Rapidly with a Rifle or more Slowly with a Shotgun? Stretching the Company Boundaries of Internationalising ICT Firms

Small firms start operating internationally much more quickly than was previously the case. However, this requires that companies acquire resources and skills in a significantly shorter time than earlier. This paper discusses the pressures that such development puts on company boundaries from the viewpoint of Finnish ICT companies. Our findings indicate that the rapidity of internationalisation is positively correlated with the number of foreign partners but reverse to our expectations, i.e., the more partners the firm has, the slower its start of international operations. Additionally, the study confirmed that a rapidly internationalising firm has a narrowly defined core competence. Surprisingly, rapidly internationalising firms searched for partners with similar type of competence instead of complementary one. This indicates that the associations between core competence and rapid internationalisation deserves more attention.     

International entrepreneurial SMEs in the muslim world: The role of religion in the GCC countries

Recent studies examining the internationalisation of SMEs in emerging economies have observed that religion affects international market entry, which suggests that specific cultural aspects, such as religion, have not hitherto received enough attention. Hence, this study examines a theme that has seemingly escaped the research agenda: how does religion affect SMEs’ internationalisation? The study draws empirical evidence from 10 manufacturing SMEs located in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Through an embedded approach to case study research, the study queries the role of religion in the development of intra-Muslim internationalisation and contributes to the scant literature that examines the impact of Islamic values on international business activities. The findings show three dimensions of Islamic entrepreneurship, viz. regional rather than international networking orientation, risk aversion and proactiveness.     

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from Chinese listed firms

This study examines the impact of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on acquirers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR). Based on a sample of Chinese listed firms, we find that firms with cross-border M&A activities experience an improvement in subsequent CSR performance. Specifically, the CSR rating is approximately 8.24% higher in firms with cross-border M&As than in those without such activities. We also find that this positive influence is more pronounced in firms with low initial CSR ratings than in those with high initial CSR ratings at the time when a cross-border M&A deal is completed. Additional analyses reveal that this positive effect is mainly driven by the target firms from countries with high social preference relative to China and that the enhancement in CSR driven by cross-border M&As translates into higher operating performance and easier access to finance. Overall, our findings demonstrate that cross-border M&As can serve as a critical channel for acquirers from a country with low institutional quality to build a better reputation through environmentally friendly behaviour and socially responsible engagement, and therefore gain capital market benefits.