The Transformation of Chinese M&A Wave in ASEAN

The world has observed the rise of Chinese outward M&A activities in the past decade. These Chinese firms are expanding overseas; in the early stage, their M&A activities were mainly focused on gaining access to natural resources; as they advanced up along their value chains, their M&A activities have gradually moved toward gaining access to new market as well as advanced capability and technology. ASEAN is one of the region that has attracted incoming M&As from China. This study seeks to explain the M&A behaviour of Chinese firms in ASEAN. The paper collects primary data through semi-structured interviews with key informants. This primary information is supplemented by extensive data from secondary sources such as industrial reports and publicly available databases of international organisations. Despite the new trend of market, capability and technology-seeking M&As by Chinese firms, the majority of these M&As in ASEAN remains natural resource-seeking. This is due to the condition of ASEAN as region which is rich in natural resource but lack of large and mature consumer market as well as lack of advanced capability and technology. However, the investment has been anticipated to shift into the second-wave M&A. According to Chinese 13th Five-Year Plan and the increase of foreign aids to ASEAN region, future investments are likely to relate with technological innovation and infrastructure construction, peculiarly in logistics and transportation sectors

The Effects of Top Management Team National Diversity and Institutional Uncertainty on Subsidiary CSR Focus

This research investigates how top management team national diversity (TMTND) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) institutional uncertainty affect strategic CSR focus in foreign-owned subsidiaries. The paper develops a theoretical framework based on institutional theory and upper echelon perspectives to test a sample of MNE subsidiaries. Survey data were collected from subsidiaries in Thailand and Taiwan. Non-symmetric analysis suggests that while TMTND plays an important role in establishing a CSR focus, it is not conducive in itself to high-performance outcomes. Performance is measured by market share, sales growth, and profitability for each subsidiary. The results also show that there are notable differences between the subsidiaries located in Thailand and Taiwan as to what extent CSR strategic focus and top management team national diversity are relevant for high-performance outcomes. The study demonstrates that the links between CSR, TMTND, and subsidiary performance are much more complex than previously assumed

University business incubators: an institutional demand side perspective on value adding features

Objective: The purpose of this article is to investigate differing demands for university business incubator's value adding features. It introduces an institution based perspective to guide the argumentation. A framework has been developed, which is grounded in recent entrepreneurship theory and studies related to business incubator development. Research Design & Methods: An exploratory empirical study has been conducted to test the framework using participants from the United Arab Emirates and Thailand. The survey questionnaire was developed and tested before applying to the empirical study. Findings: The findings indicate variation in demands for incubator features in particular related to infrastructure and networking services. In line with the expectations, no differences have been found for the business support services. We also found that a more general strategy and goals seem to be preferred over a more narrow industry focus. Implications & Recommendations: The framework and our empirical findings suggest that university business incubators should take into consideration institutional differences between the countries in order to increase acceptance of the incubator concept, especially in developing countries. Contribution & Value Added: The study addresses a research gap, identifying cross-country differences in the demand of potential entrepreneurs for value adding features provided in University Business Incubators (UBI)

Headquarters value added and subsidiary performance: insights from Thailand

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of network relationship strength and subsidiary initiatives on the headquarters value added and performance in foreign-owned subsidiaries. Design/methodology/approach: Our study is based on survey data collected from foreign-owned subsidiaries located in Thailand. We use symmetric SEM-PLS and asymmetric fsQCA techniques to analyse our data. Findings: We found that intra-organisational relationship strength is one of the key determinants for high headquarter value added. We also found that headquarter value added plays a crucial role in explaining subsidiary performance. The role of subsidiary initiatives seem overall less pronounced than initially thought. Originality/value: The originality of this study lies in the conceptual framework based on networks and subsidiary initiatives. This is one of the few studies that empirically tests headquarters value added determinants in subsidiaries located in an emerging market. Furthermore, we employ SEM-PLS and fsQCA to look beyond more commonly tested symmetric associations

The effects of top management team national diversity and institutional uncertainty on subsidiary CSR focus

This research investigates how top management team national diversity (TMTND) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) institutional uncertainty affect strategic CSR focus in foreign-owned subsidiaries. The paper develops a theoretical framework based on institutional theory and upper echelon perspectives to test a sample of MNE subsidiaries. Survey data were collected from subsidiaries in Thailand and Taiwan. Non-symmetric analysis suggests that while TMTND plays an important role in establishing a CSR focus, it is not conducive in itself to high-performance outcomes. Performance is measured by market share, sales growth, and profitability for each subsidiary. The results also show that there are notable differences between the subsidiaries located in Thailand and Taiwan as to what extent CSR strategic focus and top management team national diversity are relevant for high-performance outcomes. The study demonstrates that the links between CSR, TMTND, and subsidiary performance are much more complex than previously assumed

The effects of top management team national diversity and institutional uncertainty on subsidiary CSR focus

This research investigates how top management team national diversity (TMTND) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) institutional uncertainty affect strategic CSR focus in foreign-owned subsidiaries. The paper develops a theoretical framework based on institutional theory and upper echelon perspectives to test a sample of MNE subsidiaries. Survey data were collected from subsidiaries in Thailand and Taiwan. Non-symmetric analysis suggests that while TMTND plays an important role in establishing a CSR focus, it is not conducive in itself to high-performance outcomes. Performance is measured by market share, sales growth, and profitability for each subsidiary. The results also show that there are notable differences between the subsidiaries located in Thailand and Taiwan as to what extent CSR strategic focus and top management team national diversity are relevant for high-performance outcomes. The study demonstrates that the links between CSR, TMTND, and subsidiary performance are much more complex than previously assumed