Edith Penrose and a learning-based perspective on the MNE and OLI

We apply insights from Edith Penrose’s work to extant theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) as enveloped by John Dunning’s Ownership, Location, Internalization (OLI) Paradigm. We suggest that Penrose’s knowledge-based approach has important implications on the nature of, and the interactions between, O, L and I. Importantly, the resource/knowledge-based perspective of Penrose helps endogenize and integrate the three elements of Dunning’s triad in the context of a dynamic, strategic and forward-looking knowledge-based perspective of the MNE.Penrose, Learning, MNE, OLI

Value Capture from Organizational Advantages and Sustainable Value Creation

The impact of firm value capture strategies on the sustainability of the value creation process as a whole has been little discussed in the literature. Despite contributions by leading scholars on issues pertaining to value capture and value creation, moreover, we still lack a systematic framework of their determinants. Our purpose in this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for value creation and value capture, explore their relationship, and discuss pre-requisites for sustainable system-wide value creation. We then derive propositions and explore implications of our analysis on business strategy and public policy.Advantages, Value Creation, Value Capture, Sustainability, Policy

Institutional Diversity, Agency and Governance for Sustainable Value

Extant views of (shareholder) value, (corporate) governance, and competitiveness have a narrow view of 'agency', a poorly developed theory of value and pay little attention to sustainability. In this paper we develop a perspective on the determinants of value-wealth creation at the firm, meso-, and national levels, explore the limitations of extant theory of the firm, concerning governance and value in its context, and discuss some prerequisites of sustainability. We conclude that the pursuit of value is not antithetical to, but it derives from, the notion of sustainability, that sustainability requires both internal and external controls and that institutional diversity can help effect mutual 'stewardship' and monitoring. Moreover, for sustainable value creation, corporate governance needs to be aligned to national and global governance.institutions, agency, governance, sustainability, value

The co-evolution of organizational value capture, value creation and sustainable advantage

Despite recent emphasis on intra-organizational issues, scholarship on organizations, management and strategy remains unduly reliant on economic models, such as the industrial organization (IO) market structure-based analysis. The focus of such models is on price-output determination by firms and the economy-wide efficient allocation of scarce resources under conditions of full knowledge and certainty. This limits their usefulness for students of organizations who have concerns that are simultaneously wider and also focused on organizations, as opposed to just markets. In this paper, we aim to provide an answer and framework for analysing the most fundamental, indeed existential, issue of organization studies and strategic management scholarship. This is whether and how the pursuit of value capture from economic agents who perceive that they possess appropriable value creating advantages, capabilities and action potential, can motivate the emergence of organizations and their strategies and actions intended to capture socially co-created value in conditions of real life . To do so, we explore (the co-evolution of) value capture and creation and (their relationship to) organizational sustainable advantage (SA). In particular, we delve into the nature, determinants and relationship between organizational value capture and creation and explore causal pathways, trade-offs and their co-evolution, as well as vehicles through which SA can be effected in an evolving and uncertain environment. We also discuss implications for managerial practice, limitations and future research opportunities.Value Creation, Value Capture, Sustainable Advantage, Co-evolution

Cross-border Market Co-creation, Dynamic Capabilities and the Entrepreneurial Theory of the Multinational Enterprise

The concepts of asset co-specialization and dynamic capabilities have been instrumental in furthering the organization and strategy scholarship agenda, but have so far had limited impact to the theory of the MNE and FDI. In addition, the role of entrepreneurial management in orchestrating system-wide value creation through market and eco-system creation and co-creation, in order to advance private appropriation, has been all but ignored. We claim that these ideas can help explicate the nature of the MNE in the knowledge-based, semi-globalized economy. The nature of the MNE in its turn should not be seen as separable from either the objectives of the agents (entrepreneurs) who set them up or its essence – the employment of strategy to capture co-created value.Asset Co-specialisation; Dynamic Capabilities; Cross-border Market and Ecosystem Co-creation; Theory of MNE and FDI; Entrepreneurial Theory

The (new) nature and essence of the firm

Extant explanations of the nature and scope of firms, such as transaction costs, property rights, metering and “resources” can be integrated into a more general (capability based) theory of the nature and essence of the firm that recognizes the importance to the firm of creating (and capturing) value from innovation. We note that the appropriability of returns from creative and innovative activity often requires the entrepreneurial creation and co-creation of markets. Accordingly, market failure and transaction costs approaches need to be revamped to capture the essence of entrepreneurial and managerial activity that extends beyond the mere exercise of authority. We suggest that the nature and objective of the firm in an economy with innovation and incomplete markets is to capture value (profit) from its advantages and actions; and that the way in which the firm tries to achieve this (by establishing quasisustainable competitive advantage) is its essence. This is non-separable from its nature and objectives.firm, nature, essence, innovation, dynamic capabilities

Innovation Governance for Value Capture -The Problem and a Proposed Simple Model-based Solution

We aim to model the "optimal" choice on internal versus external innovation for value capture of different-sized firms, in the context of multi-level bargaining. We find that size differentials are a major determinant for the choice in hand. We derive implications for "closed" versus "open" innovation approaches, and we discuss managerial practice, limitations and possible extensions.Innovation, Firm Size, Value Capture, Patent Portfolios

The political economy of European anti-trust and industrial policy

This paper discusses alternative political economic perspectives on competition (antitrust) and industrial policies (IP), in theory and in practice, while critically assessing recent European IP in this context. It develops a new framework for IP, which emphasises the sustainability of value and wealth creation at the firm, meso and supranational levels, and explores its implications for IP in general and European IP in particular. It views current EU policies as a step in the right direction, but argues that they need to pay more attention to the issue of economic sustainability, the link between corporate, public and supranational governance, and the impact that different power structures and hierarchies of agencies have on industrial policies for sustainable value and wealth creation. The limitations of self-monitoring and diversity suggest the need for an accountable supranational competition and regulatory policy organisation with a strong focus on economic sustainability.European Industrial Policy, Market Failure, Resource Creation, Economic Sustainability

The Political Economy of Globalization – Revisiting Stephen Hymer 50 Years On

We discuss issues pertaining to the political economy of “globalization”, in the context of the seminal contribution by Stephen Hymer. While Hymer’s contribution to the theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) and foreign direct investment (FDI) is widely recognized, his contribution to the political economy of what he called “multinational corporate capital” has received less attention. In this paper we revisit some of the issues he raised, notably uneven development, global governance and central planning in the context of post-Hymer scholarly thinking and the shifting global landscape. In so doing we also speculate on the challenges and future of globalization.Stephen Hymer, International Political Economy, Institutions, Globalization,Sustainability