Current Strategic Actions of Russian Manufacturing Subsidiaries of Western Multinational Corporations

This article provides a critical analysis of the current strategic actions of Russian manufacturing subsidiaries of Western multinational corporations. The authors retraced the content of strategic actions in various aspects of subsidiary management implemented during 2015–16 and the activities of strategists of different ranks. The authors found that some actions that multinational corporations in Russia implemented during 2014–16 represent standard strategic practices during downturns. In contrast, other strategic practices (facilities expansion against negative market dynamics and reluctance to change the system of permanent job contracts and abundant employee social benefits) generally contradict with the textbook solution for company strategies during downturns.     

Strategy Review for Central and Eastern Europe: Strategic Responses of Foreign Multinational Corporations to the Recent Economic and Financial Crisis

The economies of Central and Eastern Europe were hit particularly badly by the global financial and economic crisis of 2008–2009. This raises the question of whether the severe economic downturn had any effect on the strategic orientation of foreign multinational corporations operating in Central and Eastern Europe. The purpose of the study is to contribute to the discussion of the effects of the recent crisis on strategies of multinational corporations. The crisis brought the successful economic catching-up process of the reforming countries over the previous decade to an abrupt halt, shattering the image of Central and Eastern Europe as a growth region. Multinational firms are now in the process of reviewing their original internationalization strategies for the region. The author argues that the business model that guided the expansion into Central and Eastern Europe still remains valid.     

企业战略联盟中各种风险的分析

随着全球经济一体化的发展,战略联盟系互联网技术不断发展与运用的产物,在企业战略中的作用越来越重要,风险是战略联盟的一个固定属性,联盟失败的比率一直居高不下,给参加联盟的各方都带来了相当大的经济和战略方面的损失。因此,在联盟管理过程中,要正视与规避风险,以真诚的合作促使战略联盟的健康发展。     

Strategic motivations and choice in subsistence markets

This paper examines the different motivations behind strategic choice in base of the pyramid or subsistence markets. Two strategies are examined through comparative analysis: market extension and strategic intent. Using two commercial bank's micro-lending business strategies in Sri Lanka, a comparative case study suggests that strategic intent is motivated by building capabilities over time that results in successful poverty alleviation, whereas market expansion is motivated by an immediate desire to expand overall sales revenue. This conclusion may help reframe subsistence market or BoP arguments away from such false choices as appropriate size (e.g., multinational corporations versus small and medium size enterprises) toward more useful discussion on understanding why firms participate in subsistence markets and what is the motivation behind their strategic choice. By considering more than just size and scope and studying the motivations behind long-term solutions to poverty alleviation, firm success can be better understood and achieved.     

网络效应条件下的扩张战略与对内开放——以服务业中国公司为例

通过对信息技术的成功应用,服务业跨国公司在竞争过程中可以克服传统市场竞争条件下的供方规模经济的限制,能够更快地达到为获得网络效应所要求的临界值,从市场扩张的正反馈中获益。因此,服务业跨国公司的全球经营战略和营销理念正在从在现有的市场内竞争向为未来市场而竞争转变。上述战略从微观角度为在我国进一步对内开放提供了经济学解释．并值得我国企业提高重视程度并在制定企业战略时借鉴。     

快递产品时效性与快递企业边界问题研究

文章通过对比我国快递企业与全球四大快递企业存在的差异,提出快递企业规模边界问题是快递业发展中不可回避的问题之一。使用交易成本理论可用于分析快递企业的规模边界,但具有局限性。以交易成本理论为基础,结合快递产品时效性特征,进一步分析快递企业的规模边界,得出快递企业边界表现为纵向一体化和空间网络扩张规模无边界的结论。最后对我国快递企业规模边界的演化进行了分析,进一步论证上述观点,并提出我国快递企业应扩大规模的对策建议。     

Short leash or long leash? Parenting style,initial strategic clarity,and the development of venture learning proficiency

Corporate venture development suggests that internal corporate ventures (ICVs) must become proficient learners if they are to cope successfully with the uncertainty inherent to their operations. Accordingly, the parent corporations in which ICVs operate are challenged to identify and enact appropriate parenting styles that foster their ICVs' learning proficiency. The current research of 145 ICVs in 72 corporations builds on parenting theory to theorize that ICVs demonstrate the greatest learning proficiency when corporate parents give them a “leash length”—indicated via observed levels of top management support and operational decision-making autonomy—depending on the degree of strategic clarity under which the ICV was founded.     

Modelling the impact of non-tariff measures on supply chains in ASEAN

This paper explores the impact of reducing non-tariff measures (NTMs) in major ASEAN countries. New econometric estimates of the impact of different types of NTMs are used in a global supply chain model to separately model the effects on intermediate products and those sold to final consumers. We also distinguish between whether the NTM cost burden is directed at exporters or importers. This paper makes important advances in modelling the heterogeneity of NTMs, offering much richer policy analysis of the impact of NTMs on supply chains in the Asia-Pacific region than has previously been possible. We illustrate the benefits, both to the major ASEAN countries and to their trading partners, from the partial liberalisation by ASEAN countries of their most trade distorting types of NTMs. Such liberalisation increases the GDP and welfare of all countries, with the effect particularly pronounced for the major ASEAN countries themselves, especially Vietnam and the Philippines. As trade in plant products and animal products is particularly affected by NTMs, these sectors show the largest expansion of trade.     

Strategic customer development in China

With a population of 1.2 billion people, the People's Republic of China will be a driving economic force in the 21st century. This article will provide examples of the pertinent issues in any strategic customer development effort in China and discusses current sales, marketing and strategic customer development opportunities in China. The article is based on the author's visits and interviews at corporations and organizations including Motorola's offices in Tianjin and Beijing as recently as June 1996 and on the authors survey of various corporations and organizations conducting business in China and other global markets.     

Investing for strategic resources and its rationale: The case of outward FDI from Chinese companies

As more Chinese companies become engaged in foreign direct investment (FDI), particularly in industrial countries, a crucially important issue must be addressed: what is the motivation of Chinese outward FDI, and what is its rationale? Based on a detailed analysis of both primary and secondary data sources, this article argues that when investing in advanced economies, Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) are motivated primarily by the quest for strategic resources and capabilities, and that the underlying rationale for such asset-seeking FDI is strategic needs. The examination of this premise will hopefully prompt business practitioners to think about this important issue in new and innovative ways, thereby identifying an appropriate policy and strategic response.     

自贸区玄机

19亿人口,6．5万亿美元国内GDP,4．5万亿美元年贸易额、世界上最大的自由贸易区,一切看起来都很诱人。2010年1月1日,中国-东盟自由贸易区全面落实,关于它的美好前景正在被期待。     

Antecedents and temporal dynamics of strategic divergence in multinational corporations: Evidence from Europe

Coordinating consistent strategy implementation has been identified a key challenge for multi-national corporations. Based on intraorganizational evolutionary models of strategy formation, this paper thus empirically investigates the antecedents and temporal dynamics of strategic divergence. Strategic divergence is the deviation of a firm's resource allocation decisions with its articulated concept of corporate strategy. Large-scale empirical analysis of 11,406 resource allocation decisions of twenty-five publicly listed, multi-national and multi-business European firms indicates that decision type, operational and divisional manager involvement in decision making and structural context changes exert a significant influence on strategic divergence. Importantly, results further suggest that firms’ levels of strategic divergence tend to increase over time and that the antecedents of strategic divergence have a differential impact as time passes.     

Strategic Direction of Corporate Community Involvement

Previous research on corporate community involvement (CCI) initiatives indicates that such behaviour is critical for building neighbourhood relationships and extending corporate influence in the community, but there is little theoretical work that provides a clear picture of managing the nature of the initiatives from different stakeholder management approaches. Drawing from theoretical insights of stakeholder theory and the concept of social capital, this article proposes nine strategic directions for CCI initiatives, and concludes by discussing the management implications of the proposed strategic directions. Our proposed approaches have the potential to improve current understanding and practice of corporations and their CCI initiatives.     

Stakeholder Pressures as Determinants of CSR Strategic Choice: Why do Firms Choose Symbolic Versus Substantive Self-Regulatory Codes of Conduct?

To encourage corporations to contribute positively to the environment in which they operate, voluntary self-regulatory codes (SRC) have been enacted and refined over the past 15?years. Two of the most prominent are the United Nations Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative. In this paper, we explore the impact of different stakeholders?? pressures on the selection of strategic choices to join SRCs. Our results show that corporations react differently to different sets of stakeholder pressures and that the SRC selection depends on the type and intensiveness of the stakeholder pressures as well as the resources at hand to respond to those pressures. Our contribution offers a more specific and finely variegated analysis of firm-stakeholder interactions.     

跨国企业对外直接投资市场进入的关键性策略新探

跨国公司市场进入方式多样。当前中国的跨国企业应当根据企业发展规律和国际市场变化,选择恰当的进入策略。即应注意从多角度考虑合理选择新建投资与跨国并购;国际战略联盟;生产一体化等可行策略。     

中国跨国公司的市场产权问题研究

市场产权理论是继产权理论之后,近几年来一些学者提出的重要理论,受到国内外学者的普遍关注。但市场产权在其内容、主体及来源上均有商榷之处。因为市场主体不只是国家,还可以是企业,特别还可以是跨国公司。因此,跨国公司要扩张和发展,获取市场产权更有重要意义。根据国际经验,中国跨国公司可以通过投资结构的改变、技术控制、品牌控制及跨国并购来获取市场产权。但根据中国的实际情况,还应采取综合运用各种途径、培植知识产权扩张实力、利用两个市场并打好本土化的基础以及深化市场产权的体制改革等对策来获取市场产权,从而促进中国跨国公司的扩张。     

How Institutional Change Reconfigures Successful Value Chains: The Case of Western Pharma Corporations in China

Management researchers have traditionally emphasized two main factors in the definition of corporate strategies: internal capabilities and industry competition. However, in less stable, transition economies it is particularly the changing institutional environment that influences strategy definition and performance of multinational corporations (MNCs) as shown by numerous international business (IB) scholars. Yet, how institutions matter remains a largely unresolved question. This article examines how institutions have affected the value chain configuration of Western pharmaceutical firms in China. Our research framework identifies four major strategic shifts along the value chain of Western firms in the pharmaceutical industry: upgrading along the value chain, outsourcing to contract service providers, expansion of geographical scope and diversification of product portfolio. The findings allow concrete managerial implications to be derived for decision makers of Western pharmaceutical firms operating in China. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Accelerating strategic fit or venture emergence: Different paths adopted by corporate accelerators

Corporate accelerators (CAs) are a fast-emerging form of corporate engagement with startups. Equating them with independent startup accelerators and/or corporate venturing limits our understanding of how and why corporations run CA programs and to what end. In this inductive grounded theory study, we explore how corporations design and run CAs and to what effect. This study of four CAs reveals that corporations manage accelerators via one of two distinct processes: namely, accelerating strategic fit or accelerating venture emergence. Our inductive models of these corporate acceleration processes provide new insights into how CAs operate within corporations. Strategic posture and investment time horizon influence corporations' choice of acceleration path and their identification of potential ventures for acceleration. Our study deconstructs what comprises the core corporate acceleration processes and explains how the two pathways result in distinct outcomes—nurturing innovations or nurturing ecosystems. We believe these findings can open up rich research opportunities for understanding how corporations engage with entrepreneurial ventures to enhance their entrepreneurialness.     

再造我国家电企业的战略管理

家电业要走出“价格战”的怪圈,必须解决好“战略管理缺失”的问题。在此基础上再造我国家电企业的战略管理,需要认识战略决策的层次性,形成全方位的有效衔接;认识战略决策的适应性,善于应对变革和协调、平衡;依据战略要求及时调整组织结构,以战略和竞争优势为导向营造、调适企业文化。     

Organizational politics and the strategic process

In this paper the relationship between organizational politics (OP), and company strategy and performance was explored. Data were collected from 55 manufacturing firms. Controlling for company assets and industry type, OP intensity was associated with various stages of the strategic process. In addition, it was negatively associated with overall company performance. These results were corroborated by canonical analysis. Another important finding was that the stage of company evolution moderates the OP-strategic process relationship. Finally, future research directions and implications for managerial behavior and ethics have been clarified.Dr. Shaker A. Zahra is Associate Professor of Strategic Management, Department of Management, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia 22030. His research centers on the role of board of directors in the strategic process, determinants of innovation in large corporations, and ethical issues associated with strategic choices.