The authors examine the effect of impact investments – investments made with the intent to generate social and environmental impact alongside financial returns – on emerging countries. The authors argue that impact investment is effective in fostering positive social and environmental outcomes through institutionalization in host countries. The authors assess their hypotheses on a sample of European impact investment firms in Africa, using a unique hand-collected dataset of investments from 2000 to 2019. The authors find empirical support for their hypotheses. This study extends the international business literature by answering the growing calls among scholars for greater attention to the role of social enterprises in addressing complex social and environmental challenges
Tulder, Rob Van; Grøgaard, Birgitte & Lunnan, Randi (2024)
Walking the talk? : MNEs transitioning towards a sustainable world
Across the globe, concerns escalate about the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on global climate conditions, implications on global trade from pandemics, and the destruction of ecosystems from the exploitation of limited and non-replaceable global resources. Politicians and businesses alike agree that something must be done, the question is what, how, when, and by whom? What should firms do to reduce their carbon footprint while continuing to secure jobs and profits? When should firms make decisions to transform their businesses given the uncertainty of markets as well as the lack of clear guidance from global institutions? In this volume we ask: Are we actually walking the talk?
This volume includes select contributions from the 2022 EIBA conference in Oslo, as well as a number of invited contributions. The book is a tribute to Professor Alain Verbeke who has contributed substantially to the theme of ‘walking the talk’ in the IB community. The chapters in this volume illustrate a broad spectre of research questions and ways to answer them within the IB community that provide evidence that many types of actors are taking – or can take - steps to actually “walk the talk”. The contributions also show, however, that MNEs face considerable challenges to make their ambitions real, which in turn presents a challenge for IB scholarship to develop relevant and robust analytical approaches to cover the transition problems that MNEs face.
Verbeke, Alain; Simoes, Sean & Grøgaard, Birgitte (2024)
The role of multinational enterprises and formal institutions in BOP markets
There has been much debate on the role of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’ (BOP) markets. MNEs are advised to overcome institutional voids by making maximum usage of informal institutions. In practice, the empirical support for MNEs' success and their contributions to the sustainable development of BOP markets has been limited. In this article, we focus on a realistic path –including the role of MNEs in this journey– to overcome the ‘poverty premium.’ The poverty premium refers to goods being available to BOP customers only at a very high cost, especially when using credit, and we attempt to address the root causes of this barrier. We present an actionable, transaction cost economics (TCE) based approach for MNEs and other market actors to strengthen and leverage contract-enforcing institutions in the long-term, using illustrative examples of the digital and financial inclusion journey observable in India. Our study confirms the continued need in BOP markets to build on conventional economics and management thinking, for the poorest people to be lifted out of poverty. Here, efficient formal institutions do matter.
The dominant narrative about the rise of international business (IB) focuses on early research and the institutionalization of a new academic field. In this study, we explore the role of case writing in the field’s formative period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Based on an analysis of teaching cases on IB topics, we demonstrate that case-based teaching, including the writing of cases, was an innovative pedagogical method that made a strong impact on the formation of the new academic field. Analyzing the cases and the background and affiliation of their authors offers new insights into the linkages to other disciplines from which the new academic field emerged. The analysis of the cases also provides new insight into how the case authors connected to the new practical experiences from an increasing number of multinational enterprises, particularly from the US, and conceptualized the experiences into a pedagogical language. The investigation covers 489 cases written by scholars located in 18 countries from the early 1950s to 1963, as well as archival studies of the business schools and institutions that initiated the production of cases.
Stensaker, Inger G.; Colman, Helene Loe & Grøgaard, Birgitte (2023)
The dynamics of union-management collaboration during postmerger integration
Collaboration between unions and management may facilitate postmerger integration, however collaboration can also be time-consuming and challenging. Using a qualitative case study, we examined union–management collaboration in the integration of two Norwegian firms. The integration was split into two processes, involving different business units. While both processes were designed according to similar principles of collaboration, we observed the emergence of two diverging integration trajectories. Whereas the first process was characterized by a virtuous cycle of trust and constructive collaboration that facilitated integration, the second process turned into a vicious cycle of mistrust and conflict, causing disruption, and impeding integration. Based on our inductive analysis, we identify four distinctive features characterizing the emerging mode of collaboration. We develop a model to illustrate the dynamics of union-management collaboration in postmerger integration. These findings expand the current understanding of merger and acquisition (M&A) dynamics to include a broader set of actors and potential conflict factors in the integration process. Furthermore, our study suggests that collaborative integration processes require careful management while also potentially posing challenges for unions, particularly in the context of historical conflicts.
Zeng, Rong (Ratchel); Grøgaard, Birgitte & Björkman, Ingmar (2023)
Navigating MNE control and coordination: A critical review and directions for future research
Control and coordination efforts are at the heart of MNE functioning. Yet, our review reveals that the literature on MNE control and coordination lacks conceptual clarity, which may hamper the development of the field. In this critical review, we synthesize the literature over the past decade using a conceptual framework rooted in new internalization theory. Research remains fairly coarse regarding how various configurations and interactions of control and coordination mechanisms affect intended outcomes. We note a paucity of multilevel studies, direct investigations of microfoundations, and comparison studies between intra- and inter-MNE relationships. Insufficient attention has been paid to adaptation issues and the impact of external dynamics on the need for, and operationalization of, control and coordination mechanisms. These gaps are concerning, since external trends are changing the organizational landscape and MNE boundaries are becoming increasingly fuzzy. Going forward, a more nuanced conceptualization of outcomes is needed, one that specifies proximal outcomes which mediate the achievement of distant goals. We use our augmented conceptual framework to identify other key areas for future research. We also call for more research on how disruptive forces affect both the use and outcomes of organizational mechanisms aimed at achieving control and coordination.
Grøgaard, Birgitte; Sartor, Michael A. & Rademaker, Linda (2022)
What merits greater scholarly attention in international business?
Scholarly efforts to propose future directions for international business (IB) research have generated a timely and extensive inventory of potentially interesting areas of research. We supplement this line of inquiry by suggesting that an additional layer of scrutiny could be beneficial when advocating in favor of giving more attention to particular research realms. Specifically, we advance several guiding principles that will help IB scholars assess which research areas merit greater scholarly attention, based on their potential importance and impact. We distinguish between (1) research in new or underdeveloped research domains, where salience, urgency, and actionability are critical elements, and (2) new research in relatively well-established domains, where scholars may contribute to changing the theoretical conversations taking place in IB.
Colman, Helene Loe; Grøgaard, Birgitte & Stensaker, Inger G. (2022)
Organizational identity work in MNE subsidiaries: Managing dual embeddedness
This paper adopts an organizational identity work perspective to examine how MNE subsidiaries manage dual embeddedness to strategically position themselves in both their local context and in the global MNE. Prior research suggests that although dual embeddedness provides benefits, it also brings challenges, as subsidiaries must effectively balance external pressures and expectations with internal ones. Through a qualitative case study of organizational identity work in the subsidiaries of a Norwegian MNE we reveal the process through which subsidiary members manage dual embeddedness in their day-to-day work. We develop a model that conceptualizes organizational identity work in MNE subsidiaries as an ongoing process, one that enables the subsidiary to position itself as a legitimate actor across contexts, while reproducing the perceived tensions of dual embeddedness. This combination thus continually fuels organizational identity work. Our findings have both theoretical and managerial implications. We provide important theoretical insight into how MNE subsidiaries achieve flexibility to position themselves as globally and locally embedded. For managers, this implies that trying to remove the tensions of dual embeddedness—for instance, by privileging the global above the local—may hinder flexibility.
Bass, Erin & Grøgaard, Birgitte (2021)
The long-term energy transition: Drivers, outcomes, and the role of the multinational enterprise
The pre-eminence of the production and consumption of nonrenewable fossil fuels is waning with the growth of renewable energy solutions. This long-term energy (LTE) transition is one of the global grand challenges, characterized by uncertain and evolving markets. Although this is a global issue, there are regional differences and non-linear trajectories that suggest that the LTE transition is a complex challenge for firms and countries. For international business scholars, questions related to the role and effect of multinational enterprises in the context of the LTE transition have opened new avenues for advancing theoretical, managerial, and policy understanding. Thus, we advance this body of research by presenting a framework that delineates important drivers and outcomes of the transition. In this way, we emphasize how MNEs both influence and are being influenced by the LTE transition. We identify theoretical perspectives that may be useful to address LTE transition challenges, and suggest avenues for future research on this global grand challenge.
Grøgaard, Birgitte; Colman, Helene Loe & Stensaker, Inger G. (2019)
Legitimizing, leveraging, and launching: Developing dynamic capabilities in the MNE
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) face simultaneous pressures for global integration and local responsiveness. While the extant literature acknowledges that most MNEs are neither entirely geared towards achieving global integration nor local responsiveness, scarce attention is given to how MNEs develop organizational flexibility to address multiple and shifting strategy pressures over time. In this paper, we draw on the dynamic capabilities literature to explore how the MNE develops the capabilities needed to achieve this flexibility. Through a qualitative, longitudinal case study spanning 12 years, we identify three recombination capabilities – legitimizing, leveraging, and launching capabilities – through which the MNE develops organizational flexibility. We find that these recombination capabilities improve the MNEs ability to sense and seize new opportunities and enable the MNE to overcome organizational impediments to achieve flexibility. Our study offers a process perspective that shows how the three capabilities together nourish the MNEs resilience to continuously balance between global integration and local responsiveness. Our findings have managerial implications, illustrating that launching new strategic initiatives may fail if the MNE does not have the capabilities to legitimize the new initiatives and to ensure that existing organizational strengths are properly leveraged to support the new initiatives.
Gooderham, Paul N.; Grøgaard, Birgitte & Foss, Kirsten (2019)
Global Strategy and Management: Theory and Practice
Grøgaard, Birgitte; Rygh, Asmund & Benito, Gabriel R G (2019)
Bringing corporate governance into internalization theory: State ownership and foreign entry strategies
We use internalization theory to analyze the establishment and entry mode decisions of state-owned (SOE) and privately owned (POE) enterprises. We enrich internalization theory by building on insights from economic theory of corporate governance and taking into account particular characteristics of SOEs such as non-economic motivations, long-term orientation, and different risk preferences. We examine foreign entries over a 10-year period in the Canadian oil and gas industry. This single-country and single-industry context features foreign SOEs and POEs from a wide range of home countries, allowing a focused study of the combined influence of state ownership and home-country factors. Compared to POEs, SOEs tend to prefer acquiring stand-alone assets rather than firms, and to take lower ownership shares. We also find that differences between SOEs and POEs diminish when home countries are characterized by high government quality and market orientation and identify differences between types of SOEs, with partially owned SOEs exhibiting behaviors more similar to POEs than fully owned SOEs. We demonstrate how our enrichment of internalization theory strengthens its predictive and explanatory capacity. Our results also show that SOEs from strong and market-oriented institutional environments are similar to POEs and can be studied using the traditional internalization theory.
Aguilera, Ruth V. & Grøgaard, Birgitte (2018)
The dubious role of institutions in international business: A road forward
The MNE integration literature lacks coherence in the use and effectiveness of different integration mechanisms. In this study, we use meta-analytic techniques to quantitatively synthesize and evaluate the impact of centralization, formalization and socialization on knowledge transfer. Our analysis of 89 independent samples, including 15,506 subsidiaries, shows that socialization facilitates knowledge transfer more strongly than centralization and formalization. Socialization substitutes for formalization’s positive impact, and mitigates centralization’s negative impact on knowledge transfer. We further identify that directionality of knowledge flows is key in explaining the impact of centralization mechanisms. Finally, we point out important systemic problems in current empirical research.
Byl, Connie Van der & Grøgaard, Birgitte (2018)
Risk management and adaptation in oil and gas commodity resource markets
Many multinational enterprises (MNEs) seek to strengthen their competitive positions through internal integration. Socialization is a key integration mechanism to leverage advantages spread across MNEs’ geographically dispersed organizational units. Parent organizations often communicate a set of values intended to guide action throughout the MNE, referred to as espoused values, to initiate a socialization process. However, we have limited insights into how espoused values are endorsed and subsequently contribute to MNE integration. Through a case study, we analyze how espoused values are interpreted by the foreign subsidiaries and influence subsequent subsidiary behavior. Our findings suggest that the socialization process is complex, where the local context and perceptions of headquarter nationality provide the frames for interpretation. We identify that even though the espoused values may differ in their operationalization in local contexts, they can still contribute to MNE integration. This study contributes to existing MNE literature by conceptualizing the role of interpretive frames and the endorsement of values in achieving integration through espoused values.
Gooderham, Paul N.; Nordhaug, Odds dødsbo & Grøgaard, Birgitte (2014)
The Multinational Company
, s. 19- 30.
Gooderham, Paul N.; Nordhaug, Odd & Grøgaard, Birgitte (2013)
Divergent Norwegian and North American HRM Regimes:Implications for Norwegian MNEs
Research on companies’ internationalization has mainly focused on firm-level and country-level factors in order to explain firms’ cross-border activities. With the exception of a limited number of studies emphasizing rivalistic behavior in oligopolistic industries, industry factors have been neglected as potential determinants of companies’ internationalization. We argue that differences across industries with regard to concentration, research intensity, tangibility of the products, and the existence of clusters should influence the impetus and opportunities to internationalize. This study examines the role of such factors using panel data covering the internationalization patterns of the 100 largest non-financial Norwegian companies over the period 1990 to 2000. We find that even for firms in a small population advanced economy where the limited market size in itself motivates firms to internationalize, industry factors still contribute significantly to explaining the internationalization of these companies. Furthermore, the effects of industry factors remain strong when firm-level characteristics are taken into account.
Colman, Helene Loe & Grogaard, Birgitte (2013)
Integration Vacuum: Creating Action Space for Global Strategy Implementation in International Acquisitions
The untold story: Teaching cases on multinational enterprises in US business schools and the rise of International Business as a new academic field, 1955-1963
The Effect of Institutional Distances and Government Assistance on Ownership Levels in Sub-Saharan African Countries
[Conference Lecture]. Event
We follow the prevalence of MNEs into Africa to examine the impact of institutional distance and governmental assistance on ownership levels across multiple home and host countries. Although recent studies have increasingly heightened the influence of institutional contextual factors on the ownership levels, we know very little about such decisions from the African context. This paper fills this gap by looking at ownership decisions within the uniqueness of the African context. We contribute to the international business literature by testing the theoretical boundaries of ownership decisions when MNEs expand into high risk areas. With 54 countries in our sample, this study throws light on the role of different institutional complexities on ownership decisions.
Grøgaard, Birgitte; Colman, Helene Loe & Stensaker, Inger G. (2018)
Addressing Multiple Competitive Pressures in the MNE through Recombination
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Aguilera, Ruth V. & Grøgaard, Birgitte (2018)
Panel presentation: The dubious role of institutions in international business. A road forward.
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte & Zeng, Rong (2018)
Do the acquirer’s origin matter for the post-acquisition performance of the developed country target?
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte; Rygh, Asmund & Benito, Gabriel R G (2018)
Bringing corporate governance into internalization theory: Foreign entry of state owned enterprises
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte; Colman, Helene Loe & Stensaker, Inger G. (2017)
Building dynamic capabilities for organizational flexibility in MNEs to combine global integration and local responsiveness
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte; Colman, Helene Loe & Stensaker, Inger G. (2017)
DEVELOPING ORGANIZATIONAL FLEXIBILITY IN A MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISE: THE KEY TO COMBINING GLOBAL INTEGRATION AND LOCAL RESPONSIVENESS
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Zeng, Rong & Grøgaard, Birgitte (2017)
Entrepreneurial deficits in MNE subsidiaries: Opening the black box
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte (2016)
Do the origins of foreign direct investment matter in developed host countries? Empirical evidence from firm-level data in Canada (Co-authored with Zeng. R)
[Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte (2016)
Flip Factory Inc. Teaching Note Ontario, Canada: IVEY Publishing (case number 8B16M071).
[Report Research].
Grøgaard, Birgitte (2016)
Flip Factory Inc. Ontario, Canada: IVEY Publishing (case number 9B16M071).
[Report Research].
Grøgaard, Birgitte; Colman, Helene Loe & Stensaker, Inger G. (2016)
The Journey to Become a Transnational: A Case Study of the ‘Forgotten’ Strategy
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte (2016)
A meta-analysis of integration mechanism outcomes in multinational enterprises (co-authored with Zeng, R. and Steele, P.)
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte; Rygh, Asmund & Benito, Gabriel R G (2015)
SOE strategic behavior when entering competitive host markets
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte; Rygh, Asmund & Benito, Gabriel R G (2015)
SOE strategic behaviour when entering competitive host markets
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Colman, Helene Loe; Stensaker, Inger G. & Grøgaard, Birgitte (2015)
Navigating Through the Jungle: Integration in the Multinational Enterprise
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte; Rygh, Asmund & Benito, Gabriel R G (2014)
When in Rome? An empirical examination of SOE strategic behavior when entering a competitive host market
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Stensaker, Inger G.; Colman, Helene Loe & Grogaard, Birgitte (2014)
Who do we think we are. How Identity Influences Strategic Change
[Lecture]. Event
Colman, Helene Loe & Grogaard, Birgitte (2013)
MNE Integration Processes: A Subsidiary Perspective
[Lecture]. Event
Stensaker, Inger G.; Colman, Helene Loe & Grogaard, Birgitte (2012)
PERCEPTIONS OF FAIRNESS IN A MERGER OF EQUALS: THE ROLE OF INTERACTIONAL JUSTICE
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte & Colman, Helene Loe (2012)
Identifying international strategies through content analysis
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Colman, Helene Loe; Grøgaard, Birgitte & Stensaker, Inger G. (2012)
SUBSIDIARY IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION: MANAGING BOUNDARIES, DISTINCTIVENESS AND RELATIONSHIPS
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Grøgaard, Birgitte & Colman, Helene Loe (2012)
Implementing Normative Integration in MNEs: The Impact of Organizational Identity
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Stensaker, Inger G.; Colam, H. L & Grogaard, Birgitte (2012)
Attaining Perceptions of Fairness in a Merger of Equals
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Colman, Helene Loe; Stensaker, Inger G. & Grøgaard, Birgitte (2011)
Integration Practices and Perceptions of Justice in a Merger of Equals
