Includes a synthesis of advances in the theory of the multinational enterprise, with a focus on internalization and international diversification issues. This research volume proposes important extensions of multinational enterprise theory, especially as regards the importance of geography to multinational strategy.
Mario Krist explores if, how, and why internationalization and performance are related to each other and explicitly considers the role of intangible resources in this context.
Pursuit of international markets and resources from foreign sources has increased dramatically across the globe during the past three decades, and the academic study of international diversification has increased concurrently. Although scholars have studied several areas of international diversification research, there are still some unsolved problems, and new theoretical perspectives are needed to advance the field. In this thesis, I derive comprehensive models of international diversification by examining these variables through new perspectives. Based on positive organisational scholarship, configurational and institutional perspectives, I build new theoretical frameworks to fill gaps in international diversification research. This dissertation comprises three studies. Each of the studies examines different angles of international diversification, and the three individual research papers are intertwined to provide a coherent and integrated framework for this thesis. In Study 1, I elaborate a theoretical framework advancing the generalisation of international diversification research in emerging economies. Previous studies mainly focus on international diversification of multinational enterprises (MNEs) from well-developed countries, but largely ignored international diversification of emerging economy MNEs. To fill this research gap, Study 1 captures how Top Management Teams' (TMT) industrial and institutional factors influence mixed foreign direct investment (FDI), an important type of international diversification especially for emerging economy firms. Following the positive organisational scholarship perspective, I examine the positive influence of TMT functional diversity on emerging economy firms' likelihood of conducting mixed FDI. Furthermore, the effect of TMT functional diversity on mixed FDI is contingent on the social context of the TMT, competitive condition of the industry, and institutional development of firm locality. As an extension to Study 1, Study 2 evaluates the impact of various international diversification strategies on firms' internationalisation performance in the context of emerging economies. Within the configurational perspective, Study 2 investigates equifinal paths for emerging economy firms to achieve strategic fit (in the form of desired internationalisation performance) through configurations of the TMT's structure, international diversification strategy, and environmental condition. Within fuzzy-set analysis, the empirical results support my proposition about configurations of strategic fit in an emerging economy firm's international diversification, and multiple equifinal strategic-fit paths have been found. In Study 3, I extend the literature by developing arguments for performance benefits of institutional diversification strategies of MNEs. Existing studies have largely overlooked host-country institutional differences when considering the effects of different foreign countries on the MNE performance. I seek to fill this research gap by teasing out the effects of institutional diversification, and building theory on the relationship between different types of institutional diversification and MNE performance. Based on new institutional economics and comparative institutionalism, I divide institutional diversification into two main types: vertical institutional diversification and horizontal institutional diversification. I propose that the degree of vertical institutional diversification will have a negative effect on the MNE performance, while the scope of this diversification will serve to strengthen this negative effect. For horizontal institutional diversification, I propose that the MNE's degree of this diversification will have a positive effect on its performance, and its scope weakens this positive effect.
The articles in this volume explore aspects of multinational enterprises & apply the theory of internalization to North America, Europe & Japan. Rugman provides the reader with insights into the intellectual & personal history of the papers.
As leading enterprises increasingly recognize the need for global strategy in the face of a continually competitive business environment, they also need to assess a greater heterogeneous range of possible paths to growth. This accomplished book offers an empirical analysis of some of these possibilities. Drawing on a large database of multinational firms, it investigates, for the first time, a series of important issues within an internally consistent ideological framework. It tests the determinants of the internationalization of sales by analysing overseas production ratio, parent export ratio, overseas sales ratio and sourcing ratio. It also analyses industrial diversification as an alternative route to growth. The Growth and Evolution of Multinational Enterprise will be of great interest to researchers and professional economists specializing in multinational companies, industrial economics and international business.
This book brings together the work of noted authorities in the field of multinational enterprises who explain and debate the merits of internalization theory as the new general theory of the multinational enterprise. Alternatives to internalization, such as licensing, joint ventures and other contractual arrangements are also evaluated. There are many applications to actual businesses, such as in the hotel, fish, food and banking industries. Also considered are regional office location and applications of the theory to Canada, Japan, the former Yugoslavia, the UK and USA.
The first edition of this book was a milestone. Applying the new theory of multinational enterprises in a North American context, it popularized internalization theory. Now with a new introduction assessing the ground-breaking contribution of the book, this 25th Anniversary edition gives scholars access to the original text.
