Investment motives,ownership advantages and institutional distance: An examination of Russian cross-border acquisitions

We apply the OLI framework, first, to examine the motives of Russian cross-border (CB) M&A activity in the period 2007–2013 and, second, to analyze the ownership preferences of Russian multinationals abroad. We test our first set of models using panel data of 322 country/year observations and the second set of models using cross-sectional firm-level data of 318 M&A deals. Our analysis shows that traditional investment motives provide a limited explanation of what attracts or deters Russian acquirers abroad. We extend our base-model to include institutional distance and find that it plays a critical role on Russian CB M&A activity. As a second step, we employ state ownership as a specific type of institutional ownership advantage and discover that partial state ownership discourages Russian firms from pursuing full-ownership in CB M&As. Moreover, Russian multinationals benefit from internalization advantages (full M&A ownership) in tandem with location advantages derived from natural resource endowments.     

Post-M&A technological capability-building of emerging market firms in China: the case of Lenovo

Technological acquisitions have become a strong motivation for cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) activities by firms in emerging countries. However, whether these companies achieve their objectives remains an open question. This article presents a case study of Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM’s PC division with a focus on inventor productivity after acquisition. Our case study suggests that while a ‘light-touch’ integration approach helped avoid the all-too-common post-M&A productivity drop, intra-firm knowledge transfers to veteran inventors of the acquirers remained difficult due to the knowledge gap. However, M&A events create other opportunities to improve the technological capability of the acquiring company by sourcing new talent globally, offering unignorable merit that justifies outbound M&A activities by emerging market firms.     

The effect of non-conventional outbound foreign direct investment (FDI) on the domestic employment of multinational enterprises (MNEs)

Using a sample of 787 Japanese MNEs operating in 60 countries from 1996 to 2010, this study examines the impacts of MNEs’ three most commonly observed forms of non-conventional outbound FDI (i.e., as a means to counter trade barriers, to achieve a financial hedge, or to obtain tax breaks) on domestic employment levels of MNEs at home. We build on a conceptual classification of ‘motivation-activity’ of MNEs as a theoretical framework, and evaluate the impacts of MNEs’ non-conventional outbound FDI on their domestic employment levels in relation to the MNEs’ specific combination of ‘motivation’ and ‘activity’ as they conduct outbound FDI in host countries. The 3SLS regression results show strong evidence that non-conventional outbound FDI in core business activities reduces MNEs’ domestic employment levels when the investment is primarily for responding to country-specific conditions, such as circumventing host country restrictions (e.g., FDI to counter trade barriers) or escaping from home country restrictions (e.g., FDI for tax incentive packages), while FDI in non-core business activities (e.g., FDI for financial hedging or FDI in tax havens) has either a positive or insignificant effect on MNEs’ domestic employment levels depending on whether it aims to develop FSAs or not. We conclude the study with public policy implications from these findings.     

The Mabey and Johnson bribery scandal: A case of executive hubris

Convicted for paying bribes to secure contracts abroad, Mabey and Johnson (M&J), a UK construction firm, made both legal and international business history. Drawing on hubris as a lens, we examine M&J's bribery scandal in Ghana and Jamaica. Through a qualitative study of court documents, witness statements, newspaper articles, and internal company emails, we unpack the bribery scheme operated by M&J executives that enabled the firm to illegitimately win major government contracts in Ghana and Jamaica. Fueled by executive hubris, M&J's practice of bribing foreign officials to secure contracts effectively insulated M&J executives from day‐to‐day realities. Over time, the firm's executives viewed themselves as infallible, exempt from established mores, invincible, and were unremorseful for their actions. Building on these findings, we develop a hubris‐bribery heuristic framework showing how individual, organizational, and institutional contexts constitutively fueled executive hubris, driving bribery at M&J. The implication for theory and practice is examined.     

Immigrants,Financial Knowledge,and Financial Behavior

This research seeks to identify gaps in financial knowledge and behaviors between immigrants to Canada and individuals who are born in Canada. The research aims to evaluate to what extent immigrants involve themselves in financial planning and avoid harmful financial behaviors. Employing the Canadian Financial Capability Survey (2009), the findings of the study suggest that immigrants are less likely to show high levels of financial knowledge compared to born citizens. The knowledge gap between immigrants and born citizens narrows as an individual resides longer in Canada. In addition, immigrants are less likely to prepare themselves financially for their retirement or to have long-term investments. The findings provide a basis for addressing the implications of weak financial knowledge.     

Similarities and differences among cross-border M&A and greenfield FDI determinants: Evidence from Asia and Oceania

Firms choose either cross-border M&A or greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) when expanding their operations overseas. In this study, by focusing on Japanese firms pursuing FDI in emerging countries in Asia and Oceania, we provide empirical evidence of the similarities and differences in cross-border M&A and greenfield FDI determinants. We derive the following four main conclusions. First, an increase in host-country population size and decreases in per capita income and corporate tax rates generally attract both inward cross-border M&A and greenfield FDI to the host country. Second, however, a home-country firm tends to choose cross-border M&A rather than greenfield FDI when the host country sufficiently implements shareholder rights laws and the firm tends to choose greenfield FDI rather than cross-border M&A when the host country adequately enforces intellectual property rights laws. Third, a firm tends to choose greenfield FDI when the firm already has regional networks in the host country and choose cross-border M&A when the purpose of the firm's overseas operations is to establish sales distribution channels. Finally, a firm pursuing cross-border M&A experiences higher cumulative abnormal returns in its stock prices following the investment, while a firm pursuing greenfield FDI experiences increases in its stock prices immediately before the investment.     

Resisting immigrant myths: everyday consumer practices of Asian immigrants in America

Projective, depth interviews with U.S. Asian immigrants revealed their ambivalence toward the U.S. commercial sector's colonial-era representations of Asian people. These commercial representations provide polarized depictions of Asian immigrants as either threatening aliens or as model citizens. These portrayals reflect “racialized otherness,” or racial stereotyping that represent Asian immigrants as inferior. Our findings indicate that Chinese immigrants strategically use everyday consumption related to foodways to resist the reverberation of American immigrant myths. In some instances, immigrants’ consumption practices instantiate a regional Asian identity. In other instances, however, immigrants’ consumption practices reflect a separation from the past and an acceptance of a new although not exclusively American way of life. Notwithstanding immigrant consumers' resistance practices, the findings call for future research into immigrant consumers' reactions to visual representations of race, ethnicity, and gender.     

国内外水镁石阻燃剂的研发现状及前景

本文讲述了水镁石阻燃剂的研发现状和前景,简述了水镁石资源以及国内外研发与应用进展。重点介绍了日本公司如神岛、矢崎、味之素、大日本油墨等的研发活动。     

Merger and acquisition motives and outcome assessment

Research on merger and acquisition (M&A) outcome often focuses on tangible financial results and the reaction of stock markets. This research attempts to provide a more accurate assessment of M&A performance by linking tangible as well as intangible M&A motives to outcome assessment. The theoretical framework is based on evaluation theory. We analyze four case studies of international M&As conducted by European companies. The findings indicate that M&A outcome can be more accurately measured by aligning it with the motives defined by the acquiring firms. They suggest that M&A outcome assessment should be considered as a process covering both premerger and postmerger stages.     

Impact of the female board members and gaps in linguistic gender marking on cross-border M&A

This research focuses on how the gender composition of a multinational board and linguistic gender marking gaps between home and host countries impact the extent of cross-border M&A activity. We argue, both theoretically and empirically, that the presence of female directors impacts cross-border M&As. Using an instrumental variable approach, we demonstrate that this effect is causal. Innovatively, we measure gaps in linguistic gender marking between home and host countries, and find that larger gaps also reduce cross-border M&As. Finally, we show that small gaps in linguistic gender marking moderate the effect of female presence in boardroom on cross-border M&As. ‎     

日本出境旅游现状及我国拓展日本客源市场对策

我国国际旅游业的发展与日本客源市场有着非常密切的关系。日本旅游者主要前往亚洲国家旅游,目前韩国是接待日本旅游者最多的国家。我国可以采取改善旅游基础设施,提高服务质量,培养精通日语的服务人才,开发温泉旅游和滑雪旅游等措施拓展日本客源市场。     

Bank merger and acquisitions activity in the EU: much ado about nothing?

This paper investigates the patterns of consolidation within the European banking industry and examines the efficiency of the banks involved in the merger and acquisitions (M&A) activity to determine whether their performance improved as a result of M&A decisions. The performance of these banks is compared with that of other large banks, which have chosen alternative routes of development. The period covered is 1998 to 2004. The findings suggest that banks involved in M&A activity are more efficient after the M&A or when compared with other large banks. Country-specific characteristics appear to play an important role in explaining the results.     

The internationalization of Japanese business: Different approaches,similar problems

In staffing their overseas operations, Japanese firms generally maintain a view that prime positions should be held by the home-country personnel. Having thus decided not to follow the European or American pattern of overseas operations, Japanese firms continue to rely very heavily on their own managerial resources to run fast-expanding operations abroad. However, contrary to a general impression that Japanese managers are adept at working in foreign environments, our study of Japanese subsidiaries in Hong Kong points out that the success rate of their expatriate assignments is not necessarily as high as the figures widely reported by studies conducted elsewhere. This article will attempt to determine the causes of problems related to managerial assignments abroad by examining the practices employed by Japanese firms in the selection and training of managers for overseas assignments.     

Critical Success Factors through the Mergers and Acquisitions Process: Revealing Pre‐ and Post‐M&A Connections for Improved Performance

The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) literature is vast, spanning over half a century of research endeavor and drawing upon multiple disciplinary perspectives. Despite this wealth of material, the field suffers from a lack of connectedness. There is limited and compartmentalized understanding of the complexities of the M&A process, as the various streams of M&A research are only marginally informed by one another. As a result, the existing body of knowledge on M&A research remains fragmented. There is a need to establish links between existing approaches to M&A and the critical success factors they each promote. In this article, the need for a pluralistic and holistic explanatory framework that reflects the multidisciplinary nature of M&A is highlighted. The article shows that dynamic relationships between different perspectives on M&A and critical success factors matter. Identifying these relationships may help to further our understanding about M&A performance outcomes. Thus, the paper focuses on both relationships within each stage and between stages of the M&A process. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Comparison of merger and acquisition (M&A) success in horizontal,vertical and conglomerate M&As: industry sector vs. services sector

Due to the high failure rate of the merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy, this study raises the question of whether there is a difference between the types of M&A in relation to M&A success. The study presents a research model to examine how each of the types of M&As – horizontal, vertical and conglomerate – separately affect M&A success. The study compares between the industry sector and the services sector. The results show that horizontal M&As lead to integration success and synergy success in the industry sector, but in the services sector, it leads to a failure of the integration stage, and in the both sectors it hinders the profitability. Vertical M&As lead to a success only in relation to synergy in the services sector, while conglomerate M&As lead to integration success and synergy success in the both sectors, but without success in relation to the profitability in the both sectors.     

并购动机与并购绩效——基于节约交易成本视角及进一步投资需求的检验

基于节省签订合约成本的研究视角,区分企业横向并购和纵向并购,检验企业纵向并购的内在动机对长期并购绩效的影响。结果发现:专用性资产是企业纵向并购的必要条件,进一步投资则是企业纵向并购的内在动机;相比于横向并购,纵向并购有着更好的长期并购绩效,且随着观测时期的加长而愈加显著。通过中介效应模型检验发现:进一步投资对纵向并购的长期并购绩效具有显著正向影响。纵向并购在节省由专用性资产导致的高昂签订合约成本的同时,不可避免会产生新的组织成本,而进一步投资带来的收益抵消新的成本是企业纵向并购的内在动机,并会带来好的长期并购绩效,但需要在并购一段时间后才能逐渐体现。本文结论的政策含义是强调并购动机与并购绩效的相关性,而以降低交易成本为目的的并购更倾向于有更好的长期绩效,这也是相关并购政策发挥作用的重要前提。     

Trade liberalization and industrial restructuring through mergers and acquisitions

This paper analyzes mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as a channel of industrial restructuring after trade liberalization. Using the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) of 1989 as a source of exogenous variation in trade barriers, I show that trade liberalization increased domestic Canadian M&A activity (Canadian firms buying other Canadian firms) by over 70%. There is no robust link between tariff reductions and either domestic U.S. or cross-border M&As. I also provide evidence that domestic M&As transferred resources from less to more productive firms and that the magnitude of the overall transfer was quantitatively important.     

The impact of operational structure,lateral integrative mechanisms and control mechanisms on intra-MNE knowledge transfer

This study develops and tests a comprehensive framework aimed at explaining outbound knowledge transfer at subsidiary level in multinational enterprises (MNEs). Three groups of influencing factors are examined; the operational structure surrounding the subsidiary, lateral integrative mechanisms and control mechanisms. Results indicate that the operational structure, knowledge sharing incentives, and subsidiary socialization, have a positive influence on outbound knowledge transfer. Further, permanent teams as lateral integrative mechanism negatively influence knowledge transfer, while the use of liaison mechanisms and temporary teams have a positive influence. Hypotheses are tested using data on 74 subsidiaries.     

风险投资对企业并购决策的影响及作用机制

近年来,伴随着并购市场的快速发展及股权投资退出渠道的多元化,风险投资参与的并购决策事件大幅增多。本文以我国创业板上市企业完成的并购事件为研究样本,系统研究风险投资对企业并购频次、并购支付方式及多元化并购行为等方面的影响及其作用机制。结果发现,风险投资能够通过抑制管理层过度自信进而降低并购方的频繁并购行为;得益于风险投资对并购中信息不对称的缓解,目标方接受有风险投资背景的企业以非现金方式作为并购支付对价的概率更高;此外,风险投资通过提升企业内部控制有效性,使得有风险投资背景的企业更偏好于进行同行业并购,以优化企业并购目标选择及实现企业规模效应。     

Then And Now——How The Global Financial Crisis Will Affect Chinese Outbound investment

1. The future of outbound M＆A for Chinese enterprises
The background
As we read in the press lately, China＇s trade surplus and foreign-exchange reserves have fuelled its growing overseas M＆A activities over the last several years. Most commentators believe that this outbound activity will continue to increase. Some recent reports suggest, however, that since the current financial crisis began, there has been a slow down in China outbound M＆A activities,