Intermediate units in multinational corporations: A resource dependency view on coordinative versus entrepreneurial roles

Due to the dispersion of headquarters’ activities across organizational and geographical boundaries, intermediate units (IUs) are emerging as a key actor of international business. IUs are intermediate structural layers between headquarters (HQ) and local subsidiaries with specific HQ responsibilities. Our study relies on original data of 67 IUs and, taking on a Resource Dependence approach, explores empirically the two HQ roles attributed to IUs: coordinative versus entrepreneurial. According to our results, the main differences between both roles relate to external network embeddedness, internal network position and autonomy. We argue that these differences arise from the dominant sources of power in each role. These findings have signi?cant relevance for theory development and managerial practice as we provide a starting point for understanding the dispersion of complex HQ systems as well as how those systems are discharged and add value.     

Network embeddedness,headquarters entrepreneurial orientation,and MNE international performance

The aim of this paper is to examine the role played by external and internal network embeddedness in the headquarters entrepreneurial orientation of multinational enterprises (MNEs), and the role of the latter in MNE performance. Drawing on responses from CEOs in a sample of 143 European MNEs, our study offers evidence for the antecedent role of network embeddedness on headquarters entrepreneurial orientation on the one hand, and for the positive impact of headquarters entrepreneurial orientation on international performance on the other. Our findings contribute to the network view of MNEs in the international business and international entrepreneurship literature by disentangling the complex phenomenon of entrepreneurship in MNEs, partly explained by its multiple embeddedness in external and internal networks, and by studying its impact on international performance.     

The impact of customer experience on consumer purchase intention in cross-border E-commerce——Taking network structural embeddedness as mediator variable

This study investigates the mediator effect of network structural embeddedness between customer experience and consumer purchase intention in the context of cross-border e-commerce. 321 copies of online questionnaires unfold cross-border online shopping experience. The structural equation model is built to analyze the mediator effect of network structural embeddedness. Network density, Network centrality separately plays a mediating role between website ease of use, website relationship service and consumer purchase intention. In contrast, both of them play a mediating role between customer cost and consumer purchase intention. The research suggests developing the relationship between consumers and e-commerce websites for cross-border e-commerce platforms from a network standpoint, but not only marketing.     

外部知识搜索策略对企业创新绩效的影响机制研究

快速创新使得企业外部知识搜索显得尤为重要,而不同的搜索策略会对企业产生不同的创新绩效。本文基于企业层面,从正式和非正式知识搜索视角出发,考察深度优先与宽度优先的知识搜索策略对企业创新绩效的影响机制,探讨关系嵌入性和知识缄默性在外部知识搜索策略影响企业创新绩效时的调节作用。以长三角地区161家企业为样本运用回归分析进行实证研究,结果表明：当关系嵌入性强时,深度优先的正式及非正式知识搜索策略对企业创新绩效的促进作用更大;当知识缄默性高时,宽度优先的正式知识搜索策略对企业创新绩效的促进作用更大。     

Why do self-initiated expatriates quit their jobs: The role of job embeddedness and shocks in explaining turnover intentions

Retaining self-initiated expatriates is a challenge for many organizations. Self-made expatriates tend to be mobile. They are willing to manage their own careers and to take up opportunities to live and work in countries of their own choice. Despite their importance as a source of human capital there are few studies on the work experiences of self-initiated expatriates and on the factors that affect their decisions to stay or leave their jobs. This article examined the effects of both job embeddedness and shocks on the turnover intention of self-initiated expatriates. Drawing on a sample of 204 self-initiated expatriates working in public healthcare organizations in the United Arab Emirates we found that both on-the-job embeddedness and shocks played a key role in predicting turnover intentions. The study also revealed that off-the-job embeddedness moderated the relationship between shock and turnover intentions such that self-initiated expatriates were more likely to consider leaving their organizations when they were firmly embedded in their community. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of these findings.     

The rise of Mexican entrepreneurial migration to the United States: A mixed‐embeddedness approach

Although many studies have analyzed the behavior of high‐skilled migration to the United States, few have focused on the escalating migration of Mexican entrepreneurs, and particularly on the determinants of this kind of high‐skilled migration. This article addresses this gap through a qualitative approach conforming to quantitative procedures, based on 20 in‐depth interviews applied to Mexican entrepreneurs working and/or living in the United States. Theoretically, a mixed‐embeddedness approach guides this research because it allows examining both the individual characteristics of Mexican entrepreneurs, and the influence of the home and host countries' institutional contexts on their business endeavors. Findings revealed Mexico's institutional weaknesses, such as insecurity, corruption, and bureaucracy, are important drivers of migration but so are the perception of a friendly U.S. fiscal system, the search for a better quality of life, and the appeal of a more transparent business environment.     

The emergence of new Islamic economic and business moralities

This article aims to explore the sources of the observed transformation in the embeddedness of economic, business, and financial practices of Muslim individuals in comparison to premodern period Muslims. It argues that the predomination of instrumental reasoning in modern times, as opposed to substantive morality in everyday practice, is one of the main reasons behind the transformation of embeddedness of Muslim individuals. Instrumental reasoning, being the dominant methodology, leads to diminished submergence in social relations; that is not limited to interpersonal relationships, but further extended to the core religious acts. How such an emergent economic and business morality is reconciled with the Islamic substantive morality is examined. It is argued that “transformation of exception into norm” is the main method used to reconcile instrumental reasoning with Islamic law in fulfilling religious obligations, at least in terms of fulfilling the form and in complying with the necessities of modern life. This has led to the emergence of new economic and business moralities.     

对地方政府吸引台商投资政策的新探讨——从企业集群角度分析

吸引外商投资作为解决资金瓶颈的一种有效手段,正被各地政府视作一项重要任务。作为现代企业进行投资生产最重要的特征就是企业集群,但在实际工作中,以政府主导的吸引外资行为却很少受到企业集群理论的指导,因而产生招不到“商”或即使招到“商”也留不住的现象。对于台资企业,这一现象尤为明显。根据企业集群根植性的理论对台资企业群现存问题进行深入分析,对地方政府吸引台商投资的行为提出积极的政策建议。     

银企关系与房地产公司的信贷违约--基于嵌入性视角的研究

嵌入性理论认为,社会资本是企业可以利用的重要资源。本文基于我国房地产上市公司信贷数据,发现银企关系作为企业一项重要的社会资本提供了财务变量和股票市场变量以外有关公司违约的重要信息,有助于提高违约风险模型的预测能力。其中银企双边关系久期、主营房地产业务时间以及公司国有背景与违约风险率显著负相关,银企关系规模的实际作用效果与关系网络的规模和结构有关。     

The role of network embeddedness across multiple social networks: Evidence from mobile social network games

This article examines peer influences from network relationships within a social network game (i.e., embeddedness) and across such games (i.e., multiplexity). Drawing on social influence theory, we develop a bivariate Poisson model of users’ repeated visits and latent attrition that accommodates peer interaction after controlling for homophily. We estimate the model using data from two social network games with considerable overlap among network members. We find that friends who are only multiplex across games exert greater peer influence on users’ game visits than members who are embedded within a single game. We also determined that ignoring network multiplexity across games may lead firms to mistarget users due to biased peer influences of embedded friends. This result provides an unresearched explanation—strength of peer influence—for the mixed findings in previous literature on network embeddedness. We utilized our results to conduct several scenario analyses to demonstrate how firms can effectively manage users’ engagement and target users in multiple social network games.