Cristina Villar

Organisational learning capability, product innovation performance and export intensity

The hypothesis that managerial characteristics which facilitate the organisational learning process can provide firms with a basis for competitive advantage has received a great deal of attention. While there is evidence that organisational learning affects export intensity, we argue that intermediate variables, such as innovation, should be used in order to evaluate its impact in organisations. This study shows that firms with a higher organisational learning capability tend to be more innovative, and for this reason, they are more likely to export a higher share of their production. From a longitudinal perspective, we use structural equation modeling on a database from Italian and Spanish ceramic tile producers, worldwide leaders in terms of technology. The database combines primary and secondary data. The results support our theoretical conjectures. Findings improve our understanding of the antecedents of export intensity and are related to previous research.

Service characteristics as moderators of the entry mode choice: empirical evidence in the hotel industry

Although a considerable amount of research has explored the entry mode choice, results regarding the direct influence of some variables on the entry mode choice evince a lack of a clear consistency. By introducing the moderator effect of the nature of the services being provided by the firm, we explain some of these inconclusive results. We use a comprehensive database on the Spanish hotel industry which covers nearly all the operations carried out by the majority of Spanish hotel chains up to 2011. We found that both intangibility and complexity of the services offered by the hotel moderate the relationship between environmental uncertainties and entry mode choice by increasing the propensity to use greater commitment entry modes when faced with conditions of country risk and cultural uncertainty.

Unravelling the moderating effects of size and experience on product innovations and exports: a study in a medium knowledge-intensive industry

This paper contributes to improve our knowledge on the important role of product innovation in export strategy by introducing the moderating effects of organizational variables. We argue that in a medium knowledge-intensive industry, these variables might strengthen the relationship between innovations and exports. Research on innovation and export strategy has addressed these issues increasingly during last decades; however, the divergence on the empirical approaches difficult the understanding of the linkages among variables, which are highly dependent on the industry technological characteristics. We carry out a time-lagged study using the literature-based innovation output (LBIO) method to account for product innovations and its degree of complexity during the period from 2000 to 2007. Our results evidence that, when considering the moderating role of size and experience, the influence of innovations on exports becomes stronger. Important implications for researchers, managers and policy makers arise from these findings.

Augmenting versus exploiting entry modes in soft services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address foreign market entry mode as a way to enhance firm’s knowledge base, providing new insights into traditional explanations of entry mode choice for soft services. The authors offer an alternative knowledge-based approach to assess foreign investment decisions by considering the role of resource-augmenting (direct investment) and resource-exploiting strategies (licenses). In addition, the authors untie the type of experiential knowledge, i.e., host country and mode experience, to analyze its interactions with environmental uncertainties such as cultural distance. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a customized database of the Spanish Global Hotel industry covering practically all foreign entries until 2012, the authors use regression analysis to test the proposal. Findings – The authors demonstrate how in hotel chains (a) cultural distance influences the use of high resource-augmenting modes, due to both the difficulties in transferring the knowledge to ...

¿CÓMO MEJORAR LA EXPANSIÓN INTERREGIONAL DE LAS MULTINACIONALES? EL CASO DE LAS FILIALES TRAMPOLÍN PARA LATINOAMÉRICA

This article analyses a model of interregional expansion by using springboard subsidiaries. Being located in Spain, these units can facilitate the expansion of multinational companies in Latin America by providing part of the experiential knowledge required to succeed in the region, yet avoiding the initial requirement for investment. Based upon the expansion strategy of five European multinational firms, we develop an inductive model in which headquarters functions –coordination and knowledge creation processes - are distributed between the parent company and the springboard subsidiary along an accumulative process of capabilities. This model reflects the type and degree of commitment of both actors in each stage: whereas in the initial phase the springboard subsidiary and the headquarters act as substitutes, they execute complementary functions with the development of the local network in the target region. By demonstrating how a springboard subsidiary can help to align control to context, the model offers a tool for strategic analysis that helps avoid potential value destruction by parent companies.