Essays on the internationalisation process of Spanish companies in China

L’objectiu de la present tesis es identificar les formes d’entrada de l’empresa espanyola a la Xina, les barreres que hi troben, així com els factors determinants de l’èxit de la seva inversió a l’exterior. S’utilitza una metodologia mixta d’anàlisi i mètodes de recollida de dades. Per un costat es realitzen entrevistes en profunditat amb directius d’empreses espanyoles amb inversió directa a la Xina y amb els assessors de les mateixes. I per l’altre, es du a terme un estudi quantitatiu relatiu a l’equip d’alta direcció a través de qüestionaris. Com a resultats principals trobem que a l’actualitat la filial es la principal forma d’entrada al país asiàtic és mitjançant una filial i que les barreres més importants que han d'afrontar són burocràtiques, culturals i relacionades amb els recursos humans. Quant als factors d'èxit, trobem en l'equip directiu una de les claus del procés d'internacionalització.El objetivo de la presente tesis es identificar las formas de entrada de la empresa española en China, las barreras que encuentran, así como los factores determinantes del éxito de su inversión en el exterior. Se utiliza una metodología mixta de análisis y métodos de recogida de datos. Por un lado se realizan entrevistas en profundidad con directivos de empresas españolas con inversión directa en China y con los asesores de éstas. Y por el otro se lleva a cabo un estudio cuantitativo relativo al equipo de alta dirección a través de cuestionarios. Como principales resultados encontramos que actualmente la principal forma de entrada en el país asiático es mediante una filial y que las barreras más importantes que tienen que afrontar son burocráticas, culturales y relacionadas con los recursos humanos. En cuanto a los factores de éxito, encontramos en el equipo directivo una de las claves del proceso de internacionalización.The aim of the present thesis was to identify the entry modes and barriers faced by Spanish companies in China, as well as their key investment success factors. To do so, data were collected by conducting interviews with the managers of Spanish companies that had direct investment in China and with their external advisors, as well as through questionnaires distributed among their top managers. This mixed methodology confirmed that a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise was currently the main entry mode in China and the most important barriers faced were bureaucratic, cultural and related to human resources. When the success factors were considered, the top management team was shown to be a key element of the internationalisation process

Is Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Coming out on Top? A Comparison with Activity-Based Costing in the Health Field

The cost of health is a recurrent topic that has generated much research, as it affects all of society. Both public and private agents need to know the real cost of treatments, services, and products for decision-making. This article aims to compare the use and research impact of two cost systems widely used in health: ABC and TDABC, which is an evolution of ABC. For doing so, a bibliometric review in Scopus and Medline was carried out encompassing the years 2009–2019. The results show a great increase in publications using TDABC, while publications on ABC stabilized. On the other hand, the TDABC articles presented higher research impacts in traditional and alternative metrics. Articles on TDABC are more frequently cited, published in better journals, and more visible in academic social networks. The findings suggest that scholars and practitioners should focus on TDABC rather than ABC for addressing cost in health for its simplicity, projection, and research opportunities

Tourism Research on Sustainability: A Bibliometric Analysis

Tourism represents one of the main industries in terms of job creation and economic development while sustainability in tourism represents a worldwide challenge. The objective of the present study is to use a bibliometric approach to review the relevant literature. Bibliometric indicators, such as citations, are used to identify the field structure and the VOSviewer software is used to map the main trends in this area. Over the period 1987–2018, a total of 4647 papers were found in Scopus regarding sustainability issues in tourism. Analysis of the leading journals, authors, institutions, and keywords indicates that: (1) the literature on sustainability issues in the field of tourism is significantly growing; (2) a mere six papers accounted more than 300 citations, but there are several prolific authors; (3) of the 614 sources included in the review, the most important have published 46.7% of the papers; (4) in terms of documents and citations, the United States is the leading country in this topic; (5) according to keyword trend network analysis, sustainability is becoming a strategic approach for companies and tourist destinations. Finally, this subfield within the tourism literature has considerable potential and is expected to continue growing

The diversity of the top management team and the survival and success of international companies: The case of Spanish companies with foreign direct investment in China

There is an important stream of research in internationalisation studies about the influence of governing bodies on organisational expansion strategies. Using Upper Echelon Theory, this paper aims to analyse how the diversity of the top management team affects the success and survival of the company abroad. Data were collected from Spanish companies with foreign direct investment in China during the period 2012-2013. China was chosen as the host country because it is the world’s largest recipient of FDI and because of the considerable cultural and geographical differences between China and Spain, which make the investments especially risky and uncertain. Therefore, it deserves additional research. The results indicate that a top management team with members of very different ages has a negative impact on the success of the company abroad because the generational differences introduce different opinions into decision-making process. However, gender diversity increases the survival of the company. Survival is also greater if the company is smaller because it is more flexible and has a greater ability to adapt to market contingencies