Real options and MNE strategies in Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific offers a lot of promising growth opportunities, but it also presents high levels of uncertainty for multinational enterprises (MNEs). In this paper, we introduce real options theory as a theory of investment under uncertainty, and we discuss its implications for MNEs and their strategies with a focus on the emerging economies in Asia Pacific. We suggest that MNEs must recognize the various sources of uncertainty, as well as the various options embedded in their investments, and real options theory can help them structure and design their investments to benefit from uncertainty. In particular, MNEs need to develop the dynamic capabilities of managing real options in their investments to respond to the evolving economic and institutional environment in the region. This paper also provides several implications for policy makers in Asia Pacific to stimulate investment activities in the region and to help their firms venture successfully in the international market place.

Social capital and cross-selling within financial holding companies in an emerging economy

Social capital is the goodwill available to individuals or groups from their network of relationships. It is widely believed that social capital is useful in facilitating and governing hazardous transactions. But how social capital, in the context of a financial holding company (FHC), actually facilitates cross-selling is unknown, especially in an emerging economy. This article maintains that effective cross-selling requires an FHC to first access and accumulate comprehensive and tacit customer-specific knowledge (the “where from” condition) and then share and leverage this knowledge to other applicable business opportunities (the “where to” condition). The role of social capital and embedded ties is found to be critical to this process. Finally, we argue that the major route for the effective cross-selling within an FHC is from the commercial banking division to the underwriting division. Hypotheses are tested on the transactional data collected from Taiwan, and empirical results provide broad support for our arguments.

Knowledge management and innovation strategy: The challenge for latecomers in emerging economies

The success of latecomer firms from the emerging economies challenges the conventional wisdom on entry timing and resource-based competence. Building on research on institutions in emerging economies and the resource-based perspective in strategic management, we propose a model to explain how resource poor latecomer firms in emerging economies catch up with the multinational incumbents. We classify latecomers based on their strategic learning intent as either emulators or blind imitators. The strategic learning intent depends on a firm’s complementary assets and its absorptive capacity. Firms that choose emulation develop flexible routines, while firms that choose blind imitation end up with rigid routines. Over time, when there is a need for resource renewal, firms that have flexible routines are better positioned to respond. We take the Chinese mobile phone industry as an exemplar to illustrate the core issues in latecomer catching up of emerging economy firms.

Government corruption and foreign stakes in international joint ventures in emerging economies

This paper analyzes the relationship between government corruption and the changes in the equity stake of foreign partners in international joint ventures (IJVs) formed with local firms in emerging Asian economies. This relationship is defined according to transaction cost theory. This relationship is complemented by the introduction of a moderating variable derived from organizational learning theory: the country experience of foreign partners. This article is based on a sample of 171 European firms, which formed IJVs in emerging Asian economies during the year 1996. Using an event history analysis, the evolution of each European equity stake was followed-up from year 1996 to the end of the period at risk on January 2007. From the empirical results presented in this article, some findings have been drawn on the attitudes of foreign firms toward government corruption in emerging Asian economies. First, we showed that the government corruption is significantly related to the likelihood of foreign partners to terminate the IJV. However, the nature of this relationship is differentiated according to the score used to measure government corruption. The relationship is positive when using the Transparency International score and negative with the Political Risk Services score. Second, we put into evidence that the country experience of foreign partners moderates the relationship between government corruption and the changes in the equity stake of foreign partners in IJVs in emerging Asian economies.

Institutions,resources, and entry strategies in emerging economies

We investigate the impact of market‐supporting institutions on business strategies by analyzing the entry strategies of foreign investors entering emerging economies. We apply and advance the institution‐based view of strategy by integrating it with resource‐based considerations. In particular, we show how resource‐seeking strategies are pursued using different entry modes in different institutional contexts. Alternative modes of entry—greenfield, acquisition, and joint venture (JV)—allow firms to overcome different kinds of market inefficiencies related to both characteristics of the resources and to the institutional context. In a weaker institutional framework, JVs are used to access many resources, but in a stronger institutional framework, JVs become less important while acquisitions can play a more important role in accessing resources that are intangible and organizationally embedded. Combining survey and archival data from four emerging economies, India, Vietnam, South Africa, and Egypt, we provide empirical support for our hypotheses. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Venture capital in China: Past,present, and future

This article reviews the literature on venture capital in China and examines where China’s venture capital industry has been and where it is likely to go in the future. Since the 1980s, venture capital in China has grown steadily alongside the robust national economy. The future is likely to offer even greater opportunities, as entrepreneurs are encouraged and property rights improve. However, there will also be a period of transition as the market continues to mature and as new legal structures and commercial arrangements emerge. Venture capital in China has many interesting differences from that in Western countries. The venture capital industry is shaped by the institutional context and China is no exception to this. This article also examines some specific differences between the system in China and that of the United States. Future prospects for venture capital are also appraised as China continues its transition to a market economy.

Rookies and seasoned recruits: How experience in different levels,firms, and industries shapes strategic renewal in top management

Research summary : This study explores the effect of knowledge integration on strategic renewal. In particular, it examines how executives from different levels and sources influence renewal when added to top management teams (TMT). In contrast to prior work, the study hypothesizes and finds that new outside rookies—those new to top management and the firm—are associated with higher firm growth than other types of executives. We also find that seasoned outsiders—those with prior TMT experience outside the focal industry—contribute to growth only when the existing TMT has a long tenure. The results suggest that the ability of the TMT to integrate new members varies by executive type and has an important effect on incremental strategic renewal. Managerial summary : Conventional wisdom holds that firms are better off hiring those who can demonstrate prior experience and skill in tasks as close as possible to the job. In the realm of the top management team (TMT), however, we find that many firms benefit from hiring rookies from other firms who are new to the top management team level. These candidates bring useful knowledge of the operations of competitors and other firms, and they are easier to socialize and integrate with the existing team. While more experienced senior leaders may bring valuable strategic knowledge, this study suggests that only top management teams with long shared experience can weather the disruption that they cause to realize the potential benefits. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CEO career horizon,corporate governance,and real options: The role of economic short‐termism

Research Summary: Combining studies on real options theory and economic short‐termism, we propose that, depending on CEOs’ career horizons, CEOs have heterogeneous interests in strategic flexibility, and thus, have different incentives to make real options investments. We argue that compared to CEOs with longer career horizons, CEOs with shorter career horizons will be less inclined to make real options investments because they may not fully reap the rewards during their tenure. In addition, we argue that long‐term incentives and institutional ownership will mitigate the relationship between CEOs’ career horizons and real options investments. U.S. public firms as an empirical setting produced consistent evidence for our predictions. Our study is the first to theoretically explain and empirically show that a CEO's self‐seeking behavior will impact real options investments. Managerial Summary: This article helps to explain how a CEO's self seeking‐behavior may shape a firm's real option investment, which could result in different level of strategic flexibility. We argue that CEOs with short career horizons have less time to exercise their firms’ real options, which should lower the investments in the firms’ real options portfolios relative to CEOs with long career horizons. We study a sample of U.S. public firms and find strong evidence that a CEO's expected tenure in the firm is positively related to the real options investments at the firm level. We find that this agency issue can be mitigated by adopting appropriate corporate governance mechanisms such as long‐term incentives and institutional investors.     

Migration to 3G wireless broadband internet and real options: The case of an operator in India

The paper focuses on third generation wireless technologies and on alternative technologies for wireless local area networks. The authors present the evolutionary migration path from second to third generation systems. Technological, economic and behavioral factors related to decision-making towards the migration are proposed. As an example, the paper studies the case of the national incumbent operator of India. It analyzes qualitatively the migration problem from the perspective of the operator, the equipment manufacturer and the users. For the quantitative analysis, real options are used to value the investment decisions. The analysis suggests that the initial (sunk) investment cost, the average revenue per user, the growth of the subscriber base and the volatility of the markets are the key factors in the investment process.     

Acquisition of organizational capabilities and competitive advantage of IJVs in transition economies: The case of Vietnam

Using Vietnam as the context, the study empirically examines how the competitive advantage of international joint ventures (IJVs) in transition economies is affected by the acquisition of resources from foreign partners and of local market-based resources. Our study contributes to the nascent literature on IJVs in transition economies by producing several novel and interesting findings. First, it demonstrates the need to modify certain arguments of the resource-based view (RBV) when applied to IJVs in transition economies. This paper shows that the peculiar market characteristics of transition economies serve as an imitation barrier turning even property-based resources into sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Second, the positive impact of knowledge-based resources on the IJV’s competitiveness seems to be significantly enhanced as the ownership by the foreign parent increases. Lastly, competitive advantage of IJVs appears to be strengthened when the transfer of property-based resources is complemented by that of knowledge-based resources, and when the transfer of internal, firm-specific resources is complemented by that of external, market-based ones. We believe that these findings make significant, incremental theoretical and empirical contributions to both the RBV and IJV literatures.

An examination of the foreign market knowledge of exporting firms based in the People's Republic of China: Its determinants and effect on export intensity

Although the critical role of knowledge in generating organizational advantage has been increasingly recognized in the strategic management field, there is little research examining firm-specific foreign knowledge, the construct itself, its determinants, and impact on export performance. This study seeks to extend the foreign market knowledge literature in three ways. First, the current study develops a conceptual model of determinants of foreign market knowledge, based on the social capital theory. It explains how structural and relational social capital affects the creation of foreign market knowledge. Second, this study substantiates the theoretical link between foreign market knowledge and export intensity, which has been put forward by the internationalization process model with empirical evidence. Third, to expand the generalizability of the present foreign market knowledge model, this study tests the model using firms from different industrial types and product categories in a newly developing country, that is, the People's Republic of China.     

Market-facing innovation networks: How lead firms partition tasks, share resources and develop capabilities

We focus, in this paper, on ‘market-facing innovation networks’. Rooted in the modular and integrated nature of the products they develop, high levels of product innovation activity are occurring through the behaviours of firms, leading and developing such networks. These lead firms are small and medium enterprises, traditionally tasked with business to business distribution and commercialisation activities. This study enhances our understanding of how task partitioning and resource sharing practices, and their evolution over time, are related to the nature and scope of capabilities of lead firms within the context of market-facing innovation networks. Through a multiple case study methodology, our findings depict and characterise efficiency and relational approaches of lead firms. Outcomes, in terms of firm and network level innovativeness and commercialisation, are discussed. Findings are explained by the tension created by the need to manage on-going routine distribution activities and emergent networked product innovation activities.     

Inter-organizational meets inter-personal: An exploratory study of social capital processes in relationships between Northern European and ethnic Chinese firms

This paper deals with social capital in a business network setting focusing on three aspects of social capital: social interaction, social bonds and trust. The paper argues that because of variations in underlying principles and inter-organizational business practices between different countries and culture, social capital processes will take different forms and place different levels of importance on relationships in different countries. The paper investigates how northern European managers perceive social interaction, social bonds and trust in conducting business with ethnic Chinese business partners. The explorative study builds on interviews with 28 Finnish and Swedish managers in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The findings of the study indicate that when northern European and ethnic Chinese firms develop trading relationships, the resulting relationship is neither Nordic nor Chinese. Both parties deviate from their native behaviour and a new type of relationship evolves as the exchange partners interact.     

Managerial ties, control and deregulation: An investigation of business groups entering the deregulated banking industry in Taiwan

This study investigates the determinants of business groups’ entry to the deregulated banking industry in Taiwan, from the perspectives of social capital and agency theory. The principal objective of deregulation is to increase the efficiency of resource utilization by introducing competition. However, the opportunities inherent in deregulation may induce a battle of strengths among interested business groups. Based on secondary data analysis, this study reveals that the managerial ties possessed by key individuals in a business group, and the degree of overlapping investment between the owner-managers, influences the likelihood of whether or not a business group will decide to enter the deregulated banking industry. The results of this study provide a valuable starting point from which to discuss the influence of internal and external personal networks on business strategy during a time of deregulation.

Social tie, social capital, and social behavior: Toward an integrative model of informal exchange

What is the unique nature of social capital that differentiates itself from other forms of capital? How should we conceptualize and operationalize social capital? What are the major drivers and outcomes of social capital? To address the three questions, I apply the duality lens—the perspective of regarding each entity as a paradox consisting of two contrasting yet interdependent components—to social capital for an integrative model of informal exchange. The focus of this paper is on the duality relationship between the content variables (social tie, social capital, social behavior along two basic dimensions: trust for tie strength and option for network structure) and the process variables (antecedent, content, process, and consequence) toward a geocentric framework of formal–informal exchange. I intend to make two contributions. First, the conceptualization and operationalization of social capital is developed from the duality lens of formal–informal exchange so as to identify the unique nature of social capital as an informal entity. Second, a holistic, dynamic, and dialectic model of social capital is provided to explore the causal links between various elements related to social capital.     

Signaling valuable human capital: Advocacy group work experience and its effect on employee pay in innovative firms

Research Summary: The ability of innovative firms to create and capture value depends on innovations that are quickly and widely adopted. Yet, stakeholder concerns can establish important barriers to diffusion. We study the human capital aspect of this challenge and investigate whether innovative firms pay salary premiums to new hires with work experience from advocacy groups like Transparency International. We integrate strategic human capital with stakeholder theory and suggest that advocacy group experience creates signals for valuable human capital in terms of stakeholder knowledge and legitimacy transfers to innovative firms. Using matched data for 3,562 employees in Denmark, we find that new hires with advocacy group experience enjoy larger salary premiums at technologically leading firms, in occupations with direct stakeholder interaction, and for advocacy group top management. Managerial Summary: Innovation research is increasingly aware of the non-technological factors behind successful innovations. Users, regulators, or public opinion can be benevolent supporters or stingy opponents of innovations. Employees with an understanding of the needs and sensitivities of societal stakeholders should therefore be valuable to innovative firms. We find this to be the case when innovative firms hire employees from advocacy groups representing such stakeholders (e.g., Transparency International). Such employees receive higher salaries than an otherwise comparable reference group. These findings indicate that recruiting needs of innovative firms reward stakeholder experience, not merely technological expertise. They demonstrate how firms can create value in the pursuit of the public interest. Further, advocacy groups emerge as an important career stage allowing individuals to develop credible signals for stakeholder expertise.     

Community response grids: E-government, social networks, and effective emergency management

This paper explores the concept of developing community response grids (CRGs) for community emergency response and the policy implications of such a system. CRGs make use of the Internet and mobile communication devices, allowing residents and responders to share information, communicate, and coordinate activities in response to a major disaster. This paper explores the viability of using mobile communication technologies and the Web, including e-government, to develop response systems that would aid communities before, during, and after a major disaster, providing channels for contacting residents and responders, uploading information, distributing information, coordinating the responses of social networks, and facilitating resident-to-resident assistance. Drawing upon research from computer science, information studies, public policy, emergency management, and several other disciplines, the paper elaborates on the concept of and need for CRGs, examines related current efforts that can inform the development of CRGs, discusses how research about community networks can be used to instill trust and social capital in CRGs, and examines the issues of public policy, telecommunications, and e-government related to such a system.     

Unbundling the effects of institutions on firm resources: The contingent value of being local in emerging economy private equity

How do host country institutions influence the value of a firm's local resources? Using a novel dataset on the performance of 47 private equity (PE) firms in 49 emerging economies, we show evidence that the answer depends on the type of institution. Focusing on conditions at the time of initial investment, we find that PE firms with local origins and foreign PE firms with local experience performed better when contract enforcement institutions were weak than when they were strong. Financial development, in contrast, may have undermined the value of PE firm local origins. These results help reconcile contrasting findings on how host country institutions influence performance and lead us to contend that unbundling institutions is necessary for continued development of the institutions‐based view. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Networks of mind and networks of organizations: The map metaphor in business network research

This paper examines the definitions and uses of the network picture metaphor in industrial marketing research. Conceptually, the paper extends our understanding of networks and of representations of networks among researchers and practitioners as pictures or maps. A threefold interpretation is proposed of network pictures as representationalist, mentalist and situated. The representationalist use has dominated business-to-business network research while the mentalist use is prominent in strategic management and has recently made an entrance into industrial marketing research. The representationalist version of pictures, despite its apparent innocence, can either imply or leave unexamined the mentalist version, but mentalism stands in contradiction to much network thinking. This paper seeks to resolve the emerging contradiction of representationalist and mentalist versions of network pictures by advocating a situated version. Seeing network pictures as situated in use is helpful in grasping cognitions and actions in a manner consistent with networks. The paper concludes by developing the situated version of network pictures as ‘actants’ and sketches the benefits and implications for business researchers and practitioners.     

Predicting the cost of environmental management system adoption: the role of capabilities,resources and ownership structure

This research explores why some facilities accrue greater costs when adopting an environmental management system (EMS) and why costs vary among three different ownership structures. Using survey data of organizations that documented their EMS adoption costs over a 3‐year period, the results show that publicly traded facilities had stronger complementary capabilities prior to EMS adoption and therefore lower adoption costs. By contrast, government facilities and privately owned enterprises had fewer capabilities and accrued higher EMS adoption costs. The development of organizational capabilities and resources therefore appears to be a function of both organizational exploitation of imperfect or incomplete market factors, and the institutional context of these decisions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.