AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings - Academy of International ...

TUESDAY
Cross-National Distance and Insidership in Networks:Japanese MNEs' Ownership Decisions on Their Overseas
Subsidiaries
Megan (Min) Zhang, University of Western Ontario
Combining country specificity with network specificity, this study reinvestigates the controversial question of
MNEs' equity ownership decisions on their overseas subsidiaries. When studying ownership as a formal structure
of overseas subsidiaries, most prior studies were only concerned with the influence of cross-national distance,
but did not examine whether networks as informal structures of firms affect the decision-making. Moreover,
most prior studies adopted aggregated constructs, time-invariant measures, and single level analyses, and
thereby failed to capture the complexity of the phenomenon further. Some of them even resulted in mutually
conflicting conclusions. To address these issues, the study first applies multidimensional and longitudinal
measures to the investigation, and thereby captures the diverse influences of cross-national distance on MNE's
ownership decisions. Moreover, the study takes inter-organizational collaborations into account, and thereby
empirically addresses the insidership in business networks and their influences on ownership decisions. Finally,
the study identifies that the insidership in networks alleviates cross-national distance's influences on ownership
decisions. To capture this cross-level interaction, the study adopts Hierarchical Linear Modeling approach.
Future research and implications for practice are also discussed. (For more information, please contact: Megan
(Min) Zhang, University of Western Ontario, Canada: mzhang.phd@ivey.ca)
The Impact of MNEs' Competitive Network Positions on the Intensity of Competitors' Actions: The Moderating
Role of Competitive Action Types
Yu-Ching Chiao, National Chung Hsing University
Keng-Hsiang Cheng, National Chung Hsing University
There has been little empirical research discussing competitive dynamics by considering competitive networks
and how firms' positions in a competitive network impact competitors' actions. Using the awarenessmotivation-capability
(AMC) perspective, this study explores how a focal firm's structural hole and outward
centrality in a competitive network affects its intensity of competitors' actions, and the moderate effect of
competitive action types between competitive network positions and the intensity of competitors' actions.
Examining a sample of top 20 container shipping multinational enterprises (MNEs) by collecting 2,984
competitive actions of 682 global competitive interactions news from Cyber Shipping Guide (CSG), we found
that a firm with higher outward centrality of competition or higher structural hole in a competitive network is
subject to less threat from its competitors' actions. The number of strategic actions taken by a focal firm will
strengthen the negative relationship between structural hole of competition and intensity of competitors'
actions. Moreover, the number of tactic actions of a focal firm will weaken the negative relationship between
outward centrality of competition and intensity of competitors' actions. The implications of these findings for
research and practice are also discussed. (For more information, please contact: Keng-Hsiang Cheng, National
Chung Hsing University, Taiwan: kenghsiang.c@gmail.com)
The Private and Common Benefits of Spanning Structural Holes within the MNE Network
Lisa Katarina Gaerber, Copenhagen Business School
Torben Pedersen, Copenhagen Business School
Shalini Rogbeer , WU Wien
It is well established that spanning structural holes creates private benefits through innovation. However, the
extent to which other network members profit from spanning structural holes remains unclear. This research
considers how subunits that span structural holes within the MNE network reap private benefits in terms of
innovation, as well as contribute to the common network benefits through knowledge outflows. Acknowledging
that a direct relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation exists, we use a 3SLS model to elucidate
AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings
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