Marketing and distribution strategies for international organizations

Recently international organizations as e.g. the International Monetary Fund or the GATT have increasingly been criticized particularly by developing countries. Even the creation of a kind of super-UNCTAD is under discussion. Other institutions are also subjected to increasing pressure to justify the investments of their sponsors in terms of the “product” which they are offering. What about adequate strategies for the international organizations?     

The strategies of small and large international specialists

Falling trade barriers and corporate restructuring are resulting in the creation of international specialists, firms that focus on one line of business but with an international scope. International specialists compose the growing middle ground between diversified multinational companies and local firms. This study of 41 firms identifies two types—large and small international specialists—that differ substantially in their governance structures, resources, functional strategy, and approach to international markets.Large international specialists have abundant resources and high growth expectations, make a concerted push to dominate worldwide markets, and increase their reach over multiple stages of their industry. Small international specialists do not have strong growth motivations. They are upstream players that outsource extensively, serve intermediate users, and enter international markets selectively in ways that conserve their limited resources.Managers should consider the strategic option of becoming an international specialist in addition to the known strategic alternatives of being a domestic or a diversified multinational firm. To become international specialists, strategists need to implement several, consistent actions across functions that reinforce one another.     

Including emerging markets in international momentum investment strategies

Momentum return investment strategies that diversify across countries provide lower portfolio standard deviations and/or increased expected returns. These diversification benefits are larger when adding emerging markets than when adding developed markets, and they are larger than would be suggested by diversifying with long-only portfolios. Using data on almost 16,000 firms from 22 developed and 18 emerging markets over the 1990–2004 period, we confirm the profitability of momentum trading strategies in both developed and emerging markets and document the diversification benefits of including emerging markets in an international momentum portfolio investment strategy.     

Globalisation versus differentiation as international marketing strategies∗

This paper examines the arguments in favour of following a global marketing strategy by comparison with the more usual differentiated approach. It is concluded that a global strategy is essentially unsophisticated and may be inappropriate as technology and the world economy mature.     

Partnering strategies and performance of SMEs' international joint ventures

The international joint venture (IJV) is an important mode in the internationalization of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Internationalization in turn is an entrepreneurial behavior in the pursuit of growth. Partnering strategies in the formation of IJVs can have significant effects on the outcome of SMEs' international expansion. In this study, we examine the performance implications of two types of resources contributed by SMEs' IJV partners, host country knowledge and size-based resources. We develop and test three sets of hypotheses about the longevity and financial performance of a sample of 1117 international joint ventures established in 43 countries by 614 Japanese SMEs that have fewer than 500 employees. Our findings indicate that SMEs' IJVs with local partner(s) may be associated with decreases in longevity, especially when SMEs acquire host country knowledge. The host country experience of Japanese partner(s) does not have any direct effects on IJV profitability but reduces the longevity of IJVs. Finally, the size of Japanese partner(s) increases the longevity of IJVs but may have negative effects on IJV profitability when large Japanese partners have low equity ownership in IJVs. Our findings highlight the differential effects that IJV partners' experience-based and size-based resources have on IJV performance. Our findings also demonstrate that the same strategy could have different effects on different dimensions of performance.     

Regional integration and the international strategies of large European firms

From the perspective of regional economic integration we decompose international strategy into regional integration strategy and three types of global strategy (global sales, global production, and pure global integration). Using 1100 firm-year observations we find that 60% of the largest European firms pursue a regional integration strategy. We also find that global strategies vary. We examine the firm specific factors that affect global strategies. In general, R&D capability determines a global production strategy, whereas firm size and managerial capability determine both a global sales strategy and a pure global integration strategy.     

The Ukraine/Russia conflict: Geopolitical and international business strategies

The Ukraine and Russian conflict is one of the most pressing current global business issues. It has become a political and social issue that is influencing business practices around the world. While the topic is popular in the mainstream business press, there has been relatively little academic work on the topic. To address this gap, this article discusses the impact of the conflict on international business in terms of the perception by society about Ukrainian or Russian business activities. This means highlighting how a conflict can involve direct military intervention but also social interaction. This article reveals that there are many effects on global business stemming from the Ukraine–Russian conflict many of which are currently known, but others will be known in the future. Managerial implications are stated in the article that highlights the cultural and social impact of the crisis as well as future research suggestions for international business researchers that stress the importance of the conflict.     

The influence of competition on international sourcing strategies in the service sector

Rising importance of service industries and international trade in services led to increased competition in the service sector. The aim of this study is to analyze the international sourcing behavior of service firms as a strategic means to contend with competition. Our theoretical predictions suggest that there is a U-shaped relationship between a service firm’s domestic competitive position and its pursuit of international sourcing: the relationship is first negative and at later stages positive. The international sourcing behavior of domestic competitors and inward investments of foreign rivals are expected to positively affect a service firm’s international sourcing magnitude. A large-scale empirical analysis using a panel of 579 German service firms supports our hypotheses.     

Contextualizing experience effects in international business: A study of ownership strategies

Experienced firms act differently than newcomers, yet such differences vary with the context and with the type of experience. This research examines the effects of international experience on multinational enterprises’ (MNEs’) ownership strategy across a range of developed and developing economies. We distinguish competence-building and partner-selection effects of experience, which vary between general international experience and country-specific experience, and across host contexts. This contextualization of the theoretical arguments suggests that the predicted effects hold in some host countries, but not in others. In support of these arguments, our empirical study of subsidiaries of Taiwanese electronics forms finds that general international experience facilitates wholly owned operations in developed economies in Asia and Europe, while country-specific experience facilitates joint ownership in China.     

Toward lean management? international transferability of Japanese management strategies to Australia

There has been growing international interest in the “lean production” notion with present Japanese car plants as the paragon of this work system. Yet despite its Japanese origins many commentators have taken for granted that this Japanese notion can readily be transferred to other contexts and that it is a preferable alternative to Fordist mass production. Lean management involves continuous improvement, just-in-time techniques, total quality management, and team based work organization. These techniques have led to demonstrable major improvements in the efficiency of manufacturing enterprises in Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe, and the U.S., as shown by numerous studies. However, there has been little research on the possible transferability of such Japanese management strategies to Australia, which does not have a reputation for having highly committed workers or compliant unions. Therefore, the introduction of lean management in Australia deserves examination. After summarizing the context of the Australian car industry and the literature on lean production, we report on our study of a major car plant, which is based on interviews, observation, and a survey of employees. We were fortunate in having a high degree of cooperation from the company, unions, and government, because this independent study was initiated jointly by these three parties, which is relatively unusual for such research. Although we report several criticisms of lean production, we conclude that, especially when coupled with industry restructuring, lean production can potentially contribute to a substantial improvement in manufacturing competitiveness. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Bank generic strategies: does Porter's theory apply in an international banking center

This study examines banks' competitive strategies and their relationship with performance in a highly internationalized banking center, Hong Kong. The factor analysis results have, by and large, provided support to Porter's three strategy typology. Nevertheless, the empirical findings from the cluster analysis and the subsequent inter-group comparison of performances have cast doubt on Porter's stuck-in-the-middle proposition by demonstrating that banks adopting a multi-strategic approach did outperform other strategically monotonous rivals. While the stuck-in-the-middle proposition is grounded in the premise of inherent inconsistencies for pursuing more than one generic strategy simultaneously, the resource-based view and the present empirical findings hint at the feasibility for well-resourced banks to combine apparently incompatible value creating activities in a synergistic way to achieve integrated flexibility and consequently, a sustainable multi-strategic position. It is suggested that this feasibility very much depends on a bank's organizing and coordinating capabilities that are developed and refined through managerial commitment, learning and experience, as well as a careful assessment of various organizational activities and its inter-relationships within the entire business system.     

An empirical study of the international marketing strategies of e‐commerce companies

This study surveyed a random sample of 136 e‐commerce companies to provide baseline information about their marketing and international marketing strategies. The findings show that one in five companies do not market internationally and another four in ten generate 10% or less of their sales from international markets. About half of the companies reporting international sales did not adapt their strategies to the international markets. This may have contributed to the failure of many of these companies. A more savvy use of international marketing strategies by e‐commerce companies could be very helpful to their future well‐being. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

从国际并购到战略联盟——关于跨国公司国际经营战略选择的探讨

文章从分析跨国公司从传统的国际并购战略到转而实行战略联盟的现象入手，分析了跨国公司国际经营战略的历史沿革及趋势．并将重点放在跨国公司的战略联盟上，探讨了关于跨国公司战略选择的特点、原因等问题。     

Does international experience help firms to be green? A knowledge-based view of how international experience and organisational learning influence proactive environmental strategies

Early research on environmental strategy in international firms focused predominantly on direct investment as an expansion strategy for multinationals. However, we know relatively little from a strategic management perspective about exporting, which is the most prevalent form of international expansion. For this reason, we examine whether the knowledge that export firms acquire abroad influences their environmental strategies. Using a sample of export firms from the food industry, we show that the number of years spent in developing export activities does not contribute to developing a proactive environmental strategy; however, a more complex experience of environmental international diversification is positively related to a firm's proactive environmental strategy. Finally, organisational learning capability moderates the positive relationship between environmental international diversification and environmental proactivity.     

The effect of product diversification strategies on the relationship between international diversification and firm performance

Previous studies have provided mixed evidence on the interaction effect of product and international diversification on firm performance. This study extends this stream of research by investigating the differential impacts of product diversification strategies on the relationship between international diversification and firm performance. We find that while related product diversification positively influences the performance of multinational firms, unrelated product diversification negatively moderates the international diversification–performance relationship. The evidence is robust for different models of international diversification and firm performance, and holds for firms in both the service and manufacturing industries. Our findings highlight the importance of distinguishing different product diversification strategies, and provide a potential explanation for prior mixed evidence.     

Actualization of growth potential in international joint ventures: The moderating effects of localization strategies

We employ the growth options perspective to examine how multinational corporations’ localization strategies facilitate the actualization of growth potential preserved in international joint ventures (IJVs). This study uses a data of Korean IJVs; it accounts for the endogeneity associated with a firm’s decision to exercise growth options through a two-stage model. We find that the enlarged IJVs, via conversion to majority ownership under reduced host market demand uncertainty, performed better. We also find that the realized growth potential are larger for IJVs that have more local business ties with other firms, or that hire more local employees. This study contributes to the growth options literature by examining the strategies that enable firms to exploit evolved exogenous uncertainty, and thus actualize upside growth potential.