Anthony Goerzen

Alliance Management Capability: An Investigation of the Construct and Its Measurement

This research conceptualizes and operationalizes alliance management capability. The authors develop alliance management capability as a second-order construct to capture the degree to which organizations possess relevant management routines that enable them to effectively manage their portfolio of strategic alliances. In addition to identifying and measuring specific organizational routines as critical dimensions of alliance management capability, the authors advance knowledge on the performance effects of dedicated alliance structures and alliance experience based on survey data from 204 firms. Their primary contribution is a theoretically sound alliance management capability measure that is reflected by five underlying routines: interorganizational coordination, alliance portfolio coordination, interorganizational learning, alliance proactiveness, and alliance transformation. One of the key findings is that alliance management capability has a positive impact on alliance portfolio performance and mediates the performance effects of dedicated alliance structures and alliance experience.

The Geographic Orientation of Multinational Enterprises and its Implications for Performance

Diametrically opposed views exist on the nature of global strategic management, the existence of global multinational enterprises (MNEs), and the performance implications of regional and global orientation. However, these divergent opinions on the nature of global strategy “should be considered a starting point for introducing systematically a regional component in international business research” (Rugman & Verbeke, 2004a, p. 5). Our aim in this chapter, therefore, is to examine the geographic orientation (i.e., regional versus global) of multinational firms to provide new insights into some of the important characteristics that distinguish between these MNE archetypes. Our findings suggest that the interaction between the MNEs organizational characteristics and its geographic orientation is associated with MNEs performance. By arguing for a contingency perspective on regional and global strategy, we thus attempt to bridge the gap between these two opposing viewpoints.

EXPORT CHARACTERISTICS OF SMALL CANADIAN MANUFACTURERS

ABSTRACT As a first step in a study of ways of improving Canadian export performance, this paper examines the export characteristics of small Canadian manufacturers. Based on a 64-question mail survey of 38 exporters in the Province of Ontario, an exporter profile is developed. Particular attention is placed on the establishment and ongoing management of the distribution arrangements of these small firms.

Managing alliance networks: emerging practices of multinational corporations

Executive Overview Most firms are becoming increasingly embedded within alliance networks. Despite this growing trend, the ways and means by which these alliance networks are managed are not clear. Yet, it is important for managers to understand the processes and practices through which firms can respond to both the promise and challenge of managing alliance networks. To shed new light on this important topic, I interviewed a series of senior multinational corporation executives who stated clearly that alliance network management is a very important task that goes beyond optimizing individual alliance performance. These managers indicated that they have begun to establish a variety of structures and practices at multiple levels within their firms to improve their abilities to derive additional value from their networks of alliances. Based on these interviews, I present a framework for the management of alliance networks intended to inform managers of emerging practices in this increasingly important aspect of strategic management.

Global cities, ownership structures, and location choice: Foreign subsidiaries as bridgeheads

This paper aims to develop a more nuanced view of subnational location choice with a particular focus on global cities. It is argued that multinational firms may use global cities to establish bridgeheads-subsidiaries at intermediate levels of the ownership chain that enable further international as well as subnational expansion.,Beyond those host country subsidiaries that are directly owned by a foreign multinational, the authors go deeper and focus specifically on the multi-tiered – “subsidiaries of subsidiaries” to examine how the geographic origins and destinations of these investments are associated with micro-location choices in a host country.,The authors find that there are substantial differences between the types, roles, activities and geographic origins of the firms locating in different areas, and in the ownership structures spanning them. The authors propose that this has managerial and theoretical implications which may be understood based on an organizing framework describing a tradeoff between the pursuit of global connectivity and local density on the one hand and cost control on the other.,Empirical work on foreign location choices should take into account ownership structures and take a more fine-grained view of subnational variation.,Managers need to consider the trade-offs between connectivity, density and costs when making foreign location decisions.,Policy makers should think about the unique contributions that various subnational regions such as global and ordinary cities can make to global value chains.,The authors bridge the hitherto separate literatures pertaining to subsidiary mandates and subnational dimensions of foreign location choice by investigating the fine-grained roles and ownership structures from a supranational as well as subnational perspective.

GEOGRAPHIC ORIENTATION AND PERFORMANCE OF GLOBAL VERSUS REGIONAL MNEs.

This paper examines the drivers that differentiate between regional and global MNCs, showing that the liability of foreignness creates conditions under which proprietary assets and the managerial r...

INVESTOR RESPONSE TO FDI RISK: THE EFFECTS OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT EXPERIENCE OF MNCS.

Given the large and growing literature on firm experience, our effort in this research is to examine empirically the capacity of multinational corporations to create value via foreign direct investment by mitigating country-level risks through foreign experience. We go beyond prior research on firm experience and country risk that have generally focused on a single element of risk or a single dimension of experience. Using Millers (1992) environmental risk concept, we analyze the interactions between different types of firm-level experience and a full set of country-level risks on foreign direct investment value creation. Our findings suggest that foreign experience mitigates the stock markets perception of foreign investment risk in a variety of settings, although conditions under which these effects are present is subtle and nuanced.