AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings - Academy of International ...

TUESDAY
The conventional approach in international business research is to consider and/or compute country distance as
independent of individual and firm actions. Borrowing from Teece et. al. (1994), we propose in this paper an
alternative approach that relies on ‘survivor' data culled from the very actions of these individuals and/or firms
to compute ‘country relatedness', the inverse of distance. We then focus on country relatedness for investment
decisions, defined as the degree to which there are economies to joint operations and/or ownership in these
countries by a multinational enterprise (MNE). To test the predictive validity of country relatedness for
investment decisions, we hypothesize that MNEs characterized by high levels of international coherence, the
degree to which they operate in related countries, will have a superior performance. Our empirical test starts by
computing country relatedness for 24,000 country pairs, using investment data for the full sample of 20,000
public MNEs worldwide. We then measure international coherence for a sample of 1,000 U.S. MNEs and find
support for our hypothesis and the validity of the measures proposed. (For more information, please contact:
Sokol Celo, Suffolk University, USA: scelo@suffolk.edu)
Making the Most of the Second Best: Synchronization of Reforms Rhythms, Slack, and Performance of
Transition Economy Firms
Elitsa R. Banalieva, Northeastern University
We analyze the understudied impact of synchronization of reforms rhythms on the performance of transition
economy firms. We argue that higher synchronization of reforms rhythms improves the firms' performance due
to timing synergies among the different reforms types. Additionally, we propose that excess high-discretion
slack further strengthens the performance benefits from a higher synchronization of reforms rhythms because it
allows the transition economy firms to more quickly adapt to their changing institutional environment. Thus, we
extend the institution-based view of the firm by shifting its traditional focus on institutional differences across
countries to a new research direction that accounts explicitly for the timing of implementation—concurrent or
sequential—of the different types of reforms rhythms within a country over time. Our test on a sample of 430
firms from 13 transition economies during 1991-2009 supports our arguments. (For more information, please
contact: Elitsa R. Banalieva, Northeastern University, USA: e.banalieva@neu.edu)
Session: 3.1.7 - Competitive
Track: 9 - Cross-cultural Management and HRM
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Across Cultures
Presented On: July 3, 2012 - 09:00-10:15
Chair: Allan Bird, Northeastern University
Business as Unusual: A Comparison of the Tactical Preferences of Chinese and Australian Negotiators
Cheryl Rivers, Victoria University of Wellington
Roger James Volkema, IAG/PUC-Rio
How do Eastern and Western perceptions of questionable or unethical (tricky) negotiation tactics differ We
address this question by comparing 161 Chinese and 146 Australian negotiators' ratings of appropriateness of
different types of negotiation tactics. We predict that their different cultural values and cultural differences in
the implicit theories of how negotiation ought to be conducted will be salient in their perceptions of tactics.
Rather than thinking about tricky tactics as a generic group, we explore differences in Chinese and Western
negotiators' perspectives of different types of negotiation tactics. Awareness of The Secret Art of War: The 36
Stratagems means Chinese negotiators think very differently about some types of tactics compared to Western
negotiators who have no equivalent of the 36 stratagems in their tactic repertoire. We found Chinese
negotiators rated tactics that are related to the 36 stratagems as significantly more appropriate than did
Australian negotiators. Also, Australians were significantly more approving of tactics that use negative emotions
AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings
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