The internationalization of soft-services: entry modes and main determinants in the Spanish hotel industry

This article addresses the internationalization of soft-services. These types of services require major local presence than other industries as production and consumption occur simultaneously. In particular, the study attempts to analyze those factors that might influence the entry mode choice and reflect the specific nature of the hotel industry, which shows an important increase of their operations overseas in recent years. Based on a sample composed of more than 1,200 entry operations in the Spanish hotel industry, our results suggest that determinant factors of entry mode choice in manufacturing firms cannot be directly transferred to the internationalization of soft-services firms. Some variables which were generally analyzed as determinant factors of control decisions in the manufacturing sector are not significant or present different results in the hotel industry. Moreover, this study enhances knowledge on internationalization based on countries other than the most developed.     

Determinants of Entry in Turkish Manufacturing Industries

The entry of new firms into markets plays an important role in efficient resource allocation and evolution for long term economic growth. Employing dynamic panel data techniques, this paper investigates entry behavior in 66 four-digit Turkish manufacturing industries for the 1993–1999 period. The results of this paper suggest that potential entrants observe the market before the entry takes place; entry is, in general, a follow-up process; and incumbent firms seem to collude to prevent entry in Turkish manufacturing industries. In addition, the real interest rate appears to be a very important determinant of entry decision.     

Does religion influence location choice in the hotel industry?

Relying on data from the Spanish hotel industry, this paper analyzes the role of informal institutional factors (IIF) in location choice. Earlier studies mostly use an aggregate level of cultural differences as informal institutional factors. We, however, go deeper into this concept and study the impact of two distinct but interrelated informal institutional factors, religion and language, on the location decisions of hotel chains. We resolve the overlapping problem between these two highly correlated IIF by means of a ‘layer’ measurement in Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Our results show that the higher the informal institutional differences (IID), the lower the presence of the hotels in the foreign country. While physical distance plays a key moderating role, formal institutional differences (FID) did not show any effect. We contribute by unravelling the role of language and religion in location choice in the internationalization process of service firms. Moreover, we test the moderating role of formal institutions in these decisions, thus combining the impact of formal and informal institutions on location choices in service firms.     

国际市场进入模式研究:一种网络的观点

国际市场进入模式是企业国际化进程中最重要的课题之一,与其相关的理论可谓是众说纷纭,但它们都是从单个企业的角度进行研究和分析的。然而,当今全球市场的竞争越来越表现为在企业所处的网络之间而非单个企业之间进行。因此,企业在选择国际市场进入模式时,应该考虑自身与目标国市场所具有的网络的关系类型,并根据企业自身在该网络的关系类型中所处的位置来制定适合的进入战略。     

Service characteristics as moderators of the entry mode choice: empirical evidence in the hotel industry

Although a considerable amount of research has explored the entry mode choice, results regarding the direct influence of some variables on the entry mode choice evince a lack of a clear consistency. By introducing the moderator effect of the nature of the services being provided by the firm, we explain some of these inconclusive results. We use a comprehensive database on the Spanish hotel industry which covers nearly all the operations carried out by the majority of Spanish hotel chains up to 2011. We found that both intangibility and complexity of the services offered by the hotel moderate the relationship between environmental uncertainties and entry mode choice by increasing the propensity to use greater commitment entry modes when faced with conditions of country risk and cultural uncertainty.     

Learning by exporting: Lessons from high-technology SMEs

We investigate the learning by exporting hypothesis by examining the effect of exporting on the subsequent innovation performance of a sample of high-technology SMEs based in the UK. We find evidence of learning by exporting, but the pattern of this effect is complex. Exporting helps high-tech SMEs innovate subsequently, but does not make them more innovation intensive. There is evidence that consistent exposure to export markets helps firms overcome the innovation hurdle, but that there is a positive scale effect of exposure to export markets which allows innovative firms to sell more of their new-to-market products on entering export markets. Service sector firms are able to reap the benefits of exposure to export markets at an earlier (entry) stage of the internationalization process than are manufacturing firms. Innovation-intensive firms exhibit a different pattern of entry to and exit from export markets from low-intensity innovators, and this is reflected in different effects of exporting.     

Managing the retail format portfolio: An application of modern portfolio theory

We apply modern financial portfolio theory (MPT) to managing portfolios of retail formats. The objective of MPT is to maximize overall portfolio return for a given level of portfolio risk. We applied MPT to three prominent hotel firms to determine the ideal mix of formats in their hotel brand portfolios, using revenue per available room (RevPAR) as a proxy for return on investment. We found that all three firms could improve their returns and reduce their risk by reallocating the number of hotel rooms (i.e., scarce resources) across their different retail formats.     

Firm exits as a determinant of new entry: Is there evidence of local creative destruction?

This study posits that a local process of creative destruction provides an impetus to regional industrial renewal. We argue that exits of older firms release resources that stimulate local entry. New entrants add value to these resources by redeploying them in more productive uses. We test our hypotheses with a unique longitudinal database encompassing the entry and exit of Canadian manufacturing enterprises. We find that exits of old firms increase entry and that on average new entrants are more productive. Persistent high local rates of exit, however, deter entry.     

The impact of entry modes on the organisational design of international hotel chains

This paper reports on a study of organisation design within the international hotel chains that simultaneously employ multiple market entry modes. A multiple case study reveals the use of different divisional designs for different types of entry mode within individual chains. These are driven by the desire to maintain strong control over hotel brands. The study concludes that current designs may inhibit the international hotel chains from achieving their organisational potential and recommends that managers look to break down these ‘communities of design’ barriers.     

International Hotel Companies in Russia

Abstract

Existing studies addressing the modal choice in the global hotel industry have discussed to a limited extent the restrictions posed to the choice of entry mode by the local environment, mainly the host government. This paper describes entries of foreign hotels in a market, Russia, in which the local (city) government has an active role in the hotel industry. The study proposes that, in the Russian market, the foreign hoteliers have to take into account the interests of the local governments regardless of the operation mode. On the basis of secondary data collected mainly from industry reports and Russian newspapers, the strategic choices made by the foreign hotel companies can be divided into two categories. First, some hotel chains have brought their brands to the Russian market early, but have made strategic concessions in the mode of entry. Second, there are companies that have stuck to their general strategies and postponed entry to Russia until it could be done with the mode preferred by the company.     

Competing with multinational enterprises’ entry: Search strategy,environmental complexity,and survival of local firms

This study examines the competitive dynamics between foreign and local firms. We posit that multinational enterprises (MNEs)’s entry in foreign markets significantly reduces the survival rate of local firms in the short term, but that this effect gradually diminishes over time. The proposed conceptual framework is operationalized through the combination of the widely used agent-based model and the economic model of competition. The agent-based model allows us to study the behavior of firms under the context of different markets and the environmental complexity while the competition model determines the competition between firms as well as the entry and exit of firms. Our results obtained from the simulation study reveal that the negative effect of foreign entry is heightened as environmental complexity increases. However, local firms with a broader knowledge search are better able to confront the negative impact of foreign entry over time. We also find that the negative effect of foreign entry on the survival of local firms is weaker for local firms with a strong retrieval capacity.     

Patterns of Entry,Post-Entry Growth and Survival: A Comparison Between Domestic and Foreign Owned Firms

This study compares the patterns of entry, survival and growth of domestic and foreign owned firms. We show that the post-entry behavior of foreign owned firms is quite different from that of their domestic counterparts. Among foreign entrants, we were able to distinguish between those which proceed by creating a new firm and those that acquire an already existing business. Our evidence reveals that the choice of the mode of entry in foreign markets exerts an impact upon the performance of firms that persists long after the moment of entry. As a consequence, our work clearly indicates that there is much to be gained in the understanding ofthe process of entry in foreign markets by studying the behavior of entrants over their first years in these markets.     

时间压缩下内资企业模仿能力与企业绩效

本文借鉴机体消化吸收机理,实证分析了FDI进入速度与节奏对内资企业绩效的调节作用及内资企业模仿能力对该调节作用的影响。研究发现:FDI进入速度和节奏均负向调节内资企业绩效,内资企业模仿能力负向影响该调节作用;从外资来源层面细分西方资本得出类似结论,而港澳台资本的进入过程对内资企业绩效的负向调节作用相对较弱。本文拓展了FDI溢出效应的研究框架,实证结果对我国如何更加有效地利用外资获取技术进步具有重要意义,为政府引资政策的制定提供了借鉴价值。     

Small Firm Statistics: A Hotel Sector Focus

This article contrasts and compares statistics from the UK small firm sector in general with those related to small firms within the hotel industry. In doing so, it is clearly illustrated that there is a need to focus research, resultant policy and strategy on the specific issues facing small firms at a sub-sector level, rather than assuming a homogeneity of the small firm population in general. The paper concludes that the plight of the small firm operating within the hotel industry is dire and questions what the future holds.     

Productivity Dynamics of Small and Medium Enterprises in Taiwan

Using firm level data from Taiwan, this paper examines the link between firm size, growth and productivity. It shows that firms grow because they are more productive and not because they are larger in size. Indeed, the statistical analysis shows that while employment growth among Taiwanese firms was positively related to initial levels of total factor productivity, it was negatively related to initial size. The paper also shows that the productivity-size relationship has a virtuous cycle built in. More productive firms get larger and, in the process, obtain access to resources and information which enables them to become more productive. One implication of these results is that public policies should target productivity rather than size and should support reforms that make it possible for market mechanisms to weed out low productivity firms while facilitating the entry or growth of high productivity firms. Taiwan's ability to keep entry and exit costs low is one reason why productivity gains there have been high.     

基于企业国际经验的国外市场选择和进入模式研究

国际经验对企业选择国外市场进入模式的影响是企业国际化管理研究的重点之一,然而这一问题并没有引起国内理论研究的广泛关注。为了弥补这个缺陷,本文对288家国内上市公司的国际经营数据进行了研究。研究发现,企业国际经验,特别是决策团队的国际经验对国外市场选择和国外市场进入模式存在积极的影响。同时,规模越大、技术含量越高的企业,越倾向于选择资源投入较大的国外市场进入模式。     

Inside your social media ring: How to optimize online corporate reputation

Although it is well accepted that corporate communication has a direct impact on corporate reputation, little is known about the link between firms’ social media communication strategies and the formation of firms’ reputations in an online environment. This article contributes to this body of knowledge by studying the impact of social media communication strategies on firms’ reputations. The setting for our study is the hotel industry. The results offer insights regarding the challenges of developing online communication strategies that affect corporate reputation.     

Partnership or self-reliance entry modes: Large and small technology-based enterprises’ strategies in overseas markets

This study compares large firms against small and medium-sized firms in technology industries and assesses the differences between them in the choices between partnership and self-reliance entry modes. A sample of 166 large, small, and medium-sized firms in technology industries was analyzed using LISREL 8.30. Results indicate that, given innovative advantage, large and small and medium-sized firms both prefer self-reliance entry modes. With violent market dynamism, large firms prefer self-reliance entry modes while small and medium-sized firms prefer partnership entry modes. When high promotional effort is required, small and medium-sized firms prefer partnership entry modes and large firms may prefer partnership entry modes as well. This study provides important guidance for managers of large and small technology-based firms to select their entry modes when they enter overseas markets.     

The Role of Ownership in Managing Interfirm Opportunism: A Dyadic Study

We extend research on transaction cost theory that shows that vertical integration enables firms to protect their investments in exchange relationships better than market mechanisms. However, extant research finds ownership to exacerbate, rather than limit, exchange partner opportunism. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate conditions under which ownership can be effective for constraining an exchange partner's opportunism. Using matched dyadic data for 296 hotel brands, we conduct multi-level hierarchical linear modeling and identify conditions under which common ownership limits hotel opportunism. Findings indicate that ownership can limit hotel opportunism when brand headquarters can easily monitor the hotel's activities.     

Reconceptualizing the spillover effects of foreign direct investment: A process-dependent approach

Theory suggests that FDI spillovers are a function of the level of foreign presence. We extend this view by developing and testing the premise that variations in spillover effects are the result of differences in the process of foreign entry. Drawing from the concept of time compression diseconomies, we develop the constructs of pace and irregularity of foreign entry, and demonstrate that they negatively moderate the relationship between the level of foreign presence and the productivity of host-country firms. We also explain how and why the moderating role of the process of foreign entry is influenced by the intensity of R&D and technical knowledge in domestic industries. We find evidence that firms operating in low-tech sectors are better able to absorb fast foreign entry.