The emergence of multi-sided platform MNEs: Internalization theory and networks

The rise of the digital economy provides firms across the globe with unique business opportunities. Companies such as Facebook, Alibaba, and Uber are competing in a new multi-sided platform world; the primary focus of these firms, from their inception, is to provide digital infrastructure, information and technology—intangible assets that enable direct interaction or value creation across platforms by linking different user group and complementors, often at the international level. Building on data drawn from multinational multisided Platform corporations (MMPCs) operating in China, we combine insights from internalization theory and network effects in understanding the value creation of such firms. We explore the boundaries of these new “breed” of MNEs in exploiting firm-specific advantages (FSAs) and in creating new knowledge between headquarters and subsidiaries. The findings suggest that internalization theory needs to shift its focus from the ‘boundaries of the firm’ to the ‘boundaries of the local network’. By integrating their internal and external networks of knowledge in adapting their business models in host markets, this new breed of MNEs is more likely than the traditional one to gain a sustainable competitive advantage in the new information age.     

Balancing social and political strategies in emerging markets: Evidence from India

This article explores the substitution and complementary effects between political and social strategies on firm performance in the context of an emerging market (EM). Using in‐depth, historical case‐study approach, the article investigates how companies integrate political and social resources in this market. Corporate performance includes traditional measures, such as accounting performance and nonfinancial measures like the ease of doing business. The study finds that social strategies are stronger enablers of firm long‐term performance than political strategies. The latter have a short‐term impact on performance, but their success over time is limited. The main drawback of reliance on political resources in EMs is the lack of political stability, fragmented polity, and weak political coalitions. We identify rather limited evidence of firms using these two strategies as complements. Thus, we suggest that firms should employ both these strategies in the EM.     

Exploitative and exploratory innovations in emerging economies: The role of realized absorptive capacity and learning intent

This paper investigates the mediating effect of learning intent in transforming local suppliers’ potential absorptive capacity into realized absorptive capacity and its impact on exploitative and exploratory innovation. Using survey data from 155 auto parts manufacturers in Pakistan, we find that local firms’ realized absorptive capacity enables them to develop both exploitative and exploratory innovations. The findings further suggest that local suppliers’ learning intent mediates the relationship between potential and realized absorptive capacity which in turn lead to both types of innovation. In the context of the emerging economy of Pakistan, local suppliers’ absorptive capacity is found to be critically important in spurring exploitative and exploratory innovation, but learning intent enables realized absorptive capacity and thus in conjunction with realized absorptive capacity supports innovation. Consequently, there would be a strong case for policy intervention to assist emerging economy firms in building their absorptive capacity and strengthening their learning intent as a route for promoting innovation and improving their value added position in the global value chains of multinational enterprises.     

The relationship between laissez-faire leadership and burnout: Mediation through work alienation and the moderating role of political skill

We tested the relationship between laissez-faire leadership and job burnout and the mediating role of work alienation in this relationship. We also examined the moderating role of political skill in the relationship between laissez-faire leadership and burnout. Based on time-lagged (three waves, two months apart) survey data collected from 272 employees in 92 firms operating in China, our results showed that laissez-faire leadership was positively related to burnout both directly and via work alienation. Moreover, the positive relationship between laissez-faire leadership and burnout was contingent on political skill, such that the relationship was weak when political skill was high. The study provides useful suggestions to help managers curb employees' feelings of burnout and work alienation.     

COVID-19 and business renewal: Lessons and insights from the global airline industry

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the fortunes of multiple companies around the globe. Accordingly, questions are increasingly being asked about how organizations can revitalize during and after a crisis. Yet, we have limited understanding of how organizations renew themselves during crises over time. We explore this question through the lens and examination of two South-Asian airlines: Pakistan International Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines. The cases offer important insights into the reasons behind underperformance of state-controlled enterprises and renewal activities. We shed light on strategic renewal (SR) in the wake of increasing liberalization and deregulations in the global airline industry. To this end, we propose a four-stage approach towards renewing such underperforming organizations to respond effectively to black swan events and external shocks.     

Representational Approaches Matter

This paper raises the question of how ethical issues arising out of social inequities involving international business in developing countries can be represented, and articulates a conceptual framework that identifies and maps four different approaches to representing or making sense of such issues. A fieldwork-based case study on the child labor issue in Pakistan’s soccer ball industry illustrates the argument that representational practices do matter, and that when representational approaches go awry, they end up savaging the well-being of the poor in the developing world. Farzad Rafi Khan holds a Ph.D. in Management from McGill University. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan.     

Developing a Website Service Quality Scale: A Confirmatory Factor Analytic Approach

The surge in online consumers and their preference to buy over the Internet is nudging marketers to embrace e-commerce, but mere online presence without distinct user experience may not help attract and retain customers. Research suggests that website service quality is a determining factor in Internet buyer behavior. Several measurement tools have been used in the context of developed economies to measure e-service quality. The very few empirical researches in emerging economies, including India, motivated the researchers in the present study to refine the WEBQUAL 4.0 scale developed by Barnes and Vidgen (2002 Barnes, S. J., and R. T. Vidgen. 2002. An integrative approach to the assessment of e-commerce quality. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research 3 (3):114–27. [Google Scholar]) to measure the service quality at shopping websites. The present study employs tools like SPSS 20.0 and AMOSS 20.0 to analyze the data through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Study results suggest a 14-item WEBQUAL four factor (Ease of Use, Information Quality, Reliability, and Empathy) scale that is appropriate for Indian settings.     

Setting standards for Shariah application in the Islamic financial industry

The global growth of Islamic banking is taking advantage of the diversity and flexi‐bility in the fiqh opinions (often referred to as Shariah) to meet the challenges of growth. While the flexibility in fiqh opinion is presently contributing to global growth, it may soon become a constraining factor in the global growth of the industry if the challenges arising out of the use of diversity and flexibility in fiqh are not properly rec‐ognized and regulated. Though the infrastructure for standardizing the supervision and monitoring of the global expansion of the Islamic finance industry is rapidly growing, institutional arrangement for a regulated use of diversity and flexibility in Shariah rules is still a missing link. Such an institutional arrangement is needed not only to prepare the industry to play a bigger role in the development of global economy but also to ensure the adherence to the very specific element that makes the industry an “Islamic” industry. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Relevant or redundant: Elite consumers' perception of foreign-made products in an emerging market

Abstract

This paper examines the attitudes of elite Pakistani consumers concerning their preferences for foreign-made products and how these preferences influence purchasing decisions. Data were collected from a sample of 250 buyers using a mixed methodology consisting of focus groups and a questionnaire survey. The results show a link between the country of origin (COO) of products and purchasing decisions. The nature and extent of this link vary across product class and purchasing decisions. A means-end chain (MEC) analysis revealed a close link between consumers' liking for foreign products connected with how they valued those products both psychologically and physiologically. The findings have implications for attaining a competitive advantage by using marketing strategies to target elite customers. As a pioneering study, this paper advances the theoretical knowledge, providing a framework as well as specific guidelines for practitioners to conceptualise the COO construct. The paper also suggests a strategic direction that successfully targets the elite consumer segment in Pakistan.     

Product rejuvenation strategies

If you had just kept it a little longer, that old suit would have come back into style and, with a few alterations, you could have worn it again. Likewise, most companies have quite a few abandoned products which might need only a few alterations to make them marketable again.