures are vital for the development of the Vietnamese private SMEs.     

Multinational Corporations and the Transforming Operational Environment in China

China and the multinational corporations (MNCs) have had a long period of close relationship. In locating operations in China, MNCs beneficially followed the principle of least‐cost location. However, China's economic and business environment has been undergoing a striking transformation. The Chinese economy is losing some of its beneficial emerging‐market traits. Many foreign business enterprises and MNCs have experienced deep erosion of profits. This article first focuses on the growing importance of China and the Chinese markets for foreign business firms and MNCs. The sheer size of the market naturally draws them in. Next, it dwells on the challenges that have evolved over the years and the budding new business environment, often referred to as “the new normal.” Many MNCs realize the need to adapt to the new operating environment in China. This article proposes a list of adaptive and coping measures for the foreign enterprises and MNCs. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

ICT,Innovation and Firm Performance: The Transition Economies Context

The aim of this article is to investigate the impact of information communication technologies (ICT) and innovation activities on firm performance using the Business Environment Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) firm-level data in the three rounds: 2002, 2005, and 2008. The novelty of this research is based on the idea of studying the usage of ICT and innovation activities on firm performance by using dynamic approach so that we can estimate the adjustments that arise from the impact of ICT and innovation activities. The rapid technological development and the growing use of information technology (IT) in business organizations have become the center of attention in past few years. A bulk of literature has been published on the use of IT in different industries, different types of business organizations, and in different areas of business management. On the other hand, the probability of the firm to undertake innovation activities has shown to enhance firm performance. This study implements various estimations on BEEPS observations to test whether the change in the usage of ICT and other innovation determinants have increase the probability of firms to undertake innovation activities. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Bayer-One of the Most Dynamic Multinational Corporations in China

The Bayer Group is one of the largest diversified international chemicals and health care groups with a production and marketing network reaching acrossthe globe. Production facilities on six continents with 120,000 employees and 350 affiliates over the world offer high-quality solutions for the customers.     

The Communication of Corporate Social Responsibility: United States and European Union Multinational Corporations

This study explores corporate social responsibility (CSR) by conducting a cross-cultural analysis of communication of CSR activities in a total of 16 U.S. and European corporations. Drawing on previous research contrasting two major approaches to CSR initiatives, it was proposed that U.S. companies would tend to communicate about and justify CSR using economic or bottom-line terms and arguments whereas European companies would rely more heavily on language or theories of citizenship, corporate accountability, or moral commitment. Results supported this expectation of difference, with some modification. Specifically, results indicated that EU companies do not value sustainability to the exclusion of financial elements, but instead project sustainability commitments in addition to financial commitments. Further, U.S.-based companies focused more heavily on financial justifications whereas EU-based companies incorporated both financial and sustainability elements in justifying their CSR activities. In addition, wide variance was found in both the prevalence and use of specific CSR-related terminology. Cross-cultural distinctions in this use create implications with regard to measurability and evidence of both strategic and bottom-line impact. Directions for further research are discussed. Laura P. Hartman is a Professor of Business Ethics and Legal Studies in the Management Department in the College of Commerce at DePaul University, as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University and as Research Director of DePaul’s Institute for Business and Professional Ethics. She is also an invited professor at INSEAD (France), HEC (France), the University of Melbourne, the Université Paul Cezanne Aix Marseille III and the Grenoble Graduate School of Business. She has been published in, among other journals, Business Ethics Quarterly, Business & Society Review, Business Ethics: A European Review, and the Journal of Business Ethics. Robert S. Rubin is an Assistant Professor in the Management Department at DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. He received his PhD in organizational psychology from Saint Louis University. His current research interests include transformational leadership, leader cynicism, social and emotional individual differences, and management education and development. K. Kathy Dhanda is an Associate Professor at the Department of Management at DePaul University. Her areas of research include sustainable supply chains, environmental networks, marketable permit modeling, sustainable management, and public policy.     

Corporate Entrepreneurship, Informal Ties, and Firm Performance: Evidence from China

How can a firm achieve superior performance through corporate entrepreneurship in a transition economy? To address this question, we draw upon the resource-based view and the institutional theory to explore distinct roles of business ties and political ties in fulfilling resource needs confronted by different corporate entrepreneurial activities (i.e., internal innovation, venturing and strategic renewal). Using data of 228 firms from the Pearl River Delta area in China, our empirical findings reveal that corporate entrepreneurial activities do not always positively lead to performance in transition economies. Furthermore, the possession of high levels of business ties is more beneficial to the success of internal innovation and strategic renewal, while the possession of high levels of political ties contributes more to the success of venturing.     

跨国公司在华设立R&D中心分析及启示

随着经济全球化的发展,我国已成为跨国公司R&D投资的热点地区。近年来,越来越多的跨国公司在进入我国的同时,纷纷在华设立了研究与开发(R&D)中心。要提升我国企业的国际竞争力,实施"走出去"战略,就必须加大R&D投入,增强其技术自主创新能力;国家应积极创造条件,加强本土企业对跨国公司技术外溢吸收能力,并培养其在吸收的基础上进行二次创新的能力;积极利用外资R&D投入,促进本国产业结构调整和经济发展。     

Corporate Social Performance, Firm Valuation, and Industrial Difference: Evidence from Hong Kong

This study addresses two issues. First, does corporate social performance matter in Hong Kong. Second, if yes, is it relevant to some industries more than others. To answer these questions, we develop a corporate social performance index (CSP) to measure the quality of corporate social performance of major Hong Kong listed firms. The criteria are based on the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. Using the 3-year period from 2002 to 2005, we find that firm valuation is positive and significantly associated with CSP. Interestingly, this relation matters less in China related firms and firms with a concentrated ownership structure. The results also show that CSP impacts firm valuation more positively when the firm is in the service sector. We further find that CSP is positively related to the market valuation of the subsequent year.     

Corporate Social Performance in China: Evidence from Large Companies

Based on a contest analysis of the official websites of top 100 companies in China in 2007, the paper reports the social performance of large Chinese companies. We try to focus on and answer the following three questions about CSP of large companies in China: (1) how is their overall social performance?; (2) what are the social issues they addressed?; and (3) what are the stakeholders they addressed? The results are also compared among different ownership companies and among different industrial companies. The findings indicate that CSR/CSP in China is still in the beginning stage, and?CSR/CSP is different among different industrial companies.

     

Business Ethics in Transitional Economies: Introduction

This paper introduces the special issue of papers selected from those presented at the International Conference on Business Ethics in Transitional Economies, held March 20–22, 2002 in Celakovice and Prague, Czech Republic. A brief background on the conference is given, and a summary of the papers offered in this special issue is provided.     

家族控股、终极所有权与企业绩效——来自我国上市公司的经验证据

借鉴Driffield等(2007)的研究方法,运用终极产权论追踪上市公司的终极控股股东,分析我国家族企业金字塔结构下的控股股东和终极所有权对企业绩效的影响。研究发现:第一大股东持股比例与企业绩效呈倒U型关系,第二至五大股东持股比例之和与企业绩效呈U型关系;家族上市公司的企业绩效与家族控股股东的控制权负相关,与现金流权正相关,与超控制权负相关;另外,家族上市公司的企业绩效与是否委派管理层负相关,与董事长与总经理是否合一负相关。同时,按家族控股股东的控制权大小分组检验也得到了类似的结论。     

Social and Environmental Sustainability,Host Country Characteristics,and the Mediating Effect of Improved Working Practices: Evidence from Multinational Corporations in Malaysia

This study argues that improved working practices acquired from intra-firm technology transfers are a crucial source of organizational sustainability. This study used 252 subsidiaries of foreign-based multinational corporations located in Peninsular Malaysia as a quantitative data source. The findings revealed that market environment, cultural factors, and absorptive capacity significantly improved working practices, which in turn significantly and positively affected the social and environmental sustainability of firms. We recommend that the government of Malaysia formulate and adopt more market-friendly policies while simultaneously providing both insight on the various cultural norms of foreign nations and higher education and training for its citizens to maximize knowledge transfer following foreign investment, which is beneficial for both the host country and the organizations involved.     

Decentralization and Firm Investments: Evidence from China

Taking advantage of decentralization reform that enlarges the authority of county government in China, we construct a quasi‐experiment. Using a large sample of Chinese firms, we show that after the implementation of decentralization reform, firms located in decentralized counties experienced a significant increase in investment expenditure compared with other firms. We also find that after the decentralization reform, state owned enterprises (SOEs) experienced greater increase in investment expenditure on average compared with non‐SOEs, and that, within non‐SOEs, collective firms have an even larger increase in investments, followed by foreign firms and private firms. Further analysis shows that the influence of decentralization reform was more significant in more developed markets, and that the increased investment was associated with improved productivity, which was more pronounced in SOEs. These results are robust to an alternative sample and endogeneity issues. Overall, these findings support the view that decentralization reform improves government efficiency and creates positive externalities, thereby encouraging firms to invest.     

New Venture Performance in Transition Economies from Different Institutional Perspectives

Building on institutional theory, this study examines the effects of dysfunctional competition and government ties on new venture performance in transition economies. And, it goes deeper to investigate how these effects are contingent on a new venture's entrepreneurial orientation (EO). It finds that EO weakens the negative relationship between dysfunctional competition and new venture performance but exacerbates the negative linkage of government ties to new venture performance. The findings not only illustrate how government impacts new venture performance in transition economies, but also indicate that new ventures can leverage entrepreneurship to cope with the effects of government‐related factors.     

以跨国公司经营理念提升我国民营企业集团技术创新能力研究

我国加入WTO后 ,一些跨国公司加快与我国民营企业集团的合作。本文以跨国公司先进的经营理念为视角 ,对我国民营企业集团如何利用跨国公司的经营理念 ,借跨国公司之力提升企业集团的技术创新能力进行探讨     

图书出版产业结构、企业行为与企业绩效

本文以产业组织理论为基础,结合企业战略理论,深入探讨了图书出版产业市场结构、出版企业具体市场行为和市场绩效之间的相互关系,并利用调查数据对各种相互关系进行了实证检验.结合现状分析与实证研究结果,我们认为图书出版产业组织相关变量的因子划分方法可以很好地对变量数据进行拟合,同时还发现中国图书出版产业的市场结构、出版企业的市场战略、市场行为以及市场绩效等因素之间都存在显著的相互影响关系.实证结果表明,出版企业的资源质量、创新行为、产品决策等因素对出版企业最终市场绩效具有显著影响;而出版企业的资源规模以及出版产业的市场需求、市场壁垒和市场竞争等因素对出版企业市场绩效的影响程度则很弱.     

Greenfield Investments or Acquisitions: Impacts of Institutional Distance on Establishment Mode Choice of Multinational Enterprises in Emerging Economies

ABSTRACT

The authors analyze the impacts of formal and informal institutional distance on establishment mode choice of multinational enterprises (MNEs) using a sample of 343 foreign direct investments (FDIs) made in selected emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America by the Finnish MNEs. This study contributes to conceptualization and operationalization of institutional distance as well as its application in international business studies. The empirical analysis revealed that high informal institutional distance results in preference of greenfield investments by the Finnish MNEs as the authors hypothesized. However, the authors also found that high formal institutional distance results in preference of acquisitions, which is opposite the study hypothesis as well as the findings of previous studies addressing similar issues.     

公司规模、分析师选择偏差和公司市场绩效——基于收购方公司视角的研究

在对中国2769个股权收购样本进行分析后发现,分析师跟踪和收购公告日效应(短期绩效)之间呈显著负向关系,但当控制公司规模时显著性消失;进一步研究发现,这种负向关系是由分析师偏好跟踪大规模公司造成的,从而证明了中国分析师存在选择偏差.分析师跟踪和收购方公司的长期市场绩效间存在显著的正向关系,从而为分析师的长期价值发现功能提供了证据.对于中国证券分析师的选择偏差问题,本文建议用残差分析师跟踪替代分析师跟踪的原始值来解决.随着证券市场制度创新和小型公司上市成为新常态,监管部门需要规范分析师跟踪公司的规模分布,并考虑进一步放宽机构投资者的投资标的选择范围.