The choice of entry mode in sequential foreign direct investment

Relatively few studies have examined the importance of an entry's sequential position to the choice of foreign entry mode. We use a dynamic model to analyze sequential entries into the United States from 1975 to 1992. Our findings show that several independent variables which explain a firm's initial mode of entry do not explain the modes of subsequent entries. These findings underscore the importance of experience in foreign investment, as companies learn from early entries and adapt the modes of subsequent ones. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

走出外资国民待遇的误区

作为世界贸易组织的成员 ,我国今后的利用外资工作要符合国民待遇原则 ,但是目前在对外资国民待遇原则的认识上 ,依然存在一定的误区 ,本文澄清对国民待遇原则认识的误区 ,并就如何贯彻国民待遇原则提出了具体的建议。     

Firm and environmental influences on the mode and sequence of foreign research and development activities

This paper develops an explanation for the mode and sequence of entry that firms select for their international research and development activities. The hypotheses are based on the internalization and evolutionary theory perspectives. I first hypothesize that there is a sequence to the mode of foreign research and development activities initiated. I then discuss two firm capabilities and alternatives which might cause firms to omit parts of the sequence. The context of the study is the foreign research and development activities of incumbents and recent entrants to the Japanese pharmaceutical industry. The results indicate intriguing differences between the motivations of established firms and new entrants in establishing foreign research and development activities. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

RETRACTED: Integrated knowledge exploitation: The complementarity of product development and technology licensing

In light of increasing licensing, we challenge the common assumption that product development and technology licensing are substitutes. We develop a resource‐based framework, which distinguishes a firm's technological resource base and technology exploitation processes. We further combine survey, patent, and financial data of 228 medium‐sized and large industrial companies to examine the interactions of firms' product development processes and technology licensing processes in order to explain heterogeneity in new product revenues, licensing performance, and firm performance. The results underscore that product development, which indicates innovative capacity, and technology licensing, which indicates desorptive capacity, are complements rather than substitutes in integrated knowledge exploitation in medium‐sized and large firms. This complementarity is particularly pronounced in firms with an emphasis on cross‐licensing and with a strong patent portfolio. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Expropriation and control rights: A dynamic model of foreign direct investment

This paper studies the strategic interaction between a foreign direct investor and a host country. We analyze how the investor can use his control rights to protect his investment if he faces the risk of “creeping expropriation” once his investment is sunk. It is shown that this hold-up problem may cause underinvestment if the outside option of the investor is too weak, and overinvestment if it is too strong. We also analyze the impact of spillover effects, we give a rationale for “tax holidays” and we examine how stochastic returns affect the strategic interaction of investor and host country.     

项目文化建设的实施障碍及对策探讨

针对建筑业常见的利益冲突问题及对抗性的项目文化,提出了建设基于信任、合作的项目文化的重要意义。从项目文化磁场的角度分析了项目文化的形成机理,得出通过项目文化建设来加快制度建设与实施新型项目管理模式的可行性,并以此为基础,从项目核心文化建设、组织模式变革及信息技术应用、组织文化塑造等方面提出了项目文化建设的对策及建议,旨在促进传统项目管理模式的变革,提高项目管理水平。     

浅谈外资并购中外商投资的新趋向

本文从国家的产业政策,全球并购的产业趋势,以及外资在国内投资的特征,分析了外资并购中外商投资的新趋向.     

跨国公司在华投资市场导向与绩效关系实证研究

以往文献多是从研发投入、技术转让、知识产权保护导致交易费用不同的角度研究市场导向与外资企业绩效之间的关系,本文则从外资企业功能定位、资源要求、市场机会、风险暴露以及不同动机的成本节约差异入手研究外资的市场导向对绩效的影响。相对出口导向型外资企业而言,市场开拓型外资企业在价值创造中承担了更多的功能、投入更多的资源、面临的市场机会更多、风险更小,并且成本节约更大,这些因素使其绩效好于出口导向型外资企业的绩效。我们通过江苏省苏州地区4026家生产性外资企业2003-2007年数据进行实证研究支持了这一结论。同时,实证研究发现市场导向与绩效之间的关系受到进入方式的调节作用,在合资与独资两种不同进入方式下,市场导向与绩效之间的关系在方向上表现不一致,而且在强度上也存在很大差别,合资的市场开拓型在华子公司的绩效要好于独资的出口导向型在华子公司的绩效。基于该研究结论我们提出相应的管理启示和政策建议。     

The fates of De Novo and De Alio producers in the American Automobile Industry 1885–1981

Do laterally diversifying firms outlast new startups? Or does organizational inertia give the advantage to startups? We explore these questions here using the experiences of American automobile manufacturers from 1885 through 1981. We advance and test an integrative model that allows the organizational effects of entry mode to vary across the firm's life cycle. We also compare the life chances of laterally diversifying firms by industry of origin, including especially bicycle, carriage and engine manufacturers. Findings show the potentially integrative value of an evolutionary approach to strategy.     

The effects of national culture on the theory and practice of managing R&D professionals abroad

G. Hofstede's research on 'Culture's Consequences' (1980) greatly shaped the discussion of cross-cultural differences in management theory and practice during the 1980's. And yet, his 4-D Model's applicability to the management of R&D laboratories and their professionals worldwide remained in doubt due to the fact that his four dimensions of Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism, and Masculinity were derived from responses of mid-level IBM employees with lower levels of formal education than those of typical R&D professionals. This paper reports on results of the first comprehensive follow-up study that (1) show Hofstede's four dimensions to be equally valid for highly educated respondents from 17 Western European countries, Turkey, and the USA, (2) describe significant similarities between the respondents' work goals and those of R&D professionals, and (3) suggest implications of cross-cultural differences along the dimensions for the theory and practice of managing R&D professionals abroad.     

金融危机对全球能源投资的影响

国际能源署(IEA)发布的报告——《金融危机对全球能源投资的影响(Theimpact of the financial and economic crisis on global energy investment)》指出,受此次全球金融危机的影响,全球能源供应和需求双方的基础设施投资大幅削减,而能源投资骤减将对能源安全、气候和贫困人群使用能源产生潜在影响。金融危机对全球油气上游投资影响严重,10年来上游投资首次出现下滑,2009年世界油气上游投资预算将比上年减少21%;金融危机对油气下游投资的影响小于上游;大型综合性国际石油天然气公司对危机的应对能力最强。2009年可再生能源投资预算将可能下降38%,生物燃料行业受油价下跌的影响投资下降严重,煤炭行业的投资预计将比2008年下降40%。     

A dyadic approach to the impact of differences in organizational culture on relationship performance

The authors extend previous research on relationship management by investigating the potential effect of differences in organizational culture on relationship performance among 124 dyads. Theory suggests that partner similarity may improve the feeling of we-ness thereby contributing to the perceived success of inter-firm cooperation. The findings reveal that differences in organizational culture are larger in less successful inter-firm relationships, but do not influence the perceived relationship success significantly. Our results suggest that relationship managers should not confuse compatibility with similarity; personal chemistry is important for relationship atmosphere but does not solely depend on similarities. Future research in this area may wish to concentrate on a more complete measure of organizational (sub)culture(s), the different levels of analysis (personal, organizational, dyad), relationship life cycles (stage models) and the role of organizational identity.     

The moderating effect of innovative capacity on the relationship between real options and strategic flexibility

In dynamic sectors, organizations should be capable of adapting to unpredictable environmental conditions. Strategic flexibility grants organizations the capacity to respond to the changes in their environment in the direction required, renewing their strategies and making the required organizational changes. The goal of this study is to analyze how the use of real options relates to strategic flexibility from a managerial capacity perspective. Through an empirical study performed on European firms, we confirm that innovative capacity exercises a moderating role between real options and strategic flexibility. The fact that a firm's management has foreseen and contemplated real options does not necessarily lead to their execution; they must also be accompanied by some innovative capacity.     

The effect of cultural differences in perceptions of transactions costs on national differences in the preference for international joint ventures

This study presents a theoretical explanation of why the cultural trait of power distance represents greater perceptions of transaction costs and lower perceptions of governance costs across societies. It demonstrates that cultural differences in perceptions of transactions and governance costs as represented by Hofstede's (1980) power distance index explain national differences in the preference for international joint ventures after market size, government limitations on sole ownership and uncertainty avoidance have been controlled. The study concludes that cultural differences in transaction costs provide an important extension to the transaction costs theory of joint ventures.     

The impact of interfirm relationships on investment: Evidence from the Polish dairy sector

Financial constraints and credit market imperfections are a major constraint on investment, growth and poverty reduction in transition and developing countries. This paper analyses the impact on investments of financial assistance programs as part of interfirm relationships. Our empirical evidence is based on a two-stage survey methodology. Qualitative evidence on dairy companies’ assistance programs was gathered in the first stage through in-depth interviews at the level of the dairy companies. Quantitative data on 290 milk producing rural households in Poland was collected through a random survey in the second stage. The empirical analysis shows that dairy companies have played an important role in financial assistance, in particular for dairy-specific investments. In addition, they had an important indirect impact on farm activities and investments through feed supply and loan guarantee programs.     

Analyzing the relationships between information technology, inputs substitution and national characteristics based on CES stochastic frontier production models

This research examines four interrelated issues at the country level: the value of information technology (IT), inputs substitution and complement, the complementarity phenomenon created by IT and national characteristics, and the productivity paradox, jointly and critically from a global perspective, using the so-called productive efficiency as the performance measure. To that end, we develop the three-factor constant elasticity of substitution (CES) stochastic production frontier model and apply it to a set of panel data from 15 countries over the period 1993–2003, along with the traditional two-factor CES models, within the one- and two-equation frameworks. In the two-equation setting, six national characteristics are selected as the contributing factors of the productive efficiency. The findings include: (i) the value of IT as measured by the productive efficiency is duly recognized: (ii) the productivity paradox is found to be absent from the production process in a majority of developed and developing countries considered, rejecting the existing argument that the paradox exists only in developing economies but does not exist in developed countries; however, the developed countries have used IT capital in their production systems more productively efficiently than the developing nations; (iii) traditional capital (non-IT capital), traditional labor, and IT capital are not pairwise substitutable, contrary to the notion that they are pairwise substitutable at the firm level; (iv) constant returns to scale, as commonly assumed, are not supported by the data; (v) different national characteristics affect a country's output (represented by gross domestic product or GDP) and its productive efficiency differently; and (vi) the complementarity phenomenon is observed in most of the countries (developed and developing) under study.     

Infrastructure investment on the margins of the market: The role of niche infrastructure providers in the UK

Across Europe, policymakers and market forces are striving to deploy next generation access (NGA) networks and ensure ubiquitous access to superfast broadband services. Due to scale economies and sunk costs, the roll-out of NGA is expected to be profitable only for large-scale providers and in densely populated areas. Nonetheless, alternative providers, such as utilities and local communities, have significantly contributed to NGA diffusion in many countries. Over the past five years, several small-scale initiatives have emerged in the UK, bringing fibre networks to urban and rural areas previously overlooked by either commercial or subsidised deployments. A multiple case study approach is employed here to explore the nature and the drivers of niche providers in the UK NGA market. All these initiatives are demand-driven and to follow a modular approach. Despite adopting different business models, they all rely on the resources inherited from past broadband initiatives and relationships with local partners. By investigating the strategies of niche providers in NGA market, this analysis sheds light on their contribution to bridging the digital divide in the UK and is presented as a preliminary assessment of their sustainability and potential growth.     

The moderating effect of control systems on the relationship between commission and salesperson intrinsic motivation in a customer oriented environment

Using a social psychology theory, Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET), the authors show how commission compensation can be viewed as a sales performance contingent reward and the extent of its use to reward performance, coupled with a sales control system, impacts salesperson intrinsic motivation in a relationship selling environment. In essence, the sales control mechanisms modify the impact of the commission based on whether it is perceived as controlling or informative. This is empirically tested using a sample of business-to-business salespeople. Partial support for three hypothesized relationships is shown providing preliminary evidence that CET is a way to study the integration of commission compensation rewards, sales control systems, and motivational impact. Implications of the findings for theory and for managers are considered, along with suggested directions for future research.     

基于现代科技革命的适应性组织构建

现代科技革命形成与企业组织变迁的历程表明,科技变革必然引起企业组织的变迁,现代科技革命的综合化、高速化和智能化的特征对企业组织提出了新要求．企业成为适应新要求必须构建结构扁平化、性能柔性化和运行开放化的适应性组织,其内部表现是以职能部门为基础的静态组织结构与以项目组为中心的动态组织结构并存的矩形网状运行模式,其外部表现是价值网络运行模式。