| 1. |
- Forsgren, Mats, 1940-, et al.
(författare)
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The MNE as the "crown of creation"? : a commentary on mainstream theories of multinational enterprises
- 2023
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Ingår i: Critical Perspectives on International Business. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1742-2043 .- 1758-6062. ; 19:4, s. 489-510
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: to analyse what theories assume about multinational enterprises (MNEs) when they claim these are superior and to discuss possible explanations for why MNE superiority seems to be dominant in the international business (IB) research field.Design/methodology/approach: A common theme in mainstream IB theories is that multinational enterprises (MNEs) are superior in terms of cost efficiency and innovativeness compared with other types of organizations. A closer look at transaction cost economics (TCE)/internalization theory, evolutionary theory and dynamic capability theory reveal a bias toward MNE supremacy because of how MNEs are conceptualized as firms and therefore fail to explain the essence of "multinational advantage ". These revelations and the strong dependence on the benevolence to provide unbiased data means that MNE supremacy posited by mainstream IB theories is as much a rationalized myth as an empirical fact.Findings: Although mainstream theories differ when it comes to the building blocks that constitute MNE supremacy, they have one attribute in common: they are silent as to why MNEs are superior compared with, for example, domestic firms or other types of economic agents. Irrespective of whether the focus is the strength of the hierarchy, the skill of managers or a common identity, nothing in the theories tells us that these factors are more pronounced in MNEs than in other types of economic actors.Originality/value: The paper deals with the issue of multinational advantage. It claims that mainstream theories of MNEs tend to assume, explicitly or implicitly, that MNEs are superior in terms of cost efficiency and innovativeness compared with other types of economic agents. The analysis demonstrates that this tendency is a consequence of how MNEs are conceptualized as firms in the different theories as well as of the strong dependence in IB research on the benevolence of MNEs to provide unbiased data. It is concluded that MNE supremacy posited by mainstream IB theories is as much a rationalized myth as an empirical fact.
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| 2. |
- Forsgren, Mats, 1940-, et al.
(författare)
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The source of MNE superiority from within or from outside? : A response to "the importance of being transnational"
- 2023
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Ingår i: Critical Perspectives on International Business. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1742-2043 .- 1758-6062. ; 19:4, s. 523-525
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Purpose The purpose of this paper is to respond to the comments by professor Ietto-Gillies on the paper on "The MNE as the Crown of Creation?"Design/methodology/approach The authors argue that the key points made in the commentary are broadly complementary to the arguments set out in the "Crown of Creation?"Findings The authors agree with the commentary that sources of advantages of multinationality lie "outside the MNE" - through its interactions with national governments and organised labour. However, the authors would caution that the achievement of such advantages may encounter constraints.Research limitations/implications The original paper ("The MNE as the Crown of Creation?") was a critique of mainstream theories of the MNE regarding the assumed superiority of the MNE. The response to the paper makes the argument that any superiority associated with MNE must be sought in its interactions with other actors.Practical implications The argument suggests that MNE managers seeking to exploit the advantage of multinationality through production shifting must be aware of the system-wide consequences of such actions.Social implications Given the conceptual nature of the argument and the level of abstraction, solid social implications can only be drawn tentatively.Originality/value - The key novelty in the response paper is the possible negative effect - for MNEs - of unconstrained exercise of production shifting.Originality/value The key novelty in the response paper is the possible negative effect – for MNEs – of unconstrained exercise of production shifting.
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| 3. |
- Glowik, Mario, et al.
(författare)
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BlackRock, Inc. (USA) : An environmentally sustainable asset investor as it claims to be?
- 2024
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Ingår i: Critical Perspectives on International Business. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1742-2043 .- 1758-6062. ; 20:2, s. 185-205
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeAgainst the background of sustainable finance, this study aims to address whether global asset management firms started transforming toward more environmentally friendly investment policies according to the Agenda for Sustainable Development launched by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.Design/methodology/approachThe authors apply qualitative, explorative research methods through the development of the case study of BlackRock, Inc. (USA). Addressing sustainable finance, the authors compare the opposite to the editorial page (op-eds) communication strategy of BlackRock against real life for the period from 2015 until today.FindingsThe op-eds communication strategy by BlackRock is multi-faceted targeting to develop a leading sustainable reputation supported by fine-grained relationships to business and policy makers. This study empirically proves that there is a discrepancy between BlackRock’s op-eds communication contends concerning sustainable finance and the reality. Among others this study found that BlackRock still invests in fossils and increasingly launches passively managed funds with limited transparency standards in terms of sustainable finance.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the corporate social responsibility literature focusing on fossil energy and sustainable finance. As BlackRock did not reply to the authors’ requests for conducting interviews, the authors rely on a broad range of secondary sources including material provided by non-governmental organizations. This study proposes that research should be amplified by further empirical studies among various sustainable finance stakeholders based on the research propositions the authors have developed as a result of this study.Practical implicationsThis research provides empirical evidence for business executives and policy decision-makers involved in the energy industry, corporate ethics and global financial asset management.Social implicationsThis study provides insights toward sustainable finance policies of BlackRock with corresponding outcomes related to global climate change and its impact on societies.Originality/valueThis study delivers empirical evidence on the energy transformation from fossils toward renewables against the background of sustainable finance strategies of large asset management enterprises such as BlackRock which is rare to find in the literature.
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| 4. |
- Holmström Lind, Christine, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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MNC involvement in social innovations : the issue of knowledge, networks and power
- 2018
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Ingår i: Critical Perspectives on International Business. - : Emerald. - 1742-2043 .- 1758-6062. ; 16:1, s. 79-99
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeThis paper aims to develop a conceptual framework and presents a number of propositions relating to why and how multinational companies (MNCs) engage in social innovations. The central focus is on the role of MNC knowledge, networks and power for their involvement in social innovations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors combine literature on social innovations, business innovations and MNC literature, and present a number of propositions dealing with the link between MNC knowledge, networks and power-relations and their potential involvement in social innovations.FindingsThe authors emphasize that when social innovations are embraced by MNCs, the way that these corporations use their knowledge, networks and existing power-relations needs to be adapted to the new conditions present in the social innovation arena.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this work is that the propositions are based on anecdotal evidence and that they are restricted to literature revolving around a few theoretical concepts (knowledge, networks, power). Against this, the authors suggest that to address the call for more empirical work on MNCs engagement in social innovation, these concepts could be used as a starting point in future empirical investigations.Originality/valueThe paper brings together and outlines a theoretical framework based on three theoretical approaches to the MNC as suggested by the literature: the knowledge-based MNC, differentiated MNC and political MNC. Based on these three perspectives, the key contribution of this paper is to develop a broader understanding of why and how MNCs engage in social innovation and the potential underlying liabilities for this involvement.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Kumar, Nishant, et al.
(författare)
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Managerial attention and antecedents of knowledge source exploitation in MNCs
- 2013
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Ingår i: Critical Perspectives on International Business. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1742-2043 .- 1758-6062. ; 9:3, s. 271-300
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the limitations of prior views regarding knowledge source exploitation by proposing a phenomenological approach to managerial attention and the antecedents of exploiting knowledge sources within the multinational corporations (MNC) network.Design/methodology/approach – A phenomenological approach to attention is taken to explain the antecedents of managerial attention in knowledge source exploitation behavior. This approach provides an alternative way of conceiving of knowledge source remoteness and familiarity, on the one hand, and exclusion and inclusion on the other.Findings – Drawing on a phenomenological approach to attention, the merits and limits of prior studies of attention and knowledge seeking/exchange behavior are addressed and three modes of managerial attention are proposed – relative attention, mimetic attention, implicit attention – to explain the antecedents of managerial attention to MNC knowledge sources.Originality/value – This approach to knowledge source exploitation and attention provides a rich conceptualization of taken-for-granted assumptions in extant literature on managerial attention and knowledge-seeking behavior. The framework offered here builds on a conceptually rigid foundation of attention that overcomes dualisms such as mind-body, subject-object, and thinking-acting that are often embedded in other mainstream approaches to managerial attention.
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| 7. |
- Persson, Sara
(författare)
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Deliberative ideals and hegemonic practices – political CSR in extractive industries
- 2024
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Ingår i: Critical Perspectives on International Business. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1742-2043 .- 1758-6062.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Political Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), based on ideas about deliberative democracy, have been criticised for increasing corporate power and democratic deficits. Yet, deliberative ideals are flourishing in the corporate world in the form of dialogues with a broad set of stakeholders and engagement in wider societal issues. Extractive industry areas, with extensive corporate interventions in weak regulatory environments, are particularly vulnerable to asymmetrical power relations when businesses engage with society. This paper aims to illustrate in what way deliberative CSR practices in such contexts risk enhancing corporate power at the expense of community interests.Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on a retrospective qualitative study of a Canadian oil company, operating in an Albanian oilfield between 2009 and 2016. Through a study of three different deliberative CSR practices – market-based land acquisition, a grievance redress mechanism and dialogue groups – it highlights how these practices in various ways enforced corporate interests and prevented further community mobilisation.Findings: By applying Laclau and Mouffe’s theory of hegemony, the analysis highlights how deliberative CSR activities isolated and silenced community demands, moved some community members into the corporate alliance and prevented alternative visions of the area to be articulated. In particular, the close connection between deliberative practices and monetary compensation flows is underlined in this dynamic.Originality/value: The paper contributes to critical scholarship on political CSR by highlighting in what way deliberative practices, linked to monetary compensation schemes, enforce corporate hegemony by moving community members over to the corporate alliance.
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| 8. |
- Schmuck, Alice, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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Patterns of Inconsistency : A Literature Review of Empirical Studies on the Multinationality–Performance Relationship
- 2023
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Ingår i: Critical Perspectives on International Business. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1742-2043 .- 1758-6062. ; 19:2, s. 253-298
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: This study aims to understand the performance implications of when a business internationalizes. Many managers take the performance implications of internationalization for granted. Whether seeking a broader customer base or cost reduction through cross-border outsourcing, the overwhelming belief is that internationalization leads to higher profits.Design/methodology/approach: This paper offers a systematic review, content analysis and cross-tabulation analysis of 115 empirical studies from over 40 major journals in management, strategy and international business between 1977 and 2021. Focusing on research settings, sample characteristics, underlying theoretical approaches, measurements of key variables and moderators influencing the multinationality and performance relationship, this study offers a detailed account of definitions and effects.Findings: The findings of this study suggest a tenuous connection between internationalization and performance. No strain of research literature conclusively identifies a consistent direct path from internationalization to performance. The context specificity of the relationship makes general declarations impossible.Research limitations/implications: Future researchers should recognize that internationalization is a process taking different forms, with no specific dominant form. General declarations are misleading. The focus should be on the process of internationalization rather than on the outcome.Originality/value: This study contributes to the international business literature by exploring reasons for the inconsistent results and lack of consensus. Through a detailed account of definitions and effects, this paper explores the lack of consensus as well as the identified shapes of the relationship.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- ul Haq, Hammad
(författare)
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Trapped in a vicious circle : can low weight subsidiaries get headquarters’ attention?
- 2017
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Ingår i: Critical Perspectives on International Business. - : Emerald. - 1742-2043 .- 1758-6062. ; 13:2, s. 166-179
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose - Subsidiaries use their weight and/or voice to get attention for the initiatives they share with the headquarters. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether subsidiaries with a low weight can effectively use their voice to get the headquarters' attention.Design/methodology/approach - This paper is a combination of the attention-based view of the firm and the issue-selling literature applied to the context of subsidiaries selling their initiatives to the headquarters of a multinational corporation.Findings - Subsidiaries with a low weight are trapped in a vicious circle in which they are unable to get more influence and gain a central position in the organization through the initiative-taking approach. This problem may mainly be attributed to their limited access to (or even entire lack of) direct and rich communication with the headquarters, which impedes the ability of these subsidiaries to gain knowledge about headquarters and the organization in general. As a result, low-weight subsidiaries are unable to make the correct decisions about which selling moves to use regarding initiatives that are able to capture headquarters' attention; this inability means that they are less likely to gain approval from headquarters for implementing the proposed initiatives.Originality/value - Subsidiary voice is not an accessible and effective bottom-up tool available to low-weight subsidiaries for gaining influence, which is contrary to what is claimed by extant mainstream research in international business and strategy. Hence, subsidiaries with low weight are completely marginalized from the sharing of subsidiary initiatives that takes place within multinational corporations.
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