Configurations of Top Management Team Characteristics for Firm Internationalization

This study examined configurations of chosen characteristics of top management team (TMT) leading to high internationalization outcomes of firms in emerging markets. The chosen TMT characteristics include three forms of TMT informational diversity and the three TMT diversity-harnessing characteristics. Based on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, this study found that seven alternative configurations of TMT informational diversity and diversity-harnessing characteristics were “equifinal” causes of firm internationalization, and that all of these configurations lead to the same internationalization outcomes. This study contributes to the research on internationalization in emerging markets by the applying the idea of equifinality to the upper echelons theory.