AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings - Academy of International ...

TUESDAY
corporation's innovation performance. Traditionally, research has focused on studying the implications
associated with sourcing knowledge from established local subsidiaries through long-term FDI investments in
particular host countries. Today, however, multinational corporations (MNCs) are increasingly investing in the
sourcing of external knowledge via non-equity modes of international production (e.g., various types of research
partnerships such as licensing, etc.) as it was highlighted in the most recent World Investment Report
(UNCTAD, 2011). As much as this trend is affecting a multitude of industries, there is probably no better
example of the importance and the prevalence of external knowledge sourcing than the global pharmaceutical
industry. This panel will examine questions regarding the benefits, trade-offs and challenges associated with
the modes through and the locations where external knowledge is sourced. (For more information, please
contact: Felipe Monteiro, University of Pennsylvania, USA: luizm@wharton.upenn.edu)
Session: 3.3.4 - Competitive
Track: 2 - Marketing and Supply Chain
International Marketing and Logistics Strategy
Presented On: July 3, 2012 - 13:00-14:15
Chair: Timothy M. Devinney, University of Technology, Sydney
To What Degree Should Firms Standardize or Adapt Their Product Mix Across Countries New Empirical Results
Based on the Strategic-Fit Approach
Stefan Schmid, ESCP Europe
Thomas Kotulla, ESCP Europe
The question of whether to standardize or adapt the international product mix has been one of the central
research questions in the international business and international marketing literature. However, despite a long
research tradition, the empirical results are inconclusive. A main reason for the contradictory findings lies in the
fact that performance effects have been either neglected or conceptualized differently across studies.
Furthermore, performance implications have often been derived without reference to the theory of strategic fit.
Our study is intended to provide new insights into the field by using foreign product profit as a performance
variable and by applying the fit approach, rooted in contingency theory. In particular, we show which subelements
of the product mix have to be internationally standardized/adapted to what degree in order to
enhance foreign product profit, depending on the situation. In addition, based on the fit-as-matching
perspective, we are able to identify the effects of over-adaptation and over-standardization on performance.
(For more information, please contact: Stefan Schmid, ESCP Europe, Germany: sschmid@escpeurope.eu)
How and When Does Integrated Product Innovativeness Affect New Product Performance in Developed and
Emerging Economies
Nathaniel Boso, University of Leeds
John W. Cadogan, Loughborough University
Vicky M. Story, University of Nottingham
Grace Abekah, Gracious Pearl Academy
Using primary data from 319 UK and 221 Ghanaian companies, this study shows that in both developed and
emerging economies the basic form of the relationship between integrated product innovativeness and business
success is inverted U-shape, but that the strength and/or form of this relationship changes under differing levels
of access to financial resources, market orientation, environmental dynamism and environmental hostility.
Importantly, there are substantial differences in the ways that integrated product innovativeness is related to
new product performance across the UK and Ghanaian samples. In Ghana, access to financial resources
enhances the impact of integrated product innovativeness, unlike in the UK, where access to financial resources
AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings
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