Klaus Meyer

• Tse, C. H.; Meyer, K. E.; Pan, Y.; Chi, T., 2024, "Evolution of MNE strategies amid China’s changing institutions: a thematic review", Journal of International Business Studies, August 55(6): 657 - 675.
  Abstract: As China’s economy rose to become the second largest in the world, its institutions did not converge with those of other advanced economies as predicted by many Western observers; instead, China developed a distinct form of state-led capitalism. As a result, how multinational enterprises (MNEs) engage with China’s changing institutional context needs to be revisited. To this end, we review 331 papers on MNE strategies and operations in China published in top international business and management journals between 2001 and 2022. We first introduce the path of institutional change and the opportunities and challenges it created for MNEs in China. We focus on six aspects of MNE strategies and operations: market entry, strategic alliances, innovation and knowledge sharing, global value chain strategies, guanxi and relationship management, and non-market strategies. Our analysis of China’s institutional trajectory and of MNE strategies and operations points to three persistent institutional mechanisms of concern for MNEs: challenges to organizational legitimacy, protection of property rights, and the enabling and directing aspect of institutions created by industrial policies. Insights from this analysis point to future research needs on institutional nonlinearities and discontinuities, linkages between inward and outward investments, and geopolitical influences on national institutions.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41267-024-00715-5

• Rungsithong, R.; Meyer, K. E., 2024, "Affect-based dimensions of trust: a study of buyer-supplier relationships in Thai manufacturing", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, May 39(6): 1259 - 1281.
  Abstract: Purpose Trust is an important facilitator of successful B2B relationships. The purpose of this study is to investigate affect-based antecedents of both interpersonal and interorganizational trust, and their impact on the performance of buyer–supplier relationships. The authors ask two research questions: (1) What are affect-based dimensions of interpersonal and interorganizational trust? (2) How do interpersonal and interorganizational trust influence buyers’ operational performance? Design/methodology/approach The authors use data from an original survey of 156 buyer–supplier relationships between multinational enterprise subsidiaries and local suppliers in the Thai manufacturing sector to develop a structural model in which the authors test the hypotheses. Findings Consistent with social exchange theory and social psychology, the empirical analysis shows that affect-based dimensions at the individual level, namely, likeability, similarity and frequent social contact, and at the organizational level, namely, supplier firm willingness to customize and institutionalization of cooperation, are important for establishing trust. In addition, interpersonal trust enhances buyers’ operational performance indirectly via interorganizational trust. Practical implications Buying and selling firms may develop organizational trust by developing processes that enhance organizational trust. Individuals with purchasing or sales responsibilities may enhance trust in their personal relationship. However, such interpersonal trust needs to be translated to the organizational level to benefit organizational performance. Originality/value The findings contribute to the literature on affect-based antecedents and outcomes of trust. Specifically, the authors offer theory and empirical evidence regarding the contribution of salespersons toward affect-based dimensions of trust and its impact on buyer’s operational performance.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jbim-10-2022-0443

• Li, C.; Meyer, K. E., (Forthcoming), "All politics starts local: Liability of stateness and subnational labor markets", Global Strategy Journal
  Abstract: State-controlled acquirers face a liability of stateness (LoS) because host country stakeholders consider them less legitimate and as representatives of foreign political power. We argue that due to LoS, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) face more regulatory scrutiny in cross-border acquisitions than comparable private-owned enterprises (POEs). Applying a voting behavior perspective, we further posit this increased regulatory scrutiny is reduced when acquisitions occur via intermediaries, and in host communities less averse to state ownership due to local labor conditions. Using a sample of cross-border acquisitions with acquirers from 44 economies and targets in 50 US states, we find that SOEs are 9% more likely to attract additional regulatory scrutiny than POEs. However, this likelihood decreases with indirect acquisitions and in host regions with high unemployment. Managerial Summary State-owned enterprises experience challenges in their cross-border acquisitions because people in host societies do not trust them. As a result, regulatory authorities, such as CFIUS in the United States, subject foreign SOE acquirers to greater scrutiny. However, by acquiring foreign firms through subsidiaries rather than through parent organizations, the state influence becomes less visible, resulting in less regulatory scrutiny. Moreover, local stakeholders are concerned with economic opportunities in their local area, which they prioritize over ideological concerns at time of economic crisis. Consequently, SOE acquirers face less additional scrutiny in local communities with high unemployment. Thus, SOE acquirers can work with local communities to overcome the negative perception they encounter when entering foreign markets.

  Link(s) to publication:

  https://doi.org/10.1002/gsj.1500

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gsj.1500

• Li, C.; Ahn, J.; Bu, J.; Meyer, K. E., 2023, "The value of publishing in JIBS", Journal of International Business Studies, December 54(9): 1688 - 1699.
  Abstract: Young management scholars often wonder to what extent they should emphasize international business scholarship in their career. In this commentary, we argue that, in addition to its intellectual merits, publishing in the leading outlet in the field, Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS), also pays financially on a par with publishing in other top management journals. Our claim is based on an analysis of the impact of JIBS publications on a strategy faculty’s nine-month salary for a sample of 396 strategy professors from the business schools of 59 research-oriented US public universities from 2015 to 2019. Employing multilevel modeling, we find that publishing in JIBS significantly increases faculty’s annual salary by, on average, more than US$3,000, which is equivalent to the salary gains for publishing in leading general management and strategy journals. Thus, the recognition of JIBS is on par with that of other top management journals, and IB as a field of study is a financially rewarding career path. Moreover, JIBS may offer a blueprint for other business and management journals to build reputation by continuously publishing papers with high standards that continuously develop insights and theory relevant to contemporary business.

  Link(s) to publication:

  https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-023-00630-1

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41267-023-00630-1

• Lunnan, R.; Meyer, K. E.; Mudambi, R.; Yang, Q., 2023, "The impact of knowledge and financial resource flows for MNE strategy: A typology of subsidiary roles", International Business Review, December 32(6): 102190 - 102190.
  Abstract: What are the implications of finance and knowledge flows for MNE strategy? In this perspective paper, we discuss the antecedents and implications of HQ-subsidiary financial and knowledge flows. These flows differ, as the deployment of knowledge hinges on numerous contextual characteristics, whereas financial flows are relatively fungible. The complexity and diversity of knowledge resources make their transfer sensitive to several subsidiary-level characteristics such as R&D mandates, location, and inter-unit interdependencies. In contrast, financial resource flows are relatively easier to measure and directly compare across domains. Hence, they are likely to be allocated primarily on risk considerations, notably the equity control over the subsidiary. Both flows are needed for subsidiaries to succeed. Based on the interrelations of knowledge and financial resources flows into the subsidiaries, four types of subsidiary roles are categorized: strategic growth, interrelated, diversified, and independent. We discuss implications on subsidiary competitiveness and MNE risk and point to future research avenues addressing the dynamic and interrelated flows of both these resources.

  Link(s) to publication:

  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593123000902

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2023.102190

• Meyer, K. E., 2023, "The Digital Multinational: Navigating the new normal in global business", Journal of International Business Studies, August 54: 1170 - 1174.
  Abstract: Digital technologies are changing virtually every aspect of how firms conduct their international business activities. Recent scholarship in international business (IB) has focused on digital technologies as enablers of rapid international growth, and on the particular challenges and opportunities arising for digital platform-based business models. However, digitalization affects all businesses engaging in international activities, and thus has moved to the top of the agenda for decision-makers in multinational enterprises (MNEs), and therefore is emphasized in the recent broadening in the JIBS domain statement. Satish Nambisan and Yadong Luo aim to advise managers and scholars how to address these challenges, moving the discourse from 'digital natives' and 'digital-born globals' to 'digital multinationals', which are traditional MNEs using digital technologies to compete in a changing global environment. The authors bring together expertise in technology and international management. Satish Nambisan is a scholar of technology management focusing on innovation and digitalization, while Yadong Luo is a leading contributor to the international management literature with a China focus, where many innovations are happening in the digital economy. Together, they aim to bridge the gap between digital strategy and IB scholarship. Their primary target audience are decision-makers in MNEs. However, the book also offers insights that may inform research agendas in IB. In this review, I will focus on these potential implications for IB scholarship.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41267-023-00605-2

• Meyer, K. E.; Li, J.; Brouthers, K. D.; Jean, R-J. B., 2023, "International business in the digital age: Global strategies in a world of national institutions", Journal of International Business Studies, June 54(4): 577 - 598.
  Abstract: Digital technologies are changing how businesses strategize and organize internationally. They not only enable cost reduction in businesses crossing national boundaries but also enable novel types of products and business models. Yet, barriers to cross-border businesses persist or even re-emerge, such that the study of international business remains important in the digital age, but may have to shift focus. We argue that businesses operating internationally develop digital business strategies that are interdependent with their internationalization strategies. In doing so, they have to account for differences across national contexts including informal institutions, formal institutions, and resource endowments. We offer a conceptual framework linking external and internal antecedents to digital business and internationalization strategies. We focus in particular on three digital strategies: owning digital platforms, participating in digital platforms, and transforming traditional businesses for the digital world. On this basis, we discuss the contributions of the papers in this special issue and conclude by outlining an agenda for future research.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41267-023-00618-x

• Meyer, K. E.; Estrin, S., 2023, "It’s Hard to Say Goodbye: Managing Disengagement during Political Disruptions", AIB Insights, March 23(2)
  Abstract: When companies experience political disruptions to their global business, such as Myanmar 2020 or Russia 2022, challenges in the host economy may be compounded by home country pressures to disengage. How can MNEs navigate such economic and ethical complexity? We suggest that MNEs facing pressures to exit should organize their decision process in three steps: First, clarify the financial implications considering the implications of disengagement for operations outside the focal country. Second, assess the ethical implications of continuing operations in the country. Third, opting to disengage, assess the merits of alternative disengagement strategies, including partial and full exit.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.46697/001c.72023

• Meyer, K. E.; Fang, T.; Panibratov, A. Y.; Peng, M. W.; Gaur, A., 2023, "International Business Under Sanctions", Journal of World Business, February 58(2)
  Abstract: Sanctions are a tool used by political actors to induce foreign countries, firms or individuals to alter their behavior. As nonmilitary coercive measure, they have the potential to disrupt the international business environment, often on short notice, and change the rules of the game. Synthesizing the available evidence on the economic and political impacts of sanctions, we explore how sanctions disrupt the institutional framework for international business and how firms respond to sanctions. Based on a review of available scholarly evidence, we discuss how theories of international business, such as institution-based view, resource- and knowledge-based view, resource dependency theory, and behavioral theories of the firm, can contribute to explaining the impact of sanctions. At the same time, we discuss how sanctions, as politically motivated disruptions, challenge some assumptions underlying these theories. Going forward, our research agenda on sanctions is likely to help firms and governments to strategize in a geopolitically sensitive world.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2023.101426

• Andrews, D. S.; Meyer, K. E., 2023, "How much does host country matter, really?", Journal of World Business, February 58(2)
  Abstract: How much does the host country matter in explaining foreign affiliate performance? Using a global sample of 34,708 foreign affiliates operating in 91 host countries, we revisit the relative importance of the host country effect as a performance determinant. Our variance decomposition results suggest that the host country effect is less salient than previously identified, often explaining a small portion of affiliate performance differences. We offer implications for future international strategy research on foreign affiliate performance, advancing an understanding of the relative importance of external and internal determinants. We direct scholarly attention to other effect classes, namely the affiliate effect.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2022.101413

• Meyer, K. E., 2022, "India and China: Distinct Paths to Global Businesses", Management and Organization Review, December 18(6): 1235 - 1241.
  Abstract: The ‘rivalry’ between India and China on the global stage is much ado about nothing. India and China both have huge potential to play a bigger role in global business than they do today. Both countries have experienced major growth domestically, which is not yet matched by their role in global business. MNEs from the two countries have been internationalizing along very different pathways, with few overlaps. Their ability to realize their potential depends on policies and institutions as well as entrepreneurial business leadership in their own country. Their future internationalization depends only to a small degree on the other of the two countries

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/mor.2022.25

• Li, Y.; Cui, L.; Meyer, K. E.; Fan, D., 2022, "Strategic Configurations and International Performance of Emerging Economy Multinationals", Management and Organization Review
  Abstract: This study examines the international performance of emerging economy multinational enterprises (EMNEs) from a strategic configuration perspective. We propose that the strategic patterns of EMNEs that deliver growth and/or profitability are characterized by different configurations of environment, strategy, and managerial resource factors. Therefore, identifying and assessing strategic configurations is key to understanding EMNEs’ international performance. Employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, we analyze a multi-sourced dataset of Chinese firms’ outward investment and identify multiple equifinal strategic configurations that are associated with superior international performance in terms of sales growth and/or profitability. These findings inform the development of a taxonomy of EMNEs’ strategic configurations corresponding with three performance groups, namely profitable growth, profitable niche, and poor performers.

  Link(s) to publication:

  https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/management-and-organization-review/article/strategic-configurations-and-international-performance-of-emerging-economy-multinationals/B602BD1962EF007C359E51AA00C9D85D#article

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/mor.2021.53

• Aguinis, H.; Audretsch, D. B.; Flammer, C.; Meyer, K. E.; Peng, M. W.; Teece, D. J., 2022, "Bringing the Manager Back Into Management Scholarship", Journal of Management, September 48(7): 1849 - 1857.
  Abstract: The manager is often neglected in management scholarship. Although we are not the first to call for renewed attention to managers, given the rapidly evolving state of the environment in which firms operate, it seems an apropos moment to reflect on the importance of managers and remind ourselves to incorporate them into our ideas, relationships, and theories. We provide reasons for the current state of affairs and offer four actionable recommendations for making the manager a more central character in our research planning, execution, and dissemination: (1) listen to managers, (2) develop and test theories that include the manager explicitly, (3) conduct research at multiple levels of analysis and using multiple methods, and (4) find synergies across seemingly competing academic engagements.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01492063221082555

• Meyer, K. E.; Li, C., 2022, "The MNE and its subsidiaries at times of global disruptions: An international relations perspective", Global Strategy Journal, August 12(3): 555 - 577.
  Abstract: Research Summary: The global economy has recently entered a period of disruptions, increasing barriers to cross-border business and potentially inhibiting the merits and legitimacy of integrated global strategies. We explore how three major disruptions in the global economy (reduced people mobility, divergent national regulatory institutions, and anti-globalization populism) affect the strategies of multinational enterprises, and, in particular, the role of their foreign subsidiaries. These external disruptions call for a reassessment of theories regarding the nature of global strategy and the interaction between businesses and their political environment. Specifically, we argue that the international relations perspectives of realism, liberalism, and constructivism help explain the nature of the disruptions, and hence can inform strategy scholarship in explaining and examining strategic responses to such external disruptions. Managerial Summary: Firms establish subsidiaries abroad in order to exploit the opportunities of globalization to the benefit of their shareholders and other stakeholders. However, the global economy has recently entered a period of disruptions that include reduced people mobility, divergent national regulatory institutions, and increased anti-globalization populism. We argue that these disruptions will not only create new operational challenges for global strategies and new needs for local adaptation but may even challenge the legitimacy of global business models. We turn to political science for explanations and find that three paradigms of international relations offer contrarian predictions not only on the big disruptions but also on the ability of MNEs to influence political processes driving the disruptions.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gsj.1436

• Meyer, K. E.; Prashantham, S.; Xu, S., 2021, "Entrepreneurship and the Post-COVID-19 Recovery in Emerging Economies", Management and Organization Review, December 17(5): 1101 - 1118.
  Abstract: Entrepreneurs play a focal role in a society's economic recovery from major disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that entrepreneurs’ ability to identify and act on entrepreneurial opportunities during the crisis reflects their resilience, and their innovations facilitate new patterns of work, learning, and leisure activities in post-COVID-19 societies. However, how, how quickly they act, and how influential their actions are depends on their context in terms of institutions, resource access, and market volatility. In China, some entrepreneurs have shown great resilience by utilizing network relationships and digital technology, not only to overcome short-term disruptions in 2020 but to shape the evolving ‘new normal’ where behaviors and capabilities have changed as a consequence of the experience of the pandemic. We discuss drivers of such resilient entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 pandemic in China and call for further research on the interplay between external disruptions, different types of entrepreneurship, and the consequences for resilience in emerging economies.

  Link(s) to publication:

  https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/management-and-organization-review/article/entrepreneurship-and-the-postcovid19-recovery-in-emerging-economies/17FE4F293DEF9C6864DB5ABB213C2E5B#article

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/mor.2021.49

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