Purpose This study aims to review existing literature on gender diversity and inclusion (GDI) practices in multinational companies (MNCs) and develop a power-laden model to highlight the power dynamics throughout GDI processes in MNCs. Design/methodology/approach The authors followed a structured, transparent and rigorous protocol to systematically review and synthesise 149 academic articles on GDI in MNCs. Findings Drawing on Hardy's (1996) power perspective and Foucault's (1977) “power/knowledge” framework, we analyse the power relations among GDI practices, HRM practices and diverse stakeholders within and outside MNCs. We argue that GDI practices should be an integral component of the HRM system, with continuous and dynamic interactions across various HRM practices. Originality/value This review advances existing understanding of GDI practices in MNCs by emphasising its power-laden nature. We illuminate the mechanisms through which GDI-related power and knowledge are produced and reproduced as internal and external actors engage with one another.
Purpose An increasing number of companies are participating in globalization, seeking to optimize resource allocation and expand into international markets. Expatriates are expected to quickly integrate into overseas branches and perform international assignments. Grounded in the Social Identity Theory, the study aims to examine the influence mechanism and boundary condition of organizational inclusion on expatriates' proactive socialization behaviors. Design/methodology/approach Through a two-wave survey on Chinese expatriates in Asia, the mediating role of affective commitment and the moderating role of growth initiative were validated. Findings The findings indicate that affective commitment mediates the relationship between organizational inclusion and expatriates' proactive socialization behaviors. Growth Initiative positively moderates the indirect impact of organizational inclusion on expatriates' proactive socialization behaviors through affective commitment. Research limitations/implications Overseas branches should foster a diverse, fair and supportive work environment for expatriates by implementing inclusive practices. These measures can ensure that expatriates feel accepted and valued. It is particularly important for those with high growth initiative, as they are more likely to actively integrate into the organization when they receive inclusive support. Therefore, growth initiative should be regarded as a key factor in selecting candidates for international assignments. Originality/value The study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the formation and boundary condition of expatriates' proactive socialization behaviors, and complements the empirical validation of proactive socialization behaviors in the field of expatriate management.
Purpose This study investigates the impact of an exogenous safety shock on executive labor mobility, using the September 11 attacks as the empirical context. Drawing on the unfolding model of turnover, it examines how such acute crises severely disrupt safety scripts, triggering perception-driven departures from firms in communities associated with higher exposure to potential threat cues.Design/methodology/approach Employing a difference-in-differences design, the authors analyze executive turnover and relocation destinations post-9/11. The study controls for economic factors while testing the moderating roles of local media framing, the presence of SPLC-designated hostile organizations, and social capital on the relationship between community demographics and turnover.Findings Turnover significantly increased in firms located in counties with higher concentrations of shock-associated demographic cues post-9/11. Departing executives systematically relocated to regions with lower concentrations of these cues, indicating a breakdown in person-environment fit driven by shifting safety perceptions. This effect was amplified in communities with ideologically framed media environments but attenuated in areas with high social capital.Research limitations/implications We acknowledge several limitations. First, we rely on inferred psychological processes rather than direct cognitive measures. While our proxy - Muslim population density - is theoretically grounded, it cannot capture subjective safety perceptions directly. Second, despite robust controls, potential omitted variable bias and measurement errors regarding voluntary departures remain concerns, likely yielding conservative estimates. Third, the unique, high-mortal-salience context of 9/11 limits generalizability to other societal shocks. Future research should employ qualitative methods to validate executive safety perceptions and conduct comparative analyses across different shock types to disentangle specific safety concerns from general anxieties.Practical implications The findings underscore that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is not a peripheral issue but a core component of talent management and risk mitigation. In the wake of societal crises, organizations must proactively institutionalize DEI training, enforce zero-tolerance anti-discrimination policies, and cultivate an inclusive micro-culture that ensures psychological safety. Such measures can insulate a firm from the destabilizing effects of societal prejudice, helping to retain valuable talent from minority groups and reinforcing a merit-based environment where employees are not judged by their identity markers.Social implications The findings reveal how shock-induced shifts in perceived environmental risk can inadvertently destabilize local leadership structures, highlighting how macro-sociopolitical crises can disrupt corporate governance and organizational stability within specific communities.Originality/value This research conceptualizes the safety shock within the executive labor market. It challenges rational economic models by showing how external threats activate latent perceptions and biases, altering person-job fit calculations and disrupting the allocation of high-level human capital based on non-economic psychological needs.
PurposeThis paper examines and explains the impact of machine translation (MT) tools with culturally adapting capabilities and without such capabilities on global leadership self-efficacy, motivation to learn and willingness to join the multinational organization (MNO). The perceptions of tools' agency and effectiveness are suggested and tested as the underlying cognitive mechanisms that explain the impact of MT tools.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on three scenario-based studies conducted across different populations and languages. Participants were presented with a job description that involved the use of either culturally adapting or non-adapting MT tools and their levels of global leadership self-efficacy and behavioral intentions were measured. In addition, the perceptions of tools' agency and effectiveness were assessed. Quantitative analysis was employed to test the direct and indirect effects of MT's capabilities on self-efficacy, learning motivation and behavioral intentions. In addition, the mediating role of MT tools' perceived agency and effectiveness was assessed.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that access to culturally adapting MT significantly enhances global leadership self-efficacy compared to non-adapting MT tools. Higher self-efficacy positively correlates with the intention to join the global company. Contrary to our hypothesis, access to culturally adapting MT tools did not hinder participants' motivation to learn about the foreign culture or language. Although culturally adapting MT is perceived as more effective and more agentic and autonomous, only the perceived effectiveness significantly mediates the impact of the tool on self-efficacy. Motivation to learn is affected by both perceptions in a competing manner: perceived tools' effectiveness has a positive impact on the motivation to learn, while perceived agency has a negative impact.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study highlights the impact of culturally adapting MT on global leadership self-efficacy, several limitations remain. First, it assumes high translation quality, though MT's accuracy and ability to convey nonverbal cues remain uncertain. Second, it examines MT access rather than its long-term use and effects on learning motivation. Finally, the scenario-based experimental design limits real-world applicability. Future research should investigate MT performance, long-term implications and organizational consequences using field studies and qualitative methods.Practical implicationsCutting-edge MT can expand the talent pool by enabling individuals with lower language proficiency to participate in multicultural environments. Additionally, effective MT use can reshape language-related power dynamics and promote multilingual cooperation. However, managers must also offer training to prevent over-reliance on AI tools, ensuring continuous learning and communication skills development. Implementing AI-MC literacy programs will help employees use these tools effectively while mitigating risks of over-trust and miscommunication.Social implicationsThe findings suggest that AI-mediated communication tools, particularly culturally adapting MT, can enhance global self-efficacy and encourage participation in international work environments. However, the perception of AI as highly agentic may reduce motivation to learn new languages and cultures, fostering dependence on technology rather than personal skill development. This could widen knowledge gaps and create over-reliance on AI in cross-cultural communication. On the other hand, when AI is perceived as effective but not overly autonomous, it may support learning motivation. Policymakers and educators should balance AI integration with strategies that promote continuous learning and critical assessment of AI tools.Originality/valueThis study uniquely integrates AI-mediated communication (AI-MC) into cross-cultural organizational contexts, combining the Theory of Planned Behavior and Agency and Social Cognition theory. It empirically demonstrates that culturally adapting MT enhances global self-efficacy while revealing the paradoxical effect of AI agency on learning motivation. Unlike previous research, it highlights the psychological trade-offs between AI effectiveness and agency, showing that while AI can empower users, excessive reliance may hinder personal development. These insights extend discussions on AI's role in international business and education, emphasizing the need for careful AI implementation to balance efficiency with human skill cultivation.
PurposeLanguage barriers significantly influence the experiences of international employees and students. However, existing research offers mixed results and mostly focuses on English-speaking countries, neglecting plurilingual contexts. This study addresses this gap by exploring how international management students navigate language demands in diverse cultural settings.Design/methodology/approachUsing a qualitative approach, we conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with international management students in Finland, France, and Italy. Thematic analysis identified patterns in language challenges and student responses. The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model was applied to explore how these challenges relate to coping strategies and outcomes.FindingsStudents faced substantial challenges related to both the host language and English as a lingua franca and language of instruction, affecting academic and social experiences. Findings highlighted contextual differences in how host language barriers impacted students in the three countries. Moreover, the study revealed the critical role of personal, social, and organizational resources in mitigating the effects of language demands on academic performance, sociocultural adaptation, and well-being. Paradoxically, language demands stimulated the development of social resources, enhancing students' cultural learning. Additionally, the findings suggest that individual coping mechanisms can "trickle up", thereby influencing collective outcomes, such as team climate and collaboration.Practical implicationsThe findings emphasize the importance of multifaceted institutional strategies to support international management students. Addressing language-related challenges holistically can improve student success and adaptation in diverse educational and business contexts.Originality/valueThis research develops a multi-level model that integrates individual, social, and institutional resources, emphasizing proactive behaviors to manage language demands in non-anglophone environments.
PurposeAn inherent aspect of global supply chains is that psychological distances exist between supply chain partners. Drawing on construal-level theory, we examine the effect of spatial and social distances between supply chain partners to understand how psychological distances impact sequential supply chain pricing and profit distributions.Design/methodology/approachWe hypothesise that closer psychological distances will increase fairness concerns, leading to lower prices and higher supply chain efficiency by overcoming double marginalisation issues. We test our hypotheses by conducting two online experiments with American and Indian participants.FindingsStudy 1 finds that a closer psychological distance (i.e. same-country pairs) leads to lower pricing and higher efficiency. However, the lower pricing is driven entirely by the first mover (e.g. the supplier) pricing more fairly, which results in a higher profit for the second mover (e.g. the retailer) and a higher channel profit. Study 2a analyses the two dimensions of psychological distance separately. Although we find that a closer distance leads to lower pricing and higher profits, the dimensions of psychological distance driving these effects differ between participants, with Indian [American] pricing decisions being more impacted by spatial [social] distances.Originality/valueOur findings provide insights into how psychological distances that naturally exist in supply chains can substantially impact pricing decisions and profit distributions. Moreover, we present a novel cultural-dependent insight that the impacts of a partner's distance manifest through different dimensions of psychological distances.
PurposeThe use of mobile devices, such as to access social media, is pervasive in both private and work settings. It can lead to problematic behaviors, including social networking site addiction (SNSA) and digital stress (DS). To provide evidence on how SNSA and DS relate to employees, this research tests their associations with downstream variables across two cultures.Design/methodology/approachMore than 700 German and Japanese employees completed an online survey. Multigroup structural equation modeling in AMOS tests the relationships between SNSA and digital stress and downstream variables.FindingsBoth SNSA and DS are linked to employee psychological strain, which is related to work performance and life satisfaction; work performance is also positively associated with life satisfaction. The negative relationship between strain and performance is more pronounced in Japan than in Germany. However, the other associations appear consistent across cultures, suggesting that SNSA and DS represent universal challenges for employees and organizations.Research limitations/implicationsThis study includes German and Japanese employees. Continued research might address other countries (e.g. less-developed economies) and take a more differentiated view of employee occupations (e.g. low-vs. high-tech jobs).Practical implicationsOrganizations must recognize the negative outcomes related to employees' excessive uses of social and digital media; develop ways to assess employees' SNSA and DS; and implement measures to conquer SNSA and DS.Originality/valueIn addition to reiterating the detrimental association of SNSA and DS with employees' perceived strain and two important downstream variables, this article adopts an explicitly cross-cultural approach to test these relationships.
PurposeThis paper explores factors that affect ethnic minority groups' (EMGs) motivation to promote online-entrepreneurship in live streaming economy. In addition to applying the push-pull theory, this paper draws on the liberal-conversative thinking theory and explores influencing factors from three aspects, including push, pull and emotional aspects.Design/methodology/approachBased on the partial least squares path modelling and variance-based structural equation modelling method (PLS-SEM), this study analyses 789 valid online questionnaires from 39 different EMGs, and 10 hypotheses can be supported, such as platform support, policy support, platform using skills and EMG cultural knowledge. The study also measures the importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) to explore additional findings of influencing factors and discusses managerial implications.FindingsBy analysing and comparing, EMG cultural knowledge has significantly high performance and importance for EMGs' online-entrepreneurship motivation, which should be focused on by related departments. With more and more EMG users promoting online-entrepreneurships on live streaming platforms, not only can their standard of living be improved, but their cultural resources can also be further disseminated with the help of live streaming economy.Originality/valueCombined with EMGs' living environment, the push, pull and emotional factors can be divided into five basic units: social, economic, technical, psychological and cultural constraints. The cohesion between horizontal division (like push, pull and emotional factors) and vertical division (like social, economic and cultural influences) make the research model systematic.
PurposeThis study aims to investigate the relationship between technology-assisted supplemental work (TASW) fairness and resource investment strategies in the workplace, namely personal initiative and work withdrawal behaviors, with energy as a mediating factor and conscientiousness and neuroticism as moderators.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 728 USA employees was collected to test the proposed model using mediation and moderated-mediation analyses.FindingsThe study finds support for the mediation hypotheses, indicating that when employees perceive TASW as fair (unfair), they report higher (lower) energy levels and are thus likely to engage in personal initiative (work withdrawal) behaviors. Additionally, conscientiousness strengthens the positive relationship between TASW-fairness and personal initiative, while the negative relationship between TASW-fairness and work withdrawal appears consistent across neuroticism levels.Originality/valueThis study introduces the concept of TASW within a fairness framework and relates it to resource investment strategies in the workplace, providing novel insights into the role of fairness perceptions and individual differences in shaping employee behaviors.
PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine whether differences exist between young American and Japanese consumers' green consumption behaviors.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework is formulated based on five constructs: independent self-construal (INDE), attitude toward green advertising, self-expression and brand-familiarity to measure purchase intention. Data were collected from 266 Americans and 199 Japanese consumers. The structural equation model was used to test and compare hypothesized relationships between the proposed constructs for the two countries.FindingsThe results reveal that the moderating effects of self-construal patterns on brand familiarity and self-expression help explain Americans' green consumption decisions. The results from the US sample also confirm that both self-construal patterns guide young Americans' green consumption behaviors. Japanese green consumption behaviors are influenced by their dominant interdependent self-construal. They used a context-dependent thinking mode to process advertising and brand information.Research limitations/implicationsUsing Gen-Z consumers may limit the generalizability of this study. The results may not be representative of or applicable to other demographic groups. As age was controlled in this research, similar studies need to be replicated with various segments of green consumers to validate the relationships identified in this study. In addition, to raise the external validity of this research, future researchers may replicate this study by comparing countries other than the two under examination in this study.Practical implicationsFor practical implications, marketing communication programs may focus on social interaction strategies by using content or influencer marketing on social media to raise brand awareness. To appeal to Americans' self-expressive values, brand communication may focus on a personalized message that conveys the positive image of green product users. Use both traditional media and digital media to engage with Japanese consumers. To appeal to Japanese collectivist values, the ad message may emphasize the positive effects of the brand and its products on contributing to the well-being of society.Social implicationsThis study detects no evidence of an increase in individualism in Japanese consumers' green consumption behaviors. The results show that consumers' attitudes and behaviors toward green marketing cues are consistently guided by their dominant self-construal patterns and situational factors could activate either self within their self-schema. This also supports the notion that aspects of culture are changeable depending on varying situations.Originality/valueThis study provides evidence that self-construal types influence young American and Japanese consumers' green consumption behaviors. This is the first research to demonstrate that brand-familiarity can be a group identifier for consumers with different cultural orientations.
PurposeUsing the case of Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in Thailand, this study examines the role of corporate philosophy when MNCs adopt an ethnocentric approach to managing their foreign subsidiaries. The study also explores how local employees cooperatively make sense of ambiguous situations arising from conflicts between home-country practices and local institutions.Design/methodology/approachData from 371 supervisor-employee dyads across 66 teams in seven Japanese manufacturing companies operating in Thailand were analyzed. Multilevel path analysis was used to explore the effects of home-country management practices and headquarters' (HQ) control on employee behavior via corporate philosophy internalization. Furthermore, the moderating role of team boundary work was examined.FindingsCorporate philosophy internalization in local employees' work teams mediates the positive relationships between Japanese management practices and local employees' in-role performance and knowledge-sharing behavior. When team boundary work is high, corporate philosophy internalization mediates the negative relationship between HQ control and knowledge-sharing behavior.Practical implicationsCorporate philosophy serves as a sensemaking anchor for MNCs and helps address subsidiary complexities. It guides local employees through ambiguity and fosters operational consistency and effective decision-making.Originality/valueThis study advances the literature by developing a theoretical model that incorporates corporate philosophy as a sensemaking anchor. This model explains how local employees interpret and engage with transferred practices under ambiguous conditions. It also addresses the limitations of the country-of-origin perspective.
PurposeThis article uncovers the crafting process of a language strategy. While taking into account the top-down and bottom-up interplay required for developing strategy and typical approaches to language strategy in international organizations, we take a processual perspective to study a team that navigates the paradox of promoting multilingualism in an English-speaking environment within a European University Alliance.Design/methodology/approachTo understand the crafting process of a language strategy arising from the intricate interactions between team members, we became fully immersed in a European University Alliance team through ethnographic data collection, including participant observation, semi-structured interviews and collection of artifacts and archival data over the course of eighteen months. Data analysis used narrative descriptions and thematic coding for triangulation.FindingsCrafting an organizational language strategy occurs through the dynamic interplay between three complementary team-level processes, including framing the issue, developing a collective identity and building legitimacy. These team-level processes are complemented by multi-level interactions between the macro context of EU language policy, alliance directives and competing approaches to language use. Understanding of language strategy development is enhanced by the perspective of societal language ideologies.Originality/valueWe provide a contextualized explanation of the process of language strategy crafting in the complex institutional environment of the European University Initiative. We emphasize the highly processual nature of strategy making that requires an intricate understanding of the context and a strong basis in the team. Our ethnographic study demonstrates how a team becomes empowered to shape organizational strategy.
Purpose- Technological advancements have compelled international organizations to adopt digital solutions that offer faster, cheaper and more effective global operational methods. One potential application is digital international language management, defined as the implementation, coordination and control of organizational language practices through advanced technological means. In this conceptual article, we aim to establish digital international language management as a theoretical term and explore its practices. Design/methodology/approach- This discussion paper elaborates on the opportunities and challenges of digital language management as identified in existing research. It debates the extent to which digital international language management can substitute or expand traditional methods of formulating and implementing language policies and practices. Findings-We propose that digital international language management, using artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tools, has the potential to enhance task collaboration, relationship building, information transfer, language learning, media adaptation and external communication in multilingual organizations. However, significant challenges remain in ensuring accuracy, preserving authentic communication and fostering deep interpersonal relationships. Originality/value- This paper presents digital international language management as a new concept. Drawing on this, we provide insights into the impact of technological advancements on organizational language practices in intercultural contexts. We further advocate for a critical reexamination of foundational theories in language-sensitive research. Finally, we offer guidelines for organizations seeking to update policy formulation and language management practices.
PurposeOur contribution aims to propose a research agenda for better understanding the connections between responsibility and language practices in plurilingual, language-diverse contexts. Design/methodology/approachTo do this, we connect key contributions from literature on corporate sociolinguistic responsibility, responsible management, and responsible management learning and education and place them in the context of stakeholder theory in order to outline three specific areas for future research: the conceptualization of responsible language-sensitive management, decision-making by practitioners about language management and how people learn about language management and responsibility. FindingsWe show that drawing on a nuanced and comprehensive notion of responsibility, combined with a stakeholder theory lens, can lay the groundwork for a promising basis for future research on language and responsibility. Originality/valueOur contribution continues a conversation that is crucial to international and intercultural management and points a way forward for scholars and practitioners to strategically approach a key issue for communication and collaboration.
PurposeNumerous studies have investigated the role of language proficiency in the integration of migrants into their host countries; however, they have often overlooked the intricacies of language in cases in which the host country has multiple official languages. Therefore, this study aims to explore the impact of minor official languages on migrant entrepreneurship by examining the latest developments in the literature.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a descriptive literature review using a systematic approach and analyzed 22 publications that examined migrant integration and entrepreneurship in countries with at least two official languages.FindingsThree primary themes within the current research were highlighted: (1) migrant embeddedness, (2) the role of linguistic competences and (3) migrant entrepreneurial motivation. By leveraging their proficiency in minority official languages, migrant entrepreneurs embed themselves within both the minority and majority communities of the host country. Such an integration process presents them with different sets of advantages and disadvantages at various levels-institutional, market-entry and community-which influence their ability to access resources, navigate a complex entrepreneurial landscape, and achieve growth and sustainability in their ventures.Originality/valueAlthough most migrants integrate into the dominant majority language, many countries facilitate their integration through official minority languages-an important factor to consider in both academic research and practice. Based on our findings, we developed three research streams and practical implications for policymakers on the topic of minor official languages in migrant entrepreneurship.
PurposeThis study seeks to explore whether and how emerging country entrepreneurs can employ different facets of a country-of-origin image (COI) in their marketing strategy as a form of cultural arbitrage in culturally distant markets.Design/methodology/approachA mixed design experiment was used in the home market (Brazil) and in a culturally distant market (Sweden).FindingsEmerging country entrepreneurs using a strategy based on COI marketing generate higher purchase intent than those without a COI marketing-based strategy. The COI marketing strategy can be implemented by emerging country entrepreneurs as a form of cultural arbitrage both in domestic and in international markets, balancing different facets of COI in alignment with cognitive or affective components of consumer behaviour and guided by the cultural communication orientation of the target market.Research limitations/implicationsThis research focuses on the COI of a single emerging country, Brazil, whose impact is tested on a single culturally distant country, Sweden. To reinforce the conclusions of our research, it would be interesting to replicate the study using other emerging market countries.Practical implicationsIt raises significant managerial and policy implications, guiding emerging country entrepreneurs and policymakers towards the appropriate calibration of COI facets to encourage this cultural arbitrage strategy. The COI marketing strategy is more effective for some markets than others, and certain COI facets are more effective than others depending on the way consumers process the COI appeal communicated (cognition of emotion).Originality/valueThe study delves into the strategic use of COI features in marketing strategy to exploit cultural differences by building on symbolic attributes of the emerging country entrepreneurs' home country that are positively perceived internationally. By doing so, it explores the impact of COI in the field of international entrepreneurship as an element of differentiation in the internationalization strategy of emerging country entrepreneurs, considering both the demand and the supplier components of COI. It extends previous studies on COI usage as a firm resource by explaining how COI can become a form of cultural arbitrage in the firm's internationalization strategy.
PurposeThis distinguished scholar essay is an invited contribution to the special issue "The future of language in international business management" in this journal, Cross-Cultural & Strategic Management. In this essay, I take a look back in reflection about the contributions of language-sensitive research to the understanding of multilingual phenomena while simultaneously providing a possible future trajectory for inquiry.Design/methodology/approachBeing an essay by genre, this paper draws on canonical as well as non-canonical readings about language, communication, knowledge and translation. It binds these sources together through reflective commentary about the relationships between words and worlds and how the language-sensitive community of scholars treats and understands this relationship.FindingsThe essay articulates the contributions language-sensitive researchers have made to the understanding of how language and translation are part of the constitutive processes through which organizational worlds are made. In doing so, they have also shed light on unfolding organizational processes in (international) business and management contexts. Furthermore, three perspectives about the work of language-sensitive scholars are articulated. Together, they provide signposts for future language-based research.Research limitations/implicationsThe field is invited to develop expectations, traditions and methodological approaches to respond to cross-language research projects.Practical implicationsThe field is invited to continue to engage with the contemporary developments brought about by the use of AI, technology and the requirements of inclusive discourses.Social implicationsThe recognition that a more reflective and engaged treatment of translation serves as an invitation, an act of hospitality across languages and cultures. This multilingual perspective will facilitate greater inclusion.Originality/valueThe essay aims to provoke, stimulate, motivate and remind the community of its collective talents to forge special and unique bonds between words and worlds.
PurposeShould we prefer parsimony or multidimensionality when operationalizing institutional distance? In this paper, I explore the debate on whether current institutional distance operationalizations are too narrow, or if adding complexity in the operationalization needlessly complicates an otherwise lean construct.Design/methodology/approachIn order to explore the above question, I (1) test the statistical validity of the most common parsimonious operationalizations of institutional distance; (2) test whether a parsimonious or a multidimensional solution is more appropriate; (3) discuss whether the statistically valid operationalizations of institutional distance are psychometrically sufficient.FindingsThe findings of this paper indicate that three of the most commonly used operationalizations for institutional distance do not possess statistical validity, nor converge on the effects of each underlying item. The fourth commonly used operationalization does possess statistical validity. Nonetheless, its unidimensional usage for institutional distance should be carefully weighed against the theoretical design of the study, where questions exists about whether it is psychometric sufficient for different theoretical arguments used in institutional distance research.Originality/valueWhile institutional distance is considered to be one of the core concepts of IB/M research, results on the topic have been somewhat ambiguous and sometimes contradictory. Simultaneously, several recent calls have highlighted the need for addressing methodological challenges in the field of IB/M. In this paper, I address one of the main methodological challenges for institutional distance research. I illuminate an underexposed debate and argue that multidimensional operationalizations of institutional distance are required, not just to address methodological challenges but to improve theory on institutional distance as well.
PurposeEmerging markets remain challenging for Western small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and more specifically for born-again global companies. This paper investigates how born-again global companies can learn from their failures in emerging markets.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical study takes the form of a longitudinal case study of a French industrial SME that expanded into Hong Kong, China and Brazil.FindingsThe case study shows how born-again global companies can learn from their failures in emerging markets, which can be caused by internal and external factors. Our findings indicate that they react in different ways according to the magnitude of failures. We also enhance the understanding of learning processes in born-again global companies.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on experiential learning by identifying the magnitude, origins and consequences of failures in born-again global companies. We also offer novel insights into learning processes by highlighting the central role played by the chief executive officer.
