A Blessing and a Curse: Institutional Embeddedness of Longstanding MNE Subsidiaries in Emerging Markets

This article examines the institutional strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in an emerging market, drawing attention to how longstanding foreign subsidiaries proactively negotiate their involvement with socio-political actors. We build on institutional logics to explain how MNE subsidiaries develop sustained political, cultural, and cognitive embeddedness. Using an inductive, interpretive study of four century-old Dutch MNE subsidiaries with a colonial legacy in Indonesia, we examine these three dimensions of the institutional environment, finding that local employees embedded in both the MNE and the host country sets of logics ‒ rather than expatriate managers ‒ most effectively facilitated sustained institutional embeddedness. Our findings also suggest that embedding practices in host institutional contexts and developing structures that align with host institutional expectations provided a platform for the unfolding of institutional strategies by local employees. However, MNE subsidiaries face contrasting logics between home and host country institutions, placing significant strains on MNEs’ ability to enact change.     

制度距离对企业跨区域发展管理模式的影响

随着国内市场竞争的日渐加剧,为抢占市场、增强竞争力,越来越多的企业开始走跨区域发展道路。但由于区域之间发展不平衡,各地的政策、文化以及人们的价值观和行为标准等也有所不同,企业的跨区域发展难以完全按照统一的管理模式进行管理。制度环境的差异已成为影响企业跨区域发展战略的重要因素之一,且目前国内关于制度环境同企业跨区域发展管理模式的选择问题的研究少之又少。本文试图通过文献研究,讨论制度环境如何影响企业跨区域发展管理模式,在一定程度上进一步丰富相关理论。     

Cultural distance and international trade in services: A disaggregate view

In this paper, we estimate the effect of “cultural distance” on bilateral trade in services. The measure of cultural distance we use is based on scores that reflect country averages of individuals’ attitudes towards inequality, self-orientation, competition, uncertainty, traditions, and indulgence. Controlling for standard ingredients of gravity equations, we show that an aggregate measure of cultural distance has a significantly negative effect on total bilateral services trade. Once we take a more disaggregate view, we find that the strength of this effect differs across various types of services and various aspects of cultural distance.     

Through the Looking‐Glass: The Impact of Regional Institutional Logics and Knowledge Pool Characteristics on Opportunity Recognition and Market Entry

This study investigates how regional variations in institutions and knowledge pools impact new firm entry into emerging industry sectors. Using the cleantech industry sector as a research context, we hypothesize and find that supportive regional institutional logics – shared meaning systems in a community that confer legitimacy upon particular goals and practices – generate cognitive schemas (mental models) that facilitate opportunity recognition and increase new firm entry rates. Drawing from research on socially situated cognition, we demonstrate that supportive institutional logics have a greater impact on new firm entry when a regional knowledge pool is larger, but a reduced impact on new firm entry when the knowledge pool is more specialized. These findings integrate previously distinct perspectives from institutional theory and knowledge economics, while contributing to research on how new industry sectors emerge.     

Strategic networking in small high tech firms

Though the concept is somewhat blurred and vague, networking is a basic feature for understanding the conditions for entrepreneurial small firms, and in this article two major mechanisms are analysed. These are (1) opening to new complementarity in order to gain access to new knowledge and people, and (2) closing and collaborating as mutual obligation to protect and form alliances in order to avoid competition in an open market, where both are extending the boundaries of the firm. The research is based on a qualitative study of 35 case firms in the biotech and ICT industries in Denmark (Copenhagen) and France (Sophia Antipolis). It finds that networking is not only a protective mechanism to create benefits of scale, but an active way of creating entrepreneurial opportunities, and organising for high technology innovation.     

Cultural distance in international business and management: from mean-based to variance-based measures

Extant practice in international management is to measure cultural distance as a nation-to-nation comparison of country means on cultural values, thereby ignoring the cultural variation that exists within countries. We argue that these traditional mean-based measures of cultural distance should take within-country cultural variation into account. Therefore, we propose the use of variance-based measures of cultural distance. To illustrate our argument, we examine total US foreign affiliate sales in more than 40 host countries over the 1983–2008 period, complemented with data from the World Values Survey. We analyze the effects of three cultural distance measures: the Kogut and Singh (1988 Kogut, B., and Singh, H. (1988), ‘The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode,’ Journal of International Business Studies, 19, 411–432.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) mean-based index of cultural distance, the Kogut and Singh (1988 Kogut, B., and Singh, H. (1988), ‘The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode,’ Journal of International Business Studies, 19, 411–432.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) index conditioned by host-country cultural variation and a variance-based measure that takes into account both home- and host-country cultural variation. Our findings indicate that, when within-country cultural variation is taken into account, the explanatory power of the Kogut and Singh (1988 Kogut, B., and Singh, H. (1988), ‘The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode,’ Journal of International Business Studies, 19, 411–432.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) index is substantially decreased. In addition, our variance-based measure of cultural distance outperforms the Kogut and Singh (1988 Kogut, B., and Singh, H. (1988), ‘The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode,’ Journal of International Business Studies, 19, 411–432.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) measure in the explanation of foreign US sales. We therefore suggest to move from mean-based to variance-based measures of cultural distance, thereby taking the cultural variation within countries into account.     

Gender,family ties,and international mobility: Cultural distance matters

This study empirically tests a model of associations between family-domain variables and willingness to accept an international assignment, and applies the general model to sub-samples of men and women to examine gender differences in the pattern of relationships. We further explore these patterns in culturally similar and culturally distant country destinations. Analyses conducted with a sample of 148 men and 79 women employed MBA graduates from dual-earner couples revealed that perceived spouse willingness to relocate, beliefs regarding spouse and couple mobility, relative income, and the presence of children are associated with willingness to accept an international assignment. Moreover, consistent with social role theory, significant gender differences in willingness were found across low and high cultural distance country destinations.     

Institutional entrepreneurship and permaculture: A practice theory perspective

Permaculture is a growing but little researched phenomenon emphasising care for the environment, equity, fair treatment of people and working with—and not against—nature. It thus represents a potential alternative to business as usual, capable of addressing fundamental challenges posed by human-made climate change. The paper examines a previously ignored site of entrepreneurship by taking a practice perspective, exploring connections between the practice and growth of permaculture and institutional entrepreneurship. It assesses practice-related and institutional factors affecting the start-up and operation of permaculture enterprises in the United Kingdom. The study maps and surveys UK Permaculture Association members who have started up their own business and reports on qualitative data from personal interviews with twenty of them. Data analysis employs NVivo software and involves thematic analysis pertaining to the practice, institutional biographies and institutional portfolios of permaculture entrepreneurs. The findings show the importance of permaculture activists' institutional biographies and institutional portfolios to the start-up and operation of permaculture enterprises and for shaping permaculture-related practice. The contribution of the paper lies in how it balances attention to individual agency with subfield-specific, organisational field and macrosocial factors in understanding ‘beyond profit’ entrepreneurship.     

Rethinking Institutions and Organizations

In this Point–Counterpoint article we argue that institutional scholarship has become overly concerned with explaining institutions and institutional processes, notably at the level of the organization field, rather than with using them to explain and understand organizations. Especially missing is an attempt to gain a coherent, holistic account of how organizations are structured and managed. We also argue that when institutional theory does give attention to organizations it inappropriately treats them as though they are the same, or at least as though any differences are irrelevant for purposes of theory. We propose a return to the study of organizations with an emphasis upon comparative analysis, and suggest the institutional logics perspective as an appropriate means for doing so.     

Do entrepreneurs from institutionally distinct countries apply different decision logic when internationalizing their companies? A multiple-case analysis

Literature on entrepreneurs’ decision logic has either focused on effectuation or causation, lacking comparison and analysis of logics when founders come from different institutional environments. This paper presents an exploratory study examining the behaviors, beliefs, and decisions of entrepreneurs (all typical drivers for new market entries), considering those institutional differences. Research was based on the comparison of two case studies of young software companies, one from Brazil and one from Germany, each founded by two entrepreneurs with similar academic and professional backgrounds. Results indicate that apparently, business environment affects founders’ decision logics with much more strength than the institutional environment.     

Public value,institutional logics and practice variation during austerity localism at Newcastle City Council

This article outlines how a local authority, Newcastle City Council (NCC), employed a public value strategy to address austerity localism. Borrowing from neo-institutional theory, it traces how organizational change constituted also a variation of democratic deliberation practices. Legitimation of budget decisions against central government cuts involved such practice variations as public consultations to change NCC’s vision and mobilize support, building operational capacity beyond the organization, and new accountings for measuring public value. Insofar as such organization changes constituted instances of institutional entrepreneurship of local government as a key democratic institution, our article refines existing theorizing of public value accounting.     

制度经济学视角下的现代医院管理

20世纪60年代以来,经济学最为引人瞩目的发展之一就是新制度经济学的出现和发展。本文运用制度经济学的基本原理,从宏观方面分析现代医院管理体制存在的不足,并针对这些不足,提出合理的解决措施。     

Institutional distance,host country and international business experience,and the use of parent country nationals

This study examines how the institutional distance between a host country and a home country influences foreign subsidiary staffing, and how overseas business experience moderates the effect of institutional distance. Hypotheses regarding the effect of institutional distance on foreign subsidiary staffing are empirically tested using a sample of 2,980 foreign subsidiaries of Japanese firms. This study shows that although the ratio of parent country nationals to subsidiary employees decreases when firms face greater institutional distance, the absolute number of parent country nationals assigned to the subsidiary increases. This study also shows that firms with more overseas business experience replace host country nationals with parent country nationals when there is greater institutional distance.     

我国农民工住房的制度化困境研究——基于多重制度逻辑的视角

改革开放以来,我国农民工的住房问题是一个历久弥新的话题。农民工的住房制度嵌入于多元化制度场域中,其背后隐含着国家逻辑、政府逻辑、市场逻辑和生存逻辑,并且这四种逻辑相互交织和互动,最终导致农民工面临着住房制度化困境。因此,需要加强住房制度的顶层设计,并构建新的制度逻辑,达成农民工住房的多重制度逻辑间的动态平衡。     

Does Institutional Theory Need Redirecting?

Greenwood, Hinings and Whetten (2014) present two major criticisms of current institutional scholarship, and see need for a broad redirection: institutional organization theory, they argue, has lost sight of the claim to study organizations and, with its overwhelming focus on isomorphism and similarity, has fallen short on adequately theorizing differences across organizations. In our article, we offer support as well as a riposte. First, while we agree that the organizing of collective efforts needs to be at the core of organization research, we warn that focusing on formal organization – a rationalized cultural product itself – may direct attention away from studying alternative modes of organizing, and underestimates the dynamic developments that have transformed contemporary organizations into increasingly complex objects of inquiry. Second, we are concerned that, by abandoning the analysis of similarities in favour of differences, institutional theory may eventually lose sight of its pivotal quest: to study institutions.     

操作风险管理的治本之道:金融制度创新

操作风险是当前商业银行所面临的主要风险之一。但是,与市场风险和信用风险相比,商业银行对操作风险的认识和管理都处于较低水平。在不否认进行思想教育能在一定程度上减少操作风险损失事件的同时,着重强调了制度缺陷是我国银行业操作风险产生的根本原因,只有加强金融制度创新才能从根本上防范和化解操作风险。     

机构投资者投资组合与公司特质风险

投资者行为会对公司特质风险产生直接的影响。文章以沪深A股上市公司为样本,探讨机构投资者对投资组合中不同权重公司的治理差异。研究表明,机构投资者持股显著抑制了相对权重较高的公司特质风险的上升,即发挥了积极的监督效应。现有关于机构投资者的研究大都基于总持股比例,对于投资组合权重的考虑明显缺乏,文章的结论有助于丰富机构投资者治理效应的相关研究。     

Converging and diverging pressures in PBB development: the experiences of Finland and Sweden

This paper aims to provide institutional explanations for the development of performance-based budgeting (PBB). Particularly, we explore the tensions between converging and diverging pressures. By analysing PBB in two countries with significant experience with it, Finland and Sweden, the research explains why we observe only evolutionary changes in actual budgetary practices. Indeed, the introduction of this practice is part of a global reform process undertaken over decades by public sector organizations. Nevertheless, the countries still struggle with PBB and, despite global converging pressures, diverging pressures shape its development, challenging its implementation and use, and paving the way for evolutionary changes.     

Multiple Institutional Logics in Health Care: ‘Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care’

Health care organizations are often confronted with multiple institutional logics. In this study, a longitudinal case study method was used to gain insights into the adoption decision-making and implementation process of an apparently hybrid innovative practice when multiple logics are present. The case study focuses on the adoption and implementation of ‘Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care’ in a Dutch hospital. This is a quality improvement programme developed by the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom. The results show that institutional logics complicate the adoption and implementation process.