International search behavior of Business Group affiliated firms: Scope of institutional changes and intragroup heterogeniety

This paper investigates whether and when affiliation to business groups enables or constrains firms’ international search behavior during institutional transitions. We theorize that given the unique structure and complex form of business group organizations, the search behavior of affiliated firms is influenced by the degree of (mis)alignment in outlook at the group and affiliate levels of management. We identify the scope of institutional changes, business group attributes, and affiliate characteristics as sources of such (mis)alignment. The results from panel data on 298 firms from the Indian pharmaceutical industry for the 1992–2007 period show that the constraining effects of business group affiliation are observed only when institutional changes are specific to the affiliates’ industry and not when broad institutional changes affect the business group as a whole. Moreover, we observe heterogeneity in the search behavior of group affiliated firms. First, the degree of misalignment is greater in the case of affiliates belonging to older business groups and those that are more distant in terms of age and industry since the group’s founding. Second, by contrast and suggesting an alignment in outlook, we find that affiliated firms that occupy a prominent position within a group or industry are able to bargain for and receive attention and support from the business group to undertake international search. Our findings have implications for research on the role of business groups in a changing institutional context and for the strategic adaptation of firms embedded in complex organizational and institutional settings

An Assessment of the Exporting Literature: Using Theory and Data to Identify Future Research Directions

Exporting research is an established facet of the field of international marketing. That stated, the radical increase in recent export activity necessitates a sustained research effort devoted to the topic. In this article, the authors provide a qualitative review of the core theoretical exporting areas and evaluate the exporting domain quantitatively over six decades (1958–2016). For the quantitative analysis, they use multidimensional scaling and apply established bibliometric principles to offer an understanding of the field and to provide suggestions for future exporting research. For the evaluations, the authors used data from 830 articles with 52,191 citations from 35 journals. Using cocitation analysis as the basis to evaluate the data, they propose a series of intellectual structure implications on exporting that relate to internationalization process stages, dynamic capabilities, knowledge scarcity, social networks, export marketing strategy, absorptive capacity and learning, and nonlinear performance relationships involving marketing channel relationships

Antecedents and Performance Implications of Channel Integration in Foreign Markets

This study enhances our understanding of channel integration in foreign markets on two fronts. First, the eclectic approach to foreign entry mode, proposed by Hill, Hwang and Kim [1990] and Kim and Hwang [1992], is used to examine transaction-specific, organizational capability and strategic factors that influence channel choices in foreign markets. Empirical results based on survey of U.S. firms support the combined relevance of these factors in predicting the degree of channel integration. Second, the study empirically examines the performance consequences of channel integration. The results suggest that, although the degree of channel integration does not have a direct influence on channel performance, a contingency model based on the fit between the contextual factors and the actual channel choice is significantly related to performance in foreign markets.© 1997 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1997) 28, 145–175

The Use of Process and Output Controls in Foreign Markets

This study builds upon previous control research to purpose a model of formal controls used in managing activities performed in foreign markets. Theoretically derived contingency relationships are also proposed to assess the performance consequences of different formal control types. The findings support the importance of internal and external sources of uncertainty in determining the type of control used. Partial support was also found for the premise that the fit between the type of control used and the type of uncertainty perceived will contribute to superior performance.© 1995 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1995) 26, 755–786

State capitalism and performance persistence of business group-affiliated firms: A comparative study of China and India

Business groups emerged in developing economies through direct or indirect support from the state in order to overcome a variety of institutional voids and/or to further state objectives of economic growth. However, the efficacy of this organizational form and its associated governance structures have been debated given the dual possibility of business groups to allocate resources among its affiliates for cross-subsidization or winner-picking. We argue that elements of the institutional environment comprising of the state’s approach to organizations and the political context of these interactions vary across countries, thereby influencing business groups' resource allocation strategies and affecting the persistence of affiliated firms’ superior performance. Contrasting the types of state capitalism in China and India, we develop and test our hypotheses. We find that the effect of business group affiliation on firms' superior performance persistence is stronger in a state-led system of state capitalism (e.g., China) than in a co-governed system (e.g., India) and that this divergence of the business group effect is weakened as affiliated firms internationalize. Our findings have implications for understanding business groups across institutional contexts and the influence of diversity in the types of state capitalism on organizational strategies.Lin Cui acknowledges funding support from the Australian Research Council (Grant Number DE130100860), and Preet S. Aulakh acknowledges funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant Number 435-2012-1219)

International technology licensing: Monopoly rents, transaction costs and exclusive rights

As firms increasingly use licensing to exploit knowledge-based assets in global technology markets, appropriate structuring of these agreements has become an important line of research inquiry. One area that has received less attention is the nature of rights granted in inter-firm licensing relationships, although it is an important clause that has implications for profit generation from licensing of proprietary assets. Conceptualizing licensing rights in terms of number of licenses granted and exclusivity rights given to a licensee in a foreign market, this paper examines the determinants of these rights based on monopoly rents and transaction costs associated with different types of licensing contracts. Hypotheses are empirically tested through two studies, one based on large US manufacturing firms and the other on a cross-national sample of medium-sized firms actively involved in international technology licensing. Results from both studies show a greater propensity to use non-exclusive/multiple licensing when the licensed technology has greater potential to produce differentiated products, or when there is greater threat of substitutive technologies entering the market. On the other hand, innovative technologies and a higher degree of asset-specific investments required of the licensee for the technology are related to the use of single/exclusive licensing agreements.