Knowledge that Transforms

This paper analyses both the incidence and motivation for transnational joint ventures between UK and EU companies in relation to the structure of competition. It is based on a survey of 812 UK manufacturing PLCs and case studies in forty-six companies with a total of sixty-nine joint ventures. The results highlight the importance of transnational JVs in the EU and suggest that they are unlikely to have significantly reduced the level of competition in the Union. The motivations which underlie these ventures can be broken into two groups. Large firms undertake JVs in response to competitive pressures within an increasingly unified single market. Small and medium-sized firms undertake JVs in order to penetrate discrete national markets.

This paper explores how the tension between global integration and local responsiveness affects the dimensions and determinants of international human resource (IHR) strategy. To accomplish this, Jarillo and Martinez's [1990] business strategy framework for parents and their subsidiaries was recast in an IHR strategy setting. Then, the relationships between the two dimensions of IHR strategy that emerged, global integration and local responsiveness, and a set of interorganizational interdependency variables were explored. Several new and informative associations between the interorganizational interdependency variables (subsidiaries' dependence on parent's resources, local resources, and hot institutions) and IHR strategy were observed in a sample of one hundred subsidiaries of Japanese, U.S. and European MNCs operating in Taiwan.

This essay assesses the impact of global market integration in the currency trading industry as the market interfaces with states, with firms and with individuals, and raises questions for research from a variety of disciplines. Issues discussed include the question of state control in global markets, the impact of globalization on firm structures and processes, how firms can derive competitive advantage from global circadian rhythms, and the influences of the circadian rhythms of the global market on the individuals who work in this industry.

This note reports a quantitative analysis of the country-of-origin (COO) effect. Based on fifty-two articles or papers containing sixty-nine independent studies and 1,520 effect sizes, an analysis of fifteen study characteristics revealed that country-of-origin effects are only somewhat generalizable. Using omega-squared as the measure of effect size, verbal product descriptions produced larger COO effect sizes than did the presence of an actual product. Likewise, single-cue studies produced larger COO effect sizes than did multiple-cue studies, and larger samples produced effect sizes that on average were greater than those produced by smaller samples. The size of an observed COO effect was a function of whether the dependent variables was a quality/reliability perception or a purchase intention; the average effect size of quality/reliability perceptions was .30, whereas the average effect size for purchase intentions was .19. Purchase intentions were most susceptible to methodological artifacts than were quality/reliability perceptions. Study findings selectively confirm and refute common beliefs regarding the impact of a country-of-origin cue on product perceptions and purchase intentions.

In this study, businesses competing as part of the global U.S. construction equipment industry were categorized into three subgroups according to the integration-responsiveness framework (I-R) in an attempt to further understand industry pressures confronting businesses that compete internationally. The results show that three generic strategies suggested by the I-R framework do appear in a single industry context: globally integrated, locally responsive and multifocal. Beyond providing additional insight into the nature of competition in a “single global industry,” several broad extensions to the integration-responsiveness framework are suggested.

Using a contingency model of global sourcing strategy, this study investigated the moderating effects of sourcing-related factors on the relationship between sourcing strategy and a product's strategic and financial performance. The results lent some support to the contingency model of global sourcing strategy in that product innovation, process innovation and asset specificity were significant moderator variables for financial, but not strategic, performance. However, the results provided no support for bargaining power of suppliers and transaction frequency as moderator variables. In other words, in achieving high financial performance for a product, whether a particular sourcing strategy should be used for a particular product depended on the levels of product innovation, process innovation and asset specificity.

This study builds upon previous control research to propose 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.

This study investigates the emphasis males and females place on leadership behaviors and styles across four countries characterized as two cultural dyads (Norway - Sweden and Australia - U.S.). Previous gender comparisons and cross-cultural studies of leadership are reviewed. A framework for exploring leadership, consisting of five leadership behaviors and six leadership styles, is then presented and tested with questionnaire data from 209 managers across the four countries. Results demonstrate significant effects for gender and country, but no interaction effects, Post-hoc analyses suggest that across all four countries, male emphasize the goal setting dimension, while females emphasize the interaction facilitation dimension. Australians scored significantly differently than leaders in the other countries on interaction facilitation, benevolent autocratic style, and laissez-faire style. These findings are discussed in light of gender characteristics and cultural values.