Firm-specific assets and the internationalization–performance relationship in the U.S. movie studio industry

We study the role that firm-specific assets (FSAs) play in the processes underlying the internationalization–performance relationship. International business scholars have begun studying the interrelationship between FSAs, internationalization, and performance; however, this research is still emergent, and has produced inconclusive results. We believe that this may be due, in part, to research designs involving the same FSAs across many industries, even though individual industries may rely on different FSAs in their internationalization strategies. We address this issue in a single industry study of U.S. movie studios, which typically rely on blockbuster production capabilities as FSAs in their internationalization efforts. We show how these FSAs co-evolve with firms’ degree of internationalization, and how each factor mediates the positive effect of the other on performance. Our results highlight the importance of studying specific industries and their salient FSAs when assessing their role of such resources in the internationalization–performance relationship.     

中小企业国际化过程中的融资问题探讨

当前资难严重制约中小企业更好的发展,尤其是在中小企业国际化过程中,其融资难的问题更为突出。为此,本文结合中小企业融资现状,分析了中小企业融资难的原因,进而对解决融资难这一问题提出了几点建议。     

The regional character of Asian multinational enterprises

In recent issues of this Journal a debate has raged concerning the appropriate nature of academic research in the Asia Pacific region. While we support the desire for both rigor and regional relevance in this research, we wish to demonstrate a strong commonality between the performance of large Asian firms and others from Europe and North America. This prompts us to question the need for a new theory of the MNE based on the experience of Asian firms. Like their counterparts elsewhere, the large Asian firms mostly operate on an intra-regional basis. While in the literature it has been assumed that the path to success for Asian firms is globalization, we show that the data supporting this is confined to a handful of unrepresentative case studies. We also present a bibliometric analysis which shows an overwhelming case study sample selection bias in academic studies towards this small number of unrepresentative cases.

我国会计的国际化进程、特点及动因

改革开放以来，我国一直致力于建立一种适合市场经济的会计体制，并加强与国际会计惯例的协调。我国的会计国际化进程经历了三个阶段，呈现出从被动到主动、从局部到全部、循序渐进地进行协调的特点。我国经济融入全球经济的需要、海外直接投资的增加以及资本市场的发展等，是促使我国会计国际化的动因。     

The interactive effect of time and host country location on Chinese MNCs’ performance: An empirical investigation

We explore the performance implications of location choices Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) make. Drawing on internalization and organizational learning theories, we find that developing country MNCs entering other developing countries experience a positive effect on their performance in the immediate term that, however, erodes over time because of the decay in their initial internalized advantages. Conversely, MNCs entering developed countries experience a negative effect on their immediate-term performance but a boost in performance over time because of the gradual realization of learning benefits. Our analyses of internationalization and performance of 207 Chinese-listed MNCs between 1992 and 2005 corroborate our key predictions.     

Cooperative strategies in international business and management: Reflections on the past 50 years and future directions

Over the past 50 years, cooperative forms of governance such as equity joint ventures and other strategic alliances have received tremendous attention in international business and management research. This article traces the history of this research over these past five decades with particular emphasis on the critical role that (Columbia) Journal of World Business has played in disseminating scholarly and managerial expertise on the successful management of cross-border, inter-firm collaboration. We highlight the evolution of interest in different contexts, phenomena, theories, and methodologies, along with the factors that have driven interest in these topics. Several suggestions for future research are also provided.     

Business model innovation: How the international retailers rebuild their core business logic in a new host country

Although research into the business model has received increasing attention, few studies have so far been conducted on business model innovation in an international context. The purpose of the study is to identify different patterns of business model innovation which enables international retailers to rebuild their core business logic in new host countries. On the basis of comparing and contrasting the business model changes of 15 international retailers from various home countries to one single host country (China), our study provides an in-depth understanding of business model innovation in the context of international business. By looking at the firms’ capabilities in rebuilding their core logic in the setting of a host country, we reveal six routes of retail business model innovation. Utilizing the lens of organizational learning theory and internationalization, we identify three patterns of resource deployment by international companies in the process of developing business model innovations. Our study, therefore, provides insights and guidance for multinational companies in general, international retailers in particular, as for how to successfully adapt their business model from home country to host country.     

Me,myself and I: The role of CEO narcissism in internationalization decisions

Internationalization decisions represent major objects of international business research; in this context, the respective role of decision-makers, i.e., strategic actors has been under study for now nearly 50 years. However, some important individual characteristics of strategic actors, which seem to influence individual decision-making in a significant way, have been – in contrast to general management research – widely disregarded. Among those characteristics, narcissism plays a decisive role. Trying to provide a first attempt to fill this research gap our paper aims at theorizing on as well as empirically analyzing potential relationships between narcissistic tendencies of CEOs and their internationalization decisions. The empirical study of major German manufacturing firms over the period 2004–2013 shows that CEOs with a high degree of narcissism tend to intensify business activities abroad in general while the expected effect on intensified activities in markets with a high psychic distance cannot be identified. These research results help to better understand the drivers of firms’ internationalization, stress the importance of recognizing managerial decision-making in the context of analyzing business activities abroad, and improve the prediction of CEOs’ decision-making behavior in general.     

Tourist districts and internationalization of hotel firms

The present paper brings together two lines of research that the literature has more often than not studied separately: the generation of externalities in industrial districts; and the international strategy based on location advantages. The application of industrial district approach principles serves to identify the tourist holiday districts situated along the Spanish coastline. This is followed by an analysis of the extent to which the degree of firm agglomeration specific to each district, as well as the presence of institutions generating specific technical knowledge, influence the globalization of the tourism sector, both regarding internationalized Spanish hotel chains and foreign hotels installed in Spain.     

International commitment,post-entry growth and survival of international new ventures

This paper makes several contributions to the emerging literature on the post-entry behavior of international new ventures. Based on an extensive longitudinal data set, we investigate the dynamics of commitment, growth and survival of different types of newly internationalizing Belgian firms. Global start-ups have the highest initial and rapidly rising export commitment per market and are also more likely to continue exporting over time than geographically focused start-ups, and traditional staged exporters. However, global start-ups also display the highest failure rate. This high failure rate appears to result primarily from the ‘liability of newness’ and less from the added complexity associated with rapid and wide scope internationalization.