Exploring Determinants and Consequences of International Diversification: A Multi-Level Perspective

The dissertation explores determinants and consequences of international diversification and consists of two essays. Essay I focuses on the relationship between international diversification and firm performance (ID-P). Drawing on the global strategy literature and the institution-based view of strategy, we propose that the mixed findings of extant research on the ID-P relationship can be explained by the contextual conditions in which this relationship exists, including home-country formal and informal institutions. The model is tested in a meta-analysis (HOMA, MARA, and HiLLMA analyses) of firm-, industry-, and home country-level factors driving the ID-P relationship. The sample consists of 359 primary studies across 32 countries between 1972 and 2012—the largest sample of primary studies of any meta-analysis on this topic to date. The main finding is that international diversification positively impacts firm performance and the strength of this effect is contingent on the specific formal and informal institutions of the home country. Essay II focuses on the relationship between corporate governance and international diversification (CG-ID). The study utilizes a multidimensional conceptualization of the two constructs, exploring breadth and depth of ID and several mechanisms of CG (e.g., ownership concentration, CEO compensation, and board independence). Drawing on agency theory and the resource and information-processing perspectives, we propose bidirectional causal effects between CG and ID. Our arguments are then contextualized by exploring the moderating effect of home-country institutional and cultural conditions and, in particular, the legal protection of minority shareholders and the national uncertainty avoidance. We test the model using meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) with data from 104 primary studies across 28 countries covering the 1970-2012 period and find overall support for our theoretical predictions. The dissertation contributes to the literatures of global strategy and corporate governance and provides valuable insights to the practice of international business

Cultural Distance and Firm Internationalization:A Meta-Analytical Review and Theoretical Implications

This paper presents the most comprehensive review and meta-analysis of the literature on cultural distance and firm internationalization to date. We analyze the effects of cultural distance on key strategic decisions throughout the entire process of internationalization. For the preinvestment stage, we examine the decisions on where to invest (location choice), how much to invest (degree of ownership), and how to organize the foreign expansion (entry and establishment mode). For the postinvestment stage, we examine the decisions of how to integrate the foreign subsidiary into the organization (transfer of practices) as well as the performance effects of cultural distance at both the subsidiary and the firm level. We find that firms are less likely to expand to culturally distant locations but if they do, they prefer greenfield investments and integrate subsidiaries more through transfer of management practices. Cultural distance does not seem to affect how much capital firms invest and whether they enter through a joint venture or full ownership. Interestingly, cultural distance has a strong negative effect on subsidiary performance but no effect on the performance of the whole multinational company. In addition, we find that the effects of cultural distance are not sensitive to time, but they are sensitive to the cultural framework used (e.g., Hofstede vs. Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) and the home country of the company (developed vs. emerging market). Based on our study, we feel confident to offer some theoretical insights, recommendations for improving the validity and reliability of cultural-distance research, and ideas for future research

Le risorse nelle “dinamiche competitive” tra aziende

L’obiettivo del lavoro è quello di comprendere in quali modi e in che misura le risorse possono “isolare” l’azienda dalla competizione, conferendole la possibilità di ottenere superiori performance reddituali. Il primo capitolo si incentra inizialmente sulle prospettive di analisi oggettiva e soggettiva dell’azienda; successivamente l’attenzione è rivolta alla distinzione concettuale tra “fattore produttivo”, “condizione di produzione” e “risorsa”. Il secondo capitolo approfondisce il tema delle risorse come fonti primarie della “distintività” aziendale. Nel terzo capitolo, si illustra come le risorse incidano sull’intensità della relazione competitiva che intercorre tra due o più aziende

Internazionalizzazione, performance delle imprese e crisi economiche: i produttori di piastrelle di ceramica del distretto di Modena e Reggio Emilia

L'articolo propone una analisi delle risposte alla crisi da parte delle aziende del distretto ceramico di Sassuol

International experience and imitation of location choices: The role of experience interpretation and assessment and its board‐level microfoundations

Drawing on the information-based imitation and information-processing perspectives, we examine how experience interpretation and assessment—and in particular its board-level microfoundations—affects the relationship between a firm's international experience and its decision to imitate the market leader's location choices. Our results show that the negative relationship between international experience and imitation of location choices is positively moderated by board turnover, board age, and board equity ownership but not influenced by board gender diversity. These findings advance our understanding of the interplay between information-based motives for imitation and firms' information processing and organizational learning. Specifically, we contribute to research on the effect of international experience on firms' mimetic behavior by pointing out the relevance of experience interpretation and assessment from a microfoundations perspective

International experience and imitation of location choices: The role of experience interpretation and assessment and its board‐level microfoundations

Research summary Drawing on the information-based imitation and information-processing perspectives, we examine how experience interpretation and assessment—and in particular its board-level microfoundations—affects the relationship between a firm's international experience and its decision to imitate the market leader's location choices. Our results show that the negative relationship between international experience and imitation of location choices is positively moderated by board turnover, board age, and board equity ownership but not influenced by board gender diversity. These findings advance our understanding of the interplay between information-based motives for imitation and firms' information processing and organizational learning. Specifically, we contribute to research on the effect of international experience on firms' mimetic behavior by pointing out the relevance of experience interpretation and assessment from a microfoundations perspective. Managerial summary Our study provides indications for executives attempting to predict competitors' global strategy. When it comes to location choices, we find that companies with less international experience are more likely to follow the market leader, while those internationally experienced are more likely to follow their own path. Moreover, lower board turnover, relatively younger directors, and smaller equity ownership can favor the articulation and exploitation of the lessons offered by prior international experiences, thus further reducing the company's inclination to imitate the leader's location choices. Firms seeking an independent path toward internationalization can therefore use corporate governance—and in particular board-level factors—to enhance their ability to interpret and assess their international experience

Cultural distance and the process of firm internationalization: A meta-analytical review and theoretical implications

This paper presents the most comprehensive review and meta-analysis of the literature on cultural distance and firm internationalization to date. We analyze the effects of cultural distance on key strategic decisions throughout the entire process of internationalization. For the preinvestment stage, we examine the decisions on where to invest (location choice), how much to invest (degree of ownership), and how to organize the foreign expansion (entry and establishment mode). For the postinvestment stage, we examine the decisions of how to integrate the foreign subsidiary into the organization (transfer of practices) as well as the performance effects of cultural distance at both the subsidiary and the firm level. We find that firms are less likely to expand to culturally distant locations but if they do, they prefer greenfield investments and integrate subsidiaries more through transfer of management practices. Cultural distance does not seem to affect how much capital firms invest and whether they enter through a joint venture or full ownership. Interestingly, cultural distance has a strong negative effect on subsidiary performance but no effect on the performance of the whole multinational company. In addition, we find that the effects of cultural distance are not sensitive to time, but they are sensitive to the cultural framework used (e.g., Hofstede vs. Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) and the home country of the company (developed vs. emerging market). Based on our study, we feel confident to offer some theoretical insights, recommendations for improving the validity and reliability of cultural-distance research, and ideas for future research

Home Country Institutions and the Internationalization-Performance Relationship : A Meta-Analytic Review

We propose that the mixed findings of research on the internationalization-performance (I-P) relationship reflect its failure to adequately consider the moderating role of firms’ home country formal and informal institutions. This general hypothesis is supported in a meta-analysis of the firm-, industry-, home country–, and host country–level factors driving the I-P relationship across 32 countries between 1972 and 2012 from 359 primary studies—the largest sample of primary studies of any meta-analysis on this topic to date. We make three main contributions to the I-P and global strategy literatures. First, we develop a novel integration of the theoretical logics from the I-P research and the institution-based view of strategy to explain how embeddedness in home country institutions affects the strength of the I-P relationship. Second, we show the importance of including both formal and informal institutions in analyses of firms’ institutional embeddedness, thereby extending our knowledge of the effects of institutional complexity. Our third contribution is methodological and reflects our use of advanced meta-analytical techniques based on both product-moment and partial correlations as effect sizes, which allow us to address unresolved debates about the sign and shape of the I-P relationship. Our results show that the I-P relationship is positive, although the overall effect is small and varies greatly across firms’ home countries. We conclude by discussing the findings’ relevance and promising future research avenues, including novel research questions, multilevel theoretical and empirical frameworks, and improvements in methodological rigor

NETWORK DI SERVIZI PER LA NAUTICA DA DIPORTO

REPORT DI RICERCA FINANZIATA DALLA REGIONE TOSCANA E DALLA PROVINCIA DI LUCC

Board independence and firm internationalization: a meta-analysis

Purpose: Despite agency theory and resource dependence theory suggesting that – albeit through different mechanisms – board independence positively influences firm internationalization, empirical evidence on this relationship has been mixed and inconclusive. Based on this, the purpose of the present study is twofold: first, to analyze and synthesize the existing empirical literature and, second, to develop new theoretical insights on the effect of board independence on firm internationalization. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used advanced meta-analytic techniques that allowed them, first, to synthesize the existing empirical literature on the board independence–firm internationalization relationship and, second, to examine the effect of several contingencies on such relationship. This study relies on data from 87 primary studies (published and unpublished) carried out in multiple academic fields in the period 1998–2021 and covering 49 countries. Findings: The results confirm the established agency and resource-dependence arguments, suggesting that higher board independence is associated with greater firm internationalization. Moreover, the results show that the focal relationship is moderated by home-country formal and informal institutional factors, and in particular, the legal protection of minority shareholders and family business legitimacy. The authors do not find evidence that CEO duality and board size moderate the focal relationship or that board independence has a stronger effect on breadth than on depth of internationalization. Originality/value: This study lies at the intersection of the literatures on corporate governance and firm internationalization and on comparative corporate governance of the multinational firm, shedding further light on the role played by institutional environments in determining the effectiveness of corporate governance mechanisms